Lauraine Diggins Fine Art is showing at the Australian Antiques and Art Dealers Association Fair at the Paddington Town Hall, 8 – 10 November.



Preview a selection of the artworks online and visit us at Stand #18.
Posts about exhibitions – usually not LDFA
Concurrent exhibitions now showing until 7 December : Stephen Bowers – A Conference of Birds and Mark Thompson – sine qua non.
This exhibition brings together two celebrated artists from South Australia, internationally acclaimed ceramicist, Stephen Bowers and Mark Thompson, one of Australia’s leading set and costume designers in addition to being a painter and ceramic artist. Both artists showcase ornate patterning in their work and are inspired by the history of art and design within their own unique style.
Bowers also looks to creatures, here a flock of birds across a series of plates, portrayed in bright colours against complex, fragmented backgrounds inspired by designs from ceramics, engravings and textiles. These works speak to the idea of pattern-in-nature and nature-in-pattern and reflect on the tensions of humanity’s appropriation of the natural world for our own use, the fragments representing this broken relationship.
Internationally acclaimed ceramicist, Stephen Bowers presents a flock of birds across a series of plates, vividly portrayed in bright colours against complex, fragmented backgrounds inspired by designs from ceramics, engravings and textiles. This rich mash-up of visual ideas is playfully and skillfully rendered using meticulous brushstrokes that are imitative of industrial process. The ornate patterning inspired by the history of art and design, speaks to the idea of pattern-in-nature and nature-in-pattern and reflect on the tensions of humanity’s appropriation of the natural world for our own use, the fragments representing this broken relationship.
Mark Thompson, one of Australia’s leading set and costume designers in addition to being a painter and ceramic artist, showcases ornate patterning in his work, inspired by the history of art and design within his own unique style. In this current exhibition, Thompson utilises the sculptural form of the bust for many of his fantastical works, with decorative elements and characteristic theatrical flourish. Another reference is the tradition of ceramic creatures, including the wonderful Juggling Pug with links to the Order of the Pug, established in Bavaria around 1740 with resulting porcelain commissions of that time.
Preview the exhibitions and download the illustrated catalogues with essays by Leslie Ferrin, Director Ferrin Contemporary, USA and John Neylon, Australian arts writer.
Lauraine Diggins Fine Art is participating at the AAADA Sydney Fair at Paddington Town Hall 7 – 10 November. The Gallery will be staffed during this time for visitors to the Stephen Bowers and Mark Thompson exhibitions, although you may wish to ring to confirm your visit time 03 9509 9855.
The Sydney Fair at The Kensington Room, Randwick Racecourse this weekend Sat 1st and Sun 2nd June. Over 50 dealers showing art, antiques, jewellery, furniture, fashion, collectables and more. We are exhibiting a selection of Australian art from colonial to contemporary paintings, works on paper and ceramics.
See our website for further details.
Lauraine Diggins Fine Art exhibiting at the Australian Antique and Art Dealers Association Fair at the Malvern Town Hall this weekend 20 – 21 April.
Visit us and view some wonderful artworks including impressive large-scale portraits by Isaac Cohen, Bessie Gibson, Elaine Haxton and Helen Peters; a group of paintings by Hilda Rix Nicholas; a suite of lithographs by Ethleen Palmer; a selection of nudes by Brett Whiteley; a new painting by Michael McWilliams; a lyrical painting by Angelina Ngal; ceramics by Stephen Bowers, Geoff Mitchell and Mark Thompson and much more.
Lauraine Diggins Fine Art at the Australian Arts and Antiques Dealers Association Fair at the beautiful and historic Great Hall at Sydney University. We are showing a selection of Australian colonial, impressionist, modern and contemporary artworks.
Friday 1 – Sunday 3 September – for full details visit aaada.org.au
Lauraine Diggins Fine Art is participating in The Sydney Fair at Randwick, showing a selection of Australian artwork from colonial, impressionist, modern and contemporary periods including painting, sculpture, works on paper and indigenous paintings. The last day of the Fair is Sunday 7 May from 10am – 5pm and we look forward to meeting with you there.
