Pro Hart and the 'Brushmen of the Bush'
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Pro Hart and the ‘Brushmen of the Bush’
A group of self-taught artists from Broken Hill, Pro Hart and the ‘Brushmen of the Bush’ took the world by storm in the 1960s and 1970s, the ‘capital of the outback’ and the ‘silver city’, Broken Hill, on the western edge of New South Wales, is an outback Mecca, packed with history, art, and culture. achieving an enduring place in Australian affection thanks to their character-filled portrayals of Australia’s outback.
Pro Hart:
was born in in 1928, and spent his early years on a sheep station, ‘Larloona’, around 130 kilometres away from town. Thanks to the remoteness of his home, was educated by correspondence. From an early age, he was an enthusiastic , illustrating his school homework and drawing in his spare time.
As an adult in his , he moved to where he worked as a by day and painted by night. Here, he received the nickname ‘Pro’ or Professor, because he was known as an inventor. In the late 1950s, took classes to formalise his technique of using and the application of onto the canvas to develop his style of .
In 1960, married Raylee June Tonkin, and together they had five children. Two years later, he and his where discovered by Kim Boynthon, a curator from Adelaide, and sold out his first . remained popular throughout the 1960s. His paintings depicted scenes from small-town , the bush, and religious themes, showing a strong perception of character and a keen wit. Though he mainly worked with oil and , he experimented with ‘performance ‘ before it became fashionable, and used a range of artistic techniques including layering, , glazing, scumbling, scratching and . was also a sculptor, working with welded steel, bronze and ceramics.
The ‘Brushmen of the Bush’:
In the early 1970s, Hart began to work alongside a group of self-taught artists from the Broken Hill region, including Eric Minchin, Jack Absalom, John Pickup, and Hugh Shulz. After their first exhibition in 1973, the artists received the label ‘Brushmen of the Bush’ from Lorraine Hickman, in a two-page spread for the Australian Women’s Weekly. The ‘Brushmen of the Bush’ would show their art around Australia and the world, with exhibitions in London (twice), Rome, Los Angeles, and New York. Over 50 exhibitions, they raised more than 640,000 dollars for charities, particularly the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Jack Absalom – a painter of bush scenes in a more conventional style than Hart’s – would become famous as a presenter of television programs for ABC TV and radio.
Though the ‘Brushmen of the Bush’ would prove hugely popular with the people, they were never accepted by the and establishment. such as Robert Hughes dismissed as ‘parish pump incompetence’, while for Barry Pearce, the head curator of at the of NSW, , hanging the ‘Brushmen’s’ works in the of NSW was rather like ‘Slim Dusty being compared to Mozart’. in turn gave as good as he got, dismissing his as an ‘ mafia’.
Hart would nonetheless receive offical recognition. He was awarded an MBE in 1976, and in 1982 was awarded an Honorary Life Membership of the Society International Artistique for outstanding artistic achievement, an honour granted to only one artist per continent. His paintings were bought by Prince Philip, and US President Lyndon Johnson, who hung his purchase in the White House. Yet, though he received recognition around the world, and became very wealthy (he owned paintings by Monet, Picasso, and a collection of Rolls Royces), he remained in Broken Hill, his beloved hometown, for his entire life.
Hart passed away in 2006, after a long battle with motor neurone disease. He received a state funeral, the first in New South Wales to be held west of the Blue Mountains.
The paintings of Hart and the other ‘Brushmen of the Bush’ can be seen at various art galleries around Broken Hill. The Pro Hart Gallery continues to display and sell his works, while Jack Absalom’s Gallery attracts over 100, 000 visitors a year. The Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery contains several ‘Brushmen of the Bush’ works, as well as paintings by important Australian artists including Arthur Boyd, Clifton Pugh, and Arthur Streeton. Established in 1904 thanks to a donation of three paintings by George McCulloch, one of the founders of BHP, it is the oldest regional art gallery in New South Wales and the second-oldest after the Art Gallery of NSW. The gallery also contains a significant collection of Aboriginal art, and continues to support emerging artists from the outback.
The influence of the ‘Brushmen of the Bush’ can be felt in the vibrant arts scene of Broken Hill today. In addition to the above galleries, local art can be admired at the Silver City Mint and Art Centre and the White’s Mineral Art & Living Mining Museum.
The commitment of the city to the arts can also be seen at the Living Desert Sanctuary Sculpture Symposium, 12 km from the centre of Broken Hill, where striking sandstone sculptures, created by 12 international artists, loom large in the desert.
Odyssey Traveller gives you the opportunity to learn more about the ‘Brushmen of the Bush’ as part of our tour of and the . Having viewed the work of the Brushmen in the ‘silver city’, we will see the through their eyes. Beginning and ending in , our tour heads to near the / border, via the opal mining town of White Cliff, and Menindee Lake . On our way we pass through the ‘corner country’ of the NSW// borders, possibly the most in . We then head south to , visiting Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary on the northern edge of the Range. From the we head back to , where our ends.
If you’re interested in exploring , why not join an Odyssey Traveller tour? Our tours are designed especially for mature Australians, who seek an authentic and informed experience of their destination. We move in small groups of around 6 to 12 and are led by an experienced local guide, chosen for their knowledge of the history and culture of .
Odyssey Traveller is now offering a number of tours of , including:
- An odyssey through the of the Kimberley, taking you on a over the of Purnululu and to the of the Mitchell Plateau, where the red dirt meets the .
- An through rural , learning about the history of the in the of and at the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Brewarrina Fish Traps.
- A tour of the Ranges, , taking in ancient art and quintessential in one of the most accessible areas of the .
In addition to our tours, we offer a number of other tours of , including Adelaide and surrounds (including the Barossa Valley and Island), the Wildlife of Tasmania, and West Wildflowers.
Articles about Australia published by Odyssey Traveller:
For all the articles Odyssey Traveller has published for mature aged and senior travellers, click through on this link.