Robert Hunter (1947-2014) was born in Melbourne, Victoria. Hunter’s work came to the fore during ‘The Field’ exhibition, which opened the NGV St Kilda Road in 1968.
Robert Hunter
Considered the leading exponent of minimal/conceptual painting to emerge in Australia during the late 1960s, Robert Hunter has pursued a singular line of enquiry during the past 45 years. His work was exhibited in the 1974 MOMA exhibition Eight Contemporary Artists and since then he has exhibited widely both within Australia and internationally.
Key exhibitions include solo shows at the seminal, avant-garde Melbourne gallery Pinacotheca from 1970–1996. Group exhibitions include The Field, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (1968); 2nd Indian Triennal, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi (1971); Eight Contemporary Artists, Museum of Modern Art, New York (1974); Minimal Art, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (1976); XI Biennale de Paris, Paris (1980); Australian Perspecta, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (1983); The 1988 Australian Biennale: From the Southern Cross (A World View of Art c.1940- 1988) , Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (1988); Systems End: Contemporary Art in Australia, Oxy Gallery, Osaka; The Hakone Open-Air Museum Ninotaira (1996); Everyday: Biennale of Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (1998); Objects and Ideas, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (1998); Phenomena New Painting in Australia: 1, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne, Melbourne (2001); Meridian, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2002); Fieldwork: Australian Art 1968–2002, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2003); Less is More, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne (2012); Vibrant Matter, Tarrawarra Museum of Art, Melbourne (2012); Taking it All Away: MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (2014) and The Field Revisited, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2018). A major retrospective of Hunter’s work was presented at The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne in 2018. Hunter’s work is held in all major public collections within Australia.
Solo Exhibitions
2023
- Untitled Paintings, 1978, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
2018
- Robert Hunter, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
2011
- New Paintings / 1971 Installation, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
2008
- Milani Gallery, Brisbane
2007
- Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne
2006
- Bellas Milani Gallery, Brisbane
2004
- Anna Schwartz Gallery at The Depot Gallery, Sydney
2003
- Bellas Gallery, Brisbane
2002
- Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne
2001
- Gallerie Arnaud Lefebvre, Paris, France
2000
- Bellas Gallery, Brisbane
1999
- Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne
1997
- Wendy Rogers, Perth
1996
- Pinacotheca, Melbourne
1995
- Bellas Gallery, Brisbane
1993
- Pinacotheca, Melbourne
- Annandale Galleries, Sydney
1992
- Annandale Galleries, Sydney
- ARCO, Art Fair, Madrid, Spain
1991
- Pinacotheca, Melbourne
- Bellas Gallery, Brisbane
1989
- Monash University Gallery, Melbourne
- Ian Potter Gallery, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne
1988
- Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
1987
- Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
- Yuill/Crowley, Sydney
1986
- Pinacotheca, Melbourne
1984
- Yuill/Crowley, Sydney
- Pinacotheca, Melbourne
1983
- Yuill/Crowley, Sydney
1982
- Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane
1981
- Pinacotheca, Melbourne
1979
- Gallery 321, New York
1976
- Pinacotheca, Melbourne
1975
- Lisson Gallery, London
1974
- Gallerie Konrad Fischer, Dusseldorf
1973
- Pinacotheca, Melbourne
1971
- Pinacotheca, Melbourne
1970
- Pinacotheca, Melbourne
1968
- Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018
- The Field Revisited, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
2015
- The Distillation of Light, Latrobe Regional Gallery, Victoria
2014
- Taking it All Away: MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney
2013
- Vibrant Matter, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville, Victoria
2012
- Less is More, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
- Vibrant Matter, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville, Victoria
2011
- Change, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne
- Slowness, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne
- Ten Years of Contemporary Australian Art: The James C. Sourris AM Collection, QAGoMA, Brisbane
2009
- Gallerie Arnaud Lefebrve, Paris, France
2005
- Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Price 2005, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo
2003
- Fieldwork: Australian Art 1968-2002, The Ian Potter Centre, NGV Australia, Melbourne