Also included is this magnificent flag, the Royal Standard from the HMS Renown, the battlecruiser which brought the Duke and Duchess of York to Australia in 1927. The Duke of York became King George VI on his brother’s abdication and it is a fitting item to display on the day of King Charles III’s coronation. The flag is divided into four quadrants representing the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland with the blue anchor identifying this flag as the personal standard of the Duke of York.
The video of our opening of our current exhibition, Helen S. Tiernan: Storied Country is now available to view on our website with acknowledgement of country by Helen Tiernan; an insightful discussion of the paintings by Dr Marie Geissler and official opening by Steve Dimopoulos MP. The exhibition of paintings is showing until 18 November 2022.
Helen can be described as a visual cultural historian who acknowledges her cross-cultural heritage (Irish and Indigenous) and who brings a sense of indigenous presence to her work with both nuance and complexity. Through her atmospheric landscapes painted with great technical skill, Helen highlights difficult and serious issues with a subtlety, gentleness and humour. Her oevure bears the influence of Australian art history and numerous literary sources including Bill Gammage, Bruce Pascoe, Lynne Kelley and Ian McLean.
To view images of the artworks, download the exhibition catalogue and watch a video of the opening, please click here
This is the final week to view our current exhibition John Dent: Between Two Countries and we invite you to take A Closer Look At… John Dent’s larger paintings in the exhibition.
The subject matter of the larger paintings crosses a broad range: landscapes; interiors; figures; still lifes – all themes with a long tradition in the history of art. Dent takes inspiration from his own experiences, from the mundane of a Hills Hoist in the backyard of an inner city Melbourne suburb; to the more exotic, a studio in Mallorca; to the macabre, the soft colour palette of the seminal triptych, Natura Morta- Marta belies the rather uncompromising subject. Dent is able to raise elements from their everyday existence to the distinction of art, particularly highlighted in these paintings where familiar objects are lifted through their presentation on a grand scale. However the real subject matter is often the very act of painting itself, the placement of elements, of form and colour on the canvas.
To tak A Closer Look At… John Dent’s larger-scale paintings, please click here.
Exhibition showing until Friday 25 June. Visit our website to view images, watch a video of the opening, download the catalogue and read the Closer Look At… essay.
In our next A Closer Look At… we examine the paintings of Paris by John Dent which are redolent with atmosphere, indicative of his ability to absorb the sense of place he discovered there. Mostly, these are quiet introspective moments, a captured snapshot in time. The street scenes take the viewer on a promenade with the artist around Paris, as he explores the city. If the imagery is sometimes romantic, it is because this reflects the everyday reality of the city and these are scenes actually encountered – an arched bridge over the river; a flag hanging from a terraced building; lovers entwined in a park. Equally, Paris is a city of unexpected surprises and strange contrasts, casual witness to nuns in full habit kicking a soccer ball. At other times the subject is almost mundane, a woman with a striped apron in her window; or tinged with humour, the upright nanny on duty with her sensible umbrella shading her from the sun contrasted with the lounging figure enjoying a drink on the deckchair.
John Dent Les Bénédictines du Sacré-Coeur oil on canvas 71 x 56 cm
The significance of Paris and its art scene has been a major influence for many artists throughout history and has certainly shaped Dent’s oeuvre, evident in many aspects but essentially in the very real French atmosphere captured in these paintings. To take A Closer Look At… John Dent in Paris click here
John Dent The Nanny oil on canvas 40.5 x 35.5 cm
To view images in the exhibition; watch the video of the opening and read our Closer Look At… essays please visit our website.
In 2005, Creative Cowboy filmed Peter Churcher in his studio. Spend 15 minutes with the artist as he places his models and concentrates on capturing them in paint An intimate view of the studio and a fascinating insight into the artist at work.
https://www.creativecowboyfilms.com/blog_posts/an-earlier-portrait-in-prahran-2005
The exhibition of Peter’s early paintings, from the first decade of his career, are on view at Lauraine Diggins Fine Art until 20 April – (closed over Easter).
Preview the exhibition on our website and download the illustrated catalogue.