Rosalie Gascoigne exhibition brings Canberra landscapes to the NGA
The exhibition includes works made from discarded materials collected around Canberra and will run from 24 October to 14 February.
Works Rosalie Gascoigne fashioned from materials found at dumps around Canberra will feature in an exhibition opening on 24 October at the National Gallery of Australia. The exhibition will continue until 14 February.
Her daughter, Hester Gascoigne, said the display reunited her with pieces she remembered watching her mother make, including works she had not seen for decades. She described the family's dump visits as serious searches for the artist's working materials.
Curator Deborah Hart said Canberra's landscape underpinned Gascoigne's art. The family spent a period living at Mount Stromlo Observatory, where her husband, Ben Gascoigne, worked as an astronomer. Without a car initially, the artist explored the surrounding landscape on foot.
Gascoigne began exhibiting at 57. Her first solo show was in 1976, followed by an invitation to present a survey exhibition at Victoria's National Gallery in 1978. Much of her work was created in Canberra before her death in 1999.
Gallery director Nick Mitzevich said the NGA first acquired a Gascoigne work in 1976 under inaugural director James Mollison, and her art had remained part of its collection for decades.
