Featured Artist Profile: Ralph Wilson

Ralph Wilson (b.1955, Brisbane) is a Brisbane based artist well recognised for his practice that focuses on depicting the coastal landscape and waters of South-East Queensland and Northern New South Wales. Wilson’s practice begins with careful observation, often from the water, watching the way weather, tide and light can alter the landscape at the edge of the sea. His intimate understanding of the water has been formed over years of daily sculls on the Brisbane River, countless hours spent on the waterways of Moreton Bay and regularly frequenting North Stradbroke Island.

In the studio Wilson’s paintings come to life aided by reference photos and drawings. Employing classical painting techniques with layered oil paint, he illustrates the beauty of the natural world in rich hues. Wilson’s astute depiction of water is matched by a panache for rendering vast and often dramatic skies.

Like many of his peers, Wilson originally studied architecture, studying at the University of Queensland in the early 1970s before interrupting his studies to follow the course of his natural inclination, painting. Informed by his interest in architecture and design, Wilson initially painted urban scenes and historical Australian buildings as well as still life, before later focussing on his coastal landscapes.  In 1983 the artist received the Camberwell Rotary Travelling Scholarship, allowing him the opportunity to travel and work abroad. Wilson made his way to London, Paris, and finally New York, all the while visiting art museums and galleries along the way, deepening his knowledge and understanding of the history of painting. This experience was later augmented by further travels in the mid-1980s and 1990 to Italy where Wilson painted street scenes and Venetian gondolas on canals.

In an exhibiting career spanning over forty years Wilson has held regular solo exhibitions around Australia since the mid-1970s. Wilson’s work is represented in a range of collections including Artbank, Sydney; Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane; QUT Art Museum, Brisbane; Suncorp, Brisbane; and The Brisbane Club, Brisbane.

Ralph Wilson is represented by Philip Bacon