Australia

Elwyn Lynn is held by informed opinion to be Australia’s foremost texture painter and played an extraordinary role as both creator and commentator in the Sydney art community since the mid-1950’s until his death early in 1997.

He was born in Canowindra, NSW in 1917 and began painting in the mid-1940’s. Professionally he was a teacher of english and history; Editor of art publications including the Contemporary Art Society Broadsheet, Quadrant and Art & Australia; the first full-time curator of the Power Gallery of Contemporary Art at Sydney University from 1968 to 1983; plus for 25 years was an art critic for major newspapers and art journals.

Since 1958 Lynn had more than 50 solo exhibitions in Australia and Germany including the 1991 Retrospective 1956 - 1990 at the Art Gallery of NSW, and since 1947 participated in over 150 group exhibitions in Australia, New Zealand, England, Brazil, Indonesia, Warsaw, Poland and Germany.

He has been awarded numerous prizes including the Blake and Wynn Prizes and his paintings are represented in the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Queensland Art Gallery, Art Gallery of South Australia, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Auckland City Art Gallery, numerous regional galleries around Australia plus many prestigious corporate and private collections.

Interest in his work remains strong, and is well documented in numerous publications including a recent review of his later work in Art & Australia. Several exhibitions of his work have been held in the years since his death and further solo exhibitions are opening in September 2001 in Melbourne and at Gallery 2021 in Auckland.