2002
- Meridian, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
- Good Vibrations: the legacy of Op art in Australia, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
2001
- Phenomena New Painting in Australia: 1, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne
2000
- Monochromes, University Art Museum, The University of Queensland, Brisbane
- low-down: Recent Acquisitions, Monash University Collection, Monash University Museum of Art, Clayton
1999
- Clemenger Contemporary Art Award, Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Melbourne
- Visy Board Art Prize, The Orangery, South Australia
1998
- Objects and Ideas, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
- Minimal Art and Its Aftermath - selected from the Kerry Stokes Collection, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia in conjunction with the Festival of Perth
- Everyday, Biennale of Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1997
- Six Leading Artists, United Overseas Bank, Singapore, (with Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne)
- I had a dreamL Australian Art in the 1960s, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- Australian Art in the 1980s, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1996
- Systems End: Contemporary Art in Australia, Oxy Gallery, Osaka; The Hakone Open-Air Museum Ninotaira, Hokone-machi, Japan; Dong-Ah Gallery, Seoul (with Sherman Galleries, Sydney)
1995
- Australia Felix, Benalla Easter Arts Festival, The Grandstand
- Contemporary Australian Painting, Annandale Galleries, Sydney
- The Loti and Victor Smorgon Gift of Contemporary Australian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
- National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
1994
- Lisson Gallery, London
1991
- Banal Art, Artspace, Sydney
1988
- Ten x Ten, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne
- Advance Australian Painting, Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland
- The 1988 Australian Biennale: From the Southern Cross (A World View of Art c. 1940-1988), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- Creating Australia: 200 Years of Art (1788-1988), Australian Bicentennial Authority, Art Gallery of South Australia
1987
- What is This Thing Called Science?, University Gallery, University of Melbourne, Melbourne
- Field to Figuration, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- Painters and Sculptors: Diversity in Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
1986
- Surface for Reflection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
- Fears and Scruples, University Gallery, University of Melbourne, Melbourne
- Geometric Abstraction, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
- Pharmakon, Yuill/Crowley, Sydney
1985
- The Subject of Painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1984
- The Field Now, Heide Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne
1983
- Australian Perspecta 1983, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1980
- XI Biennale de Paris, Paris
1978
- Carl Andrew and Robert Hunter, Pinacotheca, Melbourne; Newcastle City Art Gallery, Newcastle
1976
- Minimal Art, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1974
- Eight Contemporary Artists, Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Painting Exhibition, Scottish Art Council Gallery, Edinburgh
1973
- Minimal, Ewing Gallery, Melbourne
1971
- Second Indian Triennale, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi
- The Situation Now: Object of Post-Object Art?, Contemporary Art Society, Sydney; Ewing Gallery, Melbourne
1968
- The Field, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1967
- Australian Young Contemporaries, Argus Gallery, Melbourne
Collections
- Tate Britain, London, UK
- A.I.M. Collection, Melbourne
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
- Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
- Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- Newcastle Art Gallery
- Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth
- Ballarat Fine Art Gallery
- Geelong Art Gallery
- Monash Museum of Art, Melbourne
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
- National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
- Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
- Holmes à Court Collection, Perth
- Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville
Selected Bibliography
Selected Bibliography
- Jane Devery et al., 2018, 'Robert Hunter' (catalogue), Ian Potter Centre: National Gallery of Victoria
- 'Robert Hunter' in Contemporary: Art Gallery of New South Wales Contemporary Collection, 2006, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2006, pp. 38-39.
- See Here Now: Vizard Foundation Art Collection of the 1990's, Thames & Hudson in association with the Ian Potter Museum of Art and the Vizard Foundation, Melbourne.
