The artist

William Robinson (1936–2025) was a celebrated contemporary artist, best known for his landscapes and portraits. After graduating in 1962 from Brisbane's Central Technical College, an early forerunner of QUT's Gardens Point campus, he began a long and distinguished career teaching art at several of the university's predecessor institutions. Robinson left teaching in 1989 to work full time as an artist and his work went on to achieve national prominence. With the award of two of Australia's most prestigious art prizes – the Archibald Prize for portraiture in 1987 and 1995, and the Wynne prize for landscape painting in 1990 and 1996 – Robinson's career as an artist flourished. His extensive links with QUT as a student and senior arts educator were augmented by the award of an honorary doctorate from the University in 1998. In 2007 the artist was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his outstanding achievement and service to the arts.

Robinson was critically acclaimed for his striking compositions of South East Queensland rainforests and seascapes of northern New South Wales. His work changed the way we perceive the landscape through his distinctive, multi-viewpoint perspective. Robinson's work is represented in all major Australian public art museums as well as in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Vatican Museums, Vatican City; and the British Museum, London.

Photo of William Robinson
William Robinson in Queensland’s Gold Coast hinterland rainforest

Photo of William Robinson
William Robinson on his Beechmont farming property in the 1980s

1936
Born in Brisbane on 16 April, the second of four children to Ada, née Vogt, and Robert Robinson.

1943–49
Family lives in Fairfield, a southern Brisbane riverside suburb. Spends early schooling at Junction Park Primary School at nearby Annerley.

1950–53
Attends Brisbane State High School, South Brisbane. In 1953 sees the exhibition French Painting Today in Brisbane, including works by Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso, which leaves a lasting impression.

1954–56
Commences training as a primary school teacher at Queensland Teachers' Training College, Kelvin Grove. In 1955 awarded a two-year scholarship and embarks on an art teacher training course at Brisbane's Central Technical College. In 1956 awarded the College's Godfrey Rivers Memorial Medal for excellence in painting, sculpture, applied art and drawing.

1957
Appointed instructor in art at Central Technical College and works part-time towards the art teacher's diploma and diploma in drawing and painting, which he completes in 1962.

1958–59
Marries Shirley Rees, a former commercial art student at Central Technical College. The couple settles in Gaythorne, an inner north-west suburb of Brisbane, and the first of their six children is born in 1959.

1963–69
Commences six-year tenure as an art lecturer at Kedron Park Teachers' College. Family moves to Coorparoo on Brisbane's southside. In 1967 holds first solo exhibition at Design Arts Centre, Brisbane.

1970–71
Family moves to a three-hectare farm at Birkdale on Brisbane's eastern outskirts. Appointed Senior Lecturer in Art at Kelvin Grove Teachers' College (until 1975). In 1971 travels to Sydney to see Pierre Bonnard exhibition, which exerts a strong influence on his art, apparent in his compositions of still life and domestic interiors.

1975
Begins focusing on landscapes of Redland Bay district and Moreton Bay. Moves to Toowoomba for six months to teach at Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education.

1976–77
Starts teaching at North Brisbane College of Advanced Education (until 1981). In 1977 holds first solo exhibition at Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane. Farmyard life becomes the main subject matter in his art from the late 1970s.

1982–87
Appointed Senior Lecturer in Art at Brisbane College of Advanced Education (until 1989). His work is included in Australian Perspecta 1983, a major biennial surveying contemporary Australian art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. In 1984 moves with family to 80-hectare farm at Beechmont in Queensland's Gold Coast hinterland and begins to paint the precipitous landscape of this subtropical rainforest area. Queensland Art Gallery commissions the major painting Four seasons 1987, the artist’s first multi-panel work. Awarded the Archibald Prize for portraiture in 1987 for Equestrian self portrait.

1988–89
Completes first Creation landscape painting in 1988, the first of a series of seven multi-panel paintings that spans 15 years. Retires from teaching in 1989 and pursues artmaking full-time. QUT is established in 1989, amalgamating former institutions the Central Technical College, Kedron Park Teachers’ College, Kelvin Grove Teachers’ College, North Brisbane College of Advanced Education and Brisbane College of Advanced Education.

1990
Awarded the Wynne Prize for landscape in 1990 for The rainforest. Begins making lithographs. Travels overseas for the first time, visiting Greece, England, France, and Italy.

1991–92
The Robinsons' lives are devastated by the loss of two of their children. The artist becomes increasingly introspective and his work more contemplative. In 1992, commences ‘Mountain’ series of five sombre landscape paintings, which the artist considers among his finest work.

1994–96
Moves to Kingscliff on the northern New South Wales coast, where the changing moods of the sea and sky become a primary inspirational focus for his work. Acquires a rainforest studio at Springbrook in the adjacent hinterland. In 1995, wins the Archibald Prize for the second time, with Self portrait with stunned mullet. The first monograph on the artist, William Robinson by Lynn Fern, is published by Craftsman House. Travels to Paris where he makes lithographs at Atelier Bordas (and he makes subsequent prints there in 1998, 2000, 2004, and 2006). In 1996, is awarded the Wynne Prize again for his seascape triptych, Creation landscape: Earth and sea 1995.

1998
Awarded honorary doctorate by his alma mater, QUT.

2000–01
Returns to live in bayside Brisbane. Holds first solo exhibitions at Philip Bacon Galleries in Brisbane and Australian Galleries in Melbourne and Sydney. Lou Klepac’s (ed.) monograph William Robinson: Paintings 1987–2000 is published by The Beagle Press, Sydney. First major survey exhibition of his work is shown at Queensland Art Gallery. Lynne Seear’s (ed.) monograph Darkness & Light: The Art of William Robinson is published in association with the survey. Robinson officially opens the QUT Art Museum and his work is included in the inaugural exhibition. Paints largest single-panel work, The blue pools: Springbrook to Beechmont, depicting pools of water that reflect the changing sky.

2003–05
The exhibition Place and Memory: The Graphic Work of William Robinson is presented at QUT Art Museum and later tours to various galleries in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Sells property at Springbrook and purchases coastal retreat near Byron Bay. Produces a number of paintings that depict coastlines where the rainforest meets the sea.

2007–08
Appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). In 2008 moves from bayside Brisbane to the city's inner west.

2009
The William Robinson Gallery opens at QUT with the inaugural exhibition Realms of Vision: The Art of William Robinson, presenting an overview of the artist’s practice. Awarded a Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus Award by QUT.

2010
Returns to painting in the still life genre, largely as a result of moving back to live in the inner suburbs of Brisbane. Hinterland: The Rainforest Works of William Robinson opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT, examining the landscapes produced while the artist lived in Beechmont and Springbrook.

2011
Celebrates his 75th birthday. The William Robinson Gallery and QUT Art Museum host a major exhibition of key works from the artist’s oeuvre and publish the accompanying monograph William Robinson: The Transfigured Landscape. 
William Robinson: A Portrait of the Artist opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT, a comprehensive exhibition of self-portraiture.

2012
William Robinson: Insights, guest-curated by artist Davida Allen, art historian Betty Churcher AO and writer David Malouf AO, opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT.

2013
William Robinson: The Farmyards opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT, celebrating the artist’s whimsical depictions of farm life. Completes The garden, the first multi-panel work produced in ten years, since Creation landscape series.

2014–15
William Robinson: Infinite Sphere opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT, focussing on the artist’s use of multipoint perspective. Begins revisiting farmyard works based on his sketches from 1984 and produces a multi-panel oil stick farmyard work. William Robinson: Inspirations, guest-curated by The Honourable Quentin Bryce AD CVO, opens in 2015 at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT, honouring the artist’s longstanding role as an art educator.

2016
Celebrates his 80th birthday. The William Robinson Gallery hosts a high tea and conversation between the artist and the Honourable Quentin Bryce AD CVO. William Robinson: Genesis opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT, exploring Robinson’s works on paper and their connections to his major paintings.

2017
Eternal Present: The Still Life Works of William Robinson, guest-curated by art critic John McDonald, opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT. William Robinson: Genesis tours to the Embassy of Australia in Washington D.C.

2018
The international tour of William Robinson: Genesis continues at the Australian Embassy in Paris. The exhibition returns to Australia to tour to Hamilton Gallery in Victoria and S.H. Ervin Gallery in Sydney. William Robinson: Nature Imagined opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT, exploring how Robinson’s work draws upon his imagination and his capacity to summon memories of places he has experienced. The William Robinson Gallery publishes a book on Robinson’s life written by celebrated author Nick Earls, titled William Robinson: A New Perspective.

2019
William Robinson: Elixir of Light, guest-curated by Robinson’s former art student Maureen Hansen, opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT, focussing on Robinson’s profound understanding of colour and light.

2020
William Robinson: By the Book, guest-curated by Nick Earls, opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT. The exhibition includes an immersive audio recording of the book guiding visitors through artworks, photographs and artefacts from the artist’s life.

2021
Celebrates his 85th birthday. A major survey of the artist’s landscape paintings, Lyrical Landscapes: The Art of William Robinson, is guest-curated by the Honourable Quentin Bryce AD CVO at the Home of The Arts (HOTA) at the Gold Coast. William Robinson: Nocturne opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT, illuminating the artist’s fascination with the shimmering night sky.

2022
The artist’s wife, Shirley Robinson (née Rees) passes away. Love in Life and Art, an exhibition honouring her role in nurturing the artist’s practice, opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT.

2023
Equestrian self portrait, the artist’s first Archibald Prize-winning painting, tours nationally with the exhibition, Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize. The Painter and the Printmaker opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT, bringing together four decades of the artist’s printmaking to celebrate his mastery as a colourist and mark-maker.

2024
The Queensland Ballet draws inspiration from the artist’s oeuvre for three performances in the 2024 season of Soirée. Numinous: The Landscape Paintings of William Robinson opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT, presenting works that capture a sense of the unknown, the infinite and the divine.

2025
Robinson passes away on 26 August surrounded by his family. William Robinson: Reflections opens at the William Robinson Gallery, QUT, tracing water as a recurring motif throughout Robinson’s practice.

1957–62
Instructor in Art, Central Technical College, Brisbane

1963–69
Lecturer in Art, Kedron Park Teachers' College, Brisbane

1970–75
Senior Lecturer in Art, Kelvin Grove Teachers' College, Brisbane

1975
Senior Lecturer in Art, Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education, Toowoomba (now University of Southern Queensland)

1976–81
Senior Lecturer in Art, North Brisbane College of Advanced Education

1982–89
Senior Lecturer in Art, Brisbane College of Advanced Education (now Queensland University of Technology)

1956
Godfrey Rivers Memorial Medal, Central Technical College, Brisbane

1969
Fred and Eleanor Schonell Prize, Redcliffe Art Contest, Redcliffe

1970
David Jones Annual Art Prize, Brisbane

1972
Eleanor Schonell Prize, Redcliffe Art Contest, Redcliffe

1987
Aberdare Prize for Landscape, Ipswich City Council Art Gallery, Ipswich 
Archibald Prize for Portraiture, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

1990
Wynne Prize for Landscape, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

1991-92
John McCaughey Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

1995
Archibald Prize for Portraiture, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

1996
Wynne Prize for Landscape, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

1998
Honorary Doctorate, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

2002
Honorary Doctorate, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba

2005
Honorary Doctorate, Griffith University, Brisbane

2007
Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), Canberra

2009
Chancellor's Outstanding Alumnus Award, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

Photo of William Robinson
Photo of William Robinson
Photo of William Robinson
Photo of William Robinson
Photo of William Robinson