Jan SENBERGS<br/>
<em>Altered Parliament House 1</em> 1976 <!-- (recto) --><br />

synthetic polymer paint and oil screenprint on canvas<br />
182.5 x 243.5 cm<br />
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br />
Presented by Mrs Adrian Gibson as the winner of the 1976 Sir William Angliss Memorial Art Prize, 1977<br />
A25-1977<br />
© Jan Senbergs/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
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Jan Senbergs

Observation–Imagination

Free entry

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square

Level 3, Temporary Exhibitions

18 Mar 16 – 12 Jun 16

This is the first comprehensive retrospective of renowned Melbourne artist Jan Senbergs. Throughout his long career, Senbergs’s work has been characterised by a fundamental humanist vision, a finely-honed sense of the absurd, and a rigorous studio practice spanning printmaking, drawing and painting. He is considered to be amongst Australia’s leading painters and his large-scale expressive drawings are highly regarded. More recently Senbergs has created labyrinthine views of cities, employing aerial perspectives to present a bird’s eye view of humankind’s endeavours. The exhibition includes paintings, drawings and prints from his first exhibition in 1960 until the present day, borrowed from public and private collections around Australia.

Program Highlights
A range of public programs including talks by curators, writers and arts practitioners provides audiences with insights into Jan Senbergs’s artwork and creative practice, beginning with a special opening weekend conversation with eminent art historian Patrick McCaughey.

Exhibition labels

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Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
The whipper 1961
enamel paint on composition board
183.0 x 122.0 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Head 1963
colour screenprint on paper, artist’s proof, edition of 10
42.4 x 35.2 cm (image and sheet)
Courtesy of the artist and Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Observation post 2 1968
synthetic polymer paint, oil screenprint on canvas
246.0 x 185.0 cm
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Purchased 1971
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Antarctic night 1989
synthetic polymer paint and collage on canvas
202.0 x 292.0 cm
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Purchased 1990
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Geelong capriccio (if Geelong were settled instead of Melbourne) 2010
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
197.0 x 255.0 cm
Deakin University Art Collection
Image courtesy Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Fire and smoke 1 2014
synthetic polymer paint on paper
48.0 x 70.0 cm (sheet)
Private collection, Melbourne
Image courtesy Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Melbourne 1998–99
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
183.0 x 274.0 cm
State Library of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of the Gualtiero Vaccari Foundation in recognition of services provided by the State Library to the Italian Community, 1999
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Sydney 1998
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
174.0 x 344.0 (framed)
Collection of McDonald’s Australia Limited
Photo: Felicity Jenkins
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Bea Maddock being lifted onto the Icebird – Heard Island 1987
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
197.2 x 274.1cm
State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Purchased 1987
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
New Guinea male triptych 1993 (detail)
pastel on paper
(a-c) 160.0 x 366.0 cm (overall)
Courtesy of the artist and Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
The elated city 2009
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
239.0 x 196.0 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Coastal settlement 2009
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
169.0 x 216.0 cm
Private collection, Melbourne
Photo: Mark Ashkanasy
© Jan Senbergs. Administered by Viscopy, Sydney.
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Code Red day 1 2014
synthetic polymer paint on paper
119.0 x 145.0 cm
Private collection, Melbourne
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Structure, cloud 1975
colour screenprint, ed. 19/25
55.6 x 81.2 cm (image), 71.0 x 100.2 cm (sheet)
Courtesy of the artist and Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Paolozzi’s city 2010
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
200.5 x 193.2 cm
TarraWarra Museum of Art Collection
Acquired 2011
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
The flyer 1975
synthetic polymer paint, oil silkscreen on canvas
167.0 x 244.0 cm
Collection of Paul Guest, Melbourne
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Port Liardet 2 1981
synthetic polymer paint on canvas 183.0 x 244.0 cm
Latrobe Regional Gallery Collection
Acquired with assistance from the Caltex Victorian Government Art Fund and the Shire of Morwell
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Platcha 1987
synthetic polymer paint on canvas 224.0 x 355.0 cm
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Collection
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Blue angel of Wittenoom 1988
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
197.5 x 305.0 cm
State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Purchased 1989
Photo: Eva Fernandez
© Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs
born Latvia 1939, arrived Australia 1950
Broadening the mind in Italy 1986, 1991
synthetic polymer paint on canvas 167.0 x 243.0 cm
Private collection, Melbourne
© Jan Senbergs
Jan SENBERGS
Altered Parliament House 1 1976
synthetic polymer paint and oil screenprint on canvas
182.5 x 243.5 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented by Mrs Adrian Gibson as the winner of the 1976 Sir William Angliss Memorial Art Prize, 1977
A25-1977
© Jan Senbergs/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Jan SENBERGS
Melbourne capriccio 3 2009
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
195.2 x 184.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by The Hugh D. T. Williamson Foundation, 2009
2009.437
© Jan Senbergs/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Jan Senbergs, Melbourne, c. 1959
Photo: Alan Kilner
Image courtesy Jan Senbergs
Jan Senbergs in his studio, 2015
Photo: Predrag Cancar/NGV Photographic Services

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