MORIARTY, MERVYN (1937-)

"In The Garden" (1969) 
oil on canvas
122 x 92cm
signed on verso
*winner of Gold Coast City Art Prize
*private collection, Brisbane

Moriarty is a prominent, award-winning Australian Abstract Painter & Colour Theorist. He established his career as an artist and art educator in Brisbane in the 1960s. In 1971, he founded Flying Arts, first known as EastAus Art School – after gaining an unrestricted pilots licence. He also founded the Brisbane Institute of Art (BIA) in the same year. Moriarty retired from Flying Arts in 1983, and this organisation, along with the BIA, continue to operate successfully to this day. Moriarty has self-published two art texts: The Eye’s Mind – the artist and the draftsman (2010) and COLOUR – the definitive guide (2012). The National Library of Australia officially launched both of these publications. A multiple finalist in National art prizes such as the Archibald & Sulman, Moriarty’s work is in many public and private collections nationally and internationally, including: Art Gallery of New South Wales; Gold Coast City Art Gallery; Grafton Regional Art Gallery; Griffith University Art Collection; Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art; QUT Art Collection; Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery; The University of Queensland Art Collection; University of New England Art Collection; Samuel T. Pees collection at Allegheny College, Pennsylvania, USA. This impressive 'Colour Field' painting, completed at the height of the Hard Edge Movement (1968-1971) was a joint winner of the Gold Coast City Art Prize in 1969. It comes from a private Brisbane Collection.