John Coburn; Australian painter
Hyfler/Rosner
November 8, 2006 Wednesday 2:12 AM AEST
Painter Coburn dies aged 81
His work:
http://abc.net.au/rn/arts/deepend/features/gallery/gallery2005/gallery/coburn.htm
http://www.artequity.com.au/ArtistDetails.aspx?artist=30
http://www.australian-art-and-prints.com/text/coburn01.htm
Australian artist John Coburn died peacefully in his
sleep yesterday in a Sydney nursing home, aged 81.
Coburn was one of the country's most recognisable
artists with a love of colours and shapes. His paintings
hang in all the major Australian galleries, the Vatican's
contemporary collection and in the Kennedy Centre in
Washington.
His huge tapestry curtains, Curtain of the Sun and
Curtain of the Moon, belong to the Sydney Opera House.
Coburn had suffered a series of strokes and a
bypass operation, Fairfax newspapers reported.
"His visual language was very distinctive and he
was a very sustained artist, in keeping faith to his own
inspiration," said Art Gallery of NSW director Edmund Capon.
The artist declared himself an "abstractionist" and
was unfazed by accusations his work, which employed intense
reds, blues, greens, pinks and browns, was merely
decorative, taking it as a compliment.
Coburn leaves his wife Doreen, and Stephen, Kristin
and Daniel , children of his first wife, Barbara, who died
in 1985.
A funeral service will be held on Friday.