- Jason Smith and Charles Green (eds.), Fieldwork: Australian Art 1968-2002, Ian Potter Centre, NGV Australia, Melbourne
- Michael Wardell, Phenomena New Painting in Australia: 1, Art Gallery of New South Wales
- John Stringer, Minimal Art and Its Aftermath - selected from the Kerry Stokes Collection, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia in conjunction with the Festival of Perth
- Tom Nicholson, "Robert Hunter", in William Wright and Takeshi Kanazawa (eds.) Systems End: Contemporary Art in Australia, Oxy Gallery, Osaka, Sherman Galleries, Sydney, p. 34
- Gary Catalano, "Something Out of Nothing: An Interview with Robert Hunter", Art & Australia, Vol. 33, No. 2, 1995 Summer pp. 200-205
- Charles Green, Peripheral Vision: Contemporary Australian Art 1970 - 1994, A World Art Book, Craftsman House, Melbourne
- Alan Dodge, "Robert Hunter and Minimal Art", Robert Hunter Paintings 1966-1988, 1989, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne
- Charles Green, "Persistent Subjectivity: Revaluing Robert Hunter", Robert Hunter, Artist-in-Residence 1988, Melbourne University Museum of Art, Melbourne
- Jenepher Duncan, "Robert Hunter", Advance Australian Painting, 1988, Auckland, City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
- Linda Hicks-Williams & Frances Lindsay, The 1988 Australian Biennale: From the Southern Cross (A World View of Art c.1940 - 1988), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
- Daniel Thomas, "Twentieth Century Art: The Individual", Creating Australia: 200 Years of Art 1788-1988, Australian Bicentennial Authority, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
- Lesley Dumbrell, Ten by Ten, 1987, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne
- Jennifer Licht, Eight Contemporary Artists, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- Robert Lindsay & Patrick McCaughey, Field to Figuration, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- Bruce Pollard, Minimal Art in Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane
- Anthony Bond, 1986, Surface for Reflexion, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
- Paul McGillick, 1985, The Subject of Painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
- Ian Burn, et al, 1984, "Purity, Style, Amnesia", The Field Now, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
- Gary Catalano, "Lyricism Visible Beneath An Alien, Neutral Veneer", The Age, Melbourne, 27 June
- Memory Holloway & Terry Smith, "Anything Goes", Art & Text, Melbourne
- Robert Rooney, "The Great White Hunter" The Australian
- Frances Lindsay, 1983 "A Melbourne Mood: Cool Contemporary Art", Art & Text, Sydney, Vol. 11, Spring
- Terence Maloon, "Some Aspects of Art in Sydney", Australian Art Review 2, Warner Associates/Oxford University Press, Sydney
- Ron Radford, Recent Australian Paintings, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
- Daniel Thomas & Mary Eagle, A Melbourne Mood: Cool Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
- Peter Ward, "Curator Grasps the Nettle", The Australian, Sydney, 24 December
- Dr Gertude Langer, 1982, "Subtle and Gentle Vibrations”, The Brisbane Courier Mail, 6 September
- Leon Paroissien, 1981, "XI Biennale de Paris", Art & Australia, Vol. 18, No. 3, Sydney, March
- Robert Rooney, "Hunter's a Quiet Contrast", The Age, Melbourne, 9 September
- Gary Catalano, 1979, "Robert Hunter", Art & Australia, Vol. 17, No. 1, Sydney, September
- Joanna Mendelssohn, "Andre/Hunter Joint Exhibition", Art & Australia, Vol. 16, No. 3, Sydney, March
- Bruce Adams, 1975, "Robert Hunter", Studio International, Vol. 189, No. 974, London, March/April
- Mervyn Horton, (ed.) Australian Painters of the 70's, Ure Smith, Sydney
- Caroline Tisdall, "Robert Hunter", The Guardian, London, January
- Tom Wolfe, The Painted Word, New York
- Thomas B. Hess, 1974, "The Rules of the Game", New York, New York, November
- Robert Hughes, "Eight cool contemporaries", Time, New York, 11 November
- Max Kozloff, "Transversing the Field", Eight Contemporary Artists at MOMA, Artforum, New York, Vol. 13, No. 4
- Jennifer Phipps, Minimal Art, catalogue, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- Maureen Gilchrist, 1973, "Here's Paintings Stripped to the Bare Essentials", The Age, Melbourne, 18 April
- Daniel Thomas & Frances McCarthy, Recent Australian Art, catalogue, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
- Robert Hunter, 1971, "Artist's Statement", Second Indian Triennale, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi
- Kesshav Malik, "Triennale Art (1)", The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 3 February
- Bernard Smith, Australian Painting 1798 - 1970, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, Sydney
- Terry Smith, "Ghostly Glowing Presence", The Sunday Australian, Sydney, 10 October
- Ross Lansell, 1970, “Paintings for a Fortnight”, Nation, Melbourne
- Elwin Lynn, "In a Womb-Room", The Bulletin, Sydney, 15 August
- Alan McCulloch, "Letter from Australia", Art International, Lugano, October
- Terry Smith, Other Voices, Vol. 1, No. 2, Sydney, August/September
- Hazel de Berg, 1969, Conversation with Robert Hunter, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 23 November
- Ross Lansell, 1968, "Small Mercies", Nation, Melbourne
- Patrick McCaughey, "The Significance of the Field", Art & Australia, Vol. 6, No. 2, Sydney, December
- Andrew McKay, "In Black and White", The Herald, Melbourne, 24 August
