SHANNON, MICHAEL (1927-1993)

**PRICE ON APPLICATION**
 
"Arid Landscape" (1966) 
oil on board
60 x 90cm
signed lower right
*private collection, Sydney
 
Shannon was a prominent, award-winning Australian Mid Century Painter. He studied at the National Gallery School in Melbourne in 1945 (under William Dargie), & also studied part time with George Bell. Overseas travel took him to London, Paris and Florence. In Paris he studied under Fernand Leger. Apart from a spell in Sydney (1960-62) Shannon lived and worked in Melbourne for the rest of his life, exhibiting regularly in Sydney and Melbourne as well as in Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane. His characteristic vision of the city – usually a roof top or birds eye view of streets, houses and factories earned him a wide following. The late 1970s saw a change in focus. In 1980 he bought a small house near Heathcote (north of Melbourne). His interest in landscape had grown following a visit to David Chapman in Tasmania in 1974 (he exhibited small studies at Macquarie in 1979) and in the 1980s the landscape became the central concern of his work. It is a landscape he clearly fell in love with – from the rock faces of the quarry paintings through the more intimate glimpses of hill sides with trees and bush tracks, to the large canvasses of spacious hills stretching to distant horizons. He exhibited regularly around Australia at leading galleries winning several awards including the Crouch Prize. He is represented in all major National Galleries & Institutions in Australia.