Winner: Archibald Prize 2012.
When they returned home, they rediscovered Australia. Tim Storrier.
Each one of them has added an important chapter with a New South Wales perspective, to the great tradition of landscape painting which originated in Victoria.
The distance they had established from the land of their birth allowed them to see it in a new light. Looking at his achievement it is now possible to see where he might fit in Australian art within the period in which he has been active.However, a large painting requires more than technical ability; it needs to be infused with an original vision in order to make the painting relevant, dynamic and eventually have a life of its own.Whiteley’s career was cut short (it was Storrier whom the police called to identify Whiteley when he was found dead in Thirroul). Storrier has included a drawing of himself in the painting, scribbled on a piece of paper being blown away by the wind". The packers have spoken for the 23rd time and this year declared Tim Storrier's portrait of Sir Les Patterson as their favourite entry for the 2014 Archibald Prize. Tim Storrier, 92 days out – a view to the plain from the abandoned savage of the Circa, 1975, oil on canvas 152 x 243 cm, signed and dated lower left, private collection. Tim Storrier by Lou Klepac, published by The Beagle Press.Cover image: Tim Storrier, Noon (Light Line), 2014, acrylic on canvas, 91.5 x 122 cm, private collection. Although there are other important threads that bind them as friends, more important was the relationship of the two older artist with the taciturn younger Storrier. He has already advanced further in his determination to get under the skin of the art of painting. And they added their exploration to what they had inherited from the past: Olsen from Passmore, Whiteley from Rees and Storrier from Lambert.All three were lifelong friends (and sometimes rivals) who were united by their devotion to figurative painting, in a period when painting was still under the spell of abstraction. At an early period Storrier was a near neighbour of Whiteley in Lavender Bay and took over the gasworks studio from him. All three are linked by a historical thread and by their devotion to the Australian landscape. Storrier is an indefatigable painter with a strict routine devoted to work.
The self portrait features a figure clothed in a multitude of art materials with an invisible face. “Time and the event won't happen again," he said esoterically. He was the winner of the 2012 Archibald Prize, for his self-portrait, The Histrionic Wayfarer (after Bosch) (2012). For all three coming home was a revelation.
For all three, going away proved vital for their careers and future direction. The AGNSW text also notes "Though there is no face to identify him, Storrier believes that identity is made clear by the clothes and equipment carried. It is not easy to keep up with him – he is now also making sculpture.Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox.Tim Storrier’s career already spans fifty years, beginning from when at the age of nineteen he was awarded the 1968 Sulman Prize by David Strachan. The Australian landscape became important to each and in establishing a rapport with it, they began a lifelong trajectory of discovery that enriched their work and life.The easiest way to classify him is to consider him together with two other painters, with a not dissimilar direction, and with whom he was connected by friendship and circumstances: John Olsen and Brett Whiteley. Tim Storrier is a contemporary Australian painter known for his surreal depictions fires in the Australian Outback. Olsen was particularly encouraging; he invited Storrier to join him on his trip to Lake Eyre and in 2000 wrote a discerning review of Storrier’s work for the foreword to Catharine Lumby’s book on the artist.Sydney-based artist Sarah Goffman and writer HR Johnston both hate to see anything go to waste.
Mar 30, 2012 - Tim Storrier has won the 2012 Archibald Prize for the best portrait, with his painting The histrionic wayfarer (after Bosch). Sydney-born artist Tim Storrier has won this year’s Archibald Prize for his painting "The histrionic wayfarer (after Bosch)."
It precipitated the career of the fledgling artist into the mystery of the art world and a life devoted to painting.All three left Australia at an early age in order to extend their experience and to escape what might have appeared a provincial environment.