Hugh Sawrey

Hugh Sawrey CBE (born in Forest Glen, Queensland 1919, died Benalla Victoria, 1990) was an Australian artist and founder of the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame, Longreach. Sawrey was an artist whose prolific output of paintings,and drawings of the Australian landscape and its people contributed in a profound way to the preserving of the memory of times and places in Australian history that were in danger of being overlooked and lost to posterity. Throughout his long career he experienced firsthand, events that shaped Australian identity in the 20th century and documented through his work many of the characters that lived in this period.

Early life

His father, a teamster died when Hugh was only three years old and together with his mother and older brother Alan, moved to Brisbane in the early 30's. However he left school when he was 15 and began working in outback QLD to assist his family during the Great Depression. He worked a multitude of jobs from droving to shearing, traveling extensively throughout the interior of Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia.

Military service

He enlisted in the Army during World War II and served in the Aust Tank Attack Regiment (AIF)] and later transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force [Hugh D Sawrey Service no. 43044Rank: Leading Aircraftman, Unit: Royal Australian Air Force, 20 Squadron Catalina's] 20th Squadron Catalina's in New Guinea. After His discharge at the end of the war Sawrey used his service pay to buy a mob of cattle which he ran on a small property on the Darling Downs with his mother.

Recognition

In 1964 Sawrey moved to Brisbane to become an artist full-time and he set up his first studio in the Royal Hotel in Queen Street, Brisbane. His first Dealers were Keith Moore of the The Grand Central Gallery, Julian Stirling, Southern Cross Gallery Melbourne & John Cooper, Eight Bells Gallery, Surfers Paradise. Later he was represented by Wynn Schubert Galleries and Jim Elder Fine Art in Adelaide.

In 1964 Sawrey met and married his wife Gill Sawrey on the Gold Coast.

The Stockmans Hall of Fame

Sawrey exhibited widely throughout Australia and in 1979 was selected as one of two Australian artists to represent Australia in “The Horses of the World” exhibition in London. Sawrey was also the founder and a former chairman of the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame at Longreach. [The name Stockmans Hall of Fame was registed on 11/12/1974,in Brisbane Qld Australia. Certificate no. is 10740] [Hoofs and Horns August 1975 Editorial:R M Williams]

Exhibitions and Collections

In his long career Sawrey was awarded several art prizes including the Queensland Industries Fair Gold Medal and in 1989 he was awarded a CBE for services to the arts.

His work was exhibited in most of Australia's major galleries and also in London at the Tryon Gallery. His work is represented in important public and private collections including the following collections in Australia: the Queensland Art Gallery, the Robert Holmes a’Court Collection, the Sir Rupert & Lady Clarke Collection, the Lady Fairfax Collection and the Robert Nesen Collection.

Overseas collections include the Dunedin Public Art Gallery in New Zealand, the Australian Embassy in Paris; Rothchild Collection, Paris; the Lord T. Remnant Collection in Britain; King Ranch, Texas, USA and the Mitsubishi Collection in Japan.

References

Persondata
NAME=Sawrey, Hugh
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australian painter
DATE OF BIRTH=1919
PLACE OF BIRTH=Forest Glen, Queensland, Australia
DATE OF DEATH=1999,
PLACE OF DEATH=BenallaVictoria, Australia