GLASS, RAYMOND (1921-1960)

"Iron Gang (Wild Colonial Boy)" (c.1950)
mixed media gouache
16.5 x 23cm
unsigned, annotated on verso
*private collection, Sydney
 
Glass is a forgotten American Modernist & Social Realist, based briefly i Australia. He was born in Duncan, Oklahoma, USA. His parents were both partly American Indian. Glass enrolled in the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Oklahoma, before the Second World War. He served during the war with the US army working for the office of War Information at MacArthurs headquarters designing propaganda leaflets for distribution to the Pacific Islands. He married Rae (née) in Brisbane in 1944, their son was born in 1945, & he was discharged in the same year. He spent 1946 in Bedarra and Dunk Island before returning to Oklahoma where he re-enrolled in the university to complete his Fine Arts degree. In 1947 he left for Mexico where he studied at the Escuela des Belles Arts in San Miguel de Allende. He spent two years experimenting in new mediums, working on murals, and studying the theories of David Siquieros; leader of the Mexican movement in art. Returning to Australia in 1949 he exhibited at the David Jones Gallery in Sydney and later in Melbourne. He returned to the US in 1953 where he set up a small pottery studio. In 1956 he divorced his wife. An experimenter in the graphic arts, he produced lithographs and screenprints. The screenprints were produced at Mona Vale, NSW. In his brief time in Australia, he liased and exhibited with the best artists of the era, including Fairweather, Kemp, Thake, Sali Herman, Tucker, Friend, Lymburner, Blackman, Dickerson, Bergner, Nolan, Hester, Hick, & Fred Williams as part of the breakaway Contemporary Artists Society. He was also close friends and neighbours with Frank Clune, Frank & Margel Hinder, Weaver Hawkins, Murch & Annand. Several of his works are represented in many major galleries, including the NGA (5 works), NGV & the Art Gallery Of Ballarat!! This intricate painting was completed as part of his experimental "Wild Colonial Boy" film project of 1952, using 3D cardboard puppets. It is unclear if he completed this project.