Lloyd Rees was born on 17 March 1895 in Brisbane, Queensland. He studied at the Brisbane Technical College in 1910 where F. Martyn Roberts taught him drawing. He was a full time art student in 1915 before moving to Sydney in 1917.

There Rees worked as a commercial artist with Smith & Julius Studios, where he developed his skills as a draughtsman and established friendships that continued throughout his life. He made many trips to Europe, and was particularly inspired by the French and Italian countryside. In the 1930s he depicted landscapes showing light radiating from behind the hills and through the trees; and in the 1940s he moved to depict large open vistas, painted with free, spontaneous brush stokes in a high-key palette.

From 1946 to 1986 Rees taught painting and drawing and lectured in art history at the School of Architecture, the University of Sydney, which gave him the freedom to paint without being concerned about sales. As Rees became older he became increasingly exuberant and experimental in his approach to painting and used lighter tones. In 1976 Rees began his first portfolio of prints, Memories of Europe , based on his recollections of earlier journeys. The following year he made a series of Australian Landscape prints, depicting the mountains, cliff faces, rocks and valleys of Tasmania, New South Wales and Central Australia; and in 1980 he made a series of 67 lithographs, The Caloola Suite . In the 1980s he began to suffer from poor eyesight, which led him to create semi-abstract impressions from memory improvisations. Lloyd Rees died in Hobart on 2 December 1988.

Writers:

Gray, Dr Anne Note: Head of Australian Art, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT

Date written:

2006

Last updated:

2011