Wednesday, 22 October 2008

James Gleeson



JAMES GLEESON, foremost Australian Surrealist artist, esteemed critic, writer, and poet, died yesterday at his home in Sydney at the age of 92.
One of the most respected personalities of the Australian art world in the 20th century, Gleeson exhibited for over seventy years in every major Australian institution, culminating in the retrospective James Gleeson: Beyond the Screen of Sight at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne in 2005.
During his career, Gleeson held a number of prominent positions within the international art community  and received great recognition for his services to art.  Most notably, he was awarded AM (Member of the Order of Australia) in 1975; from 1976 to 1982 he was a member of the first Council of the Australian National Gallery and in 1990 he became AO (Officer of the Order of Australia).
In 1989 and 2001 Gleeson was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa, from Macquarie University, Sydney and University of New South Wales respectively. Thank you United Galleries for this.

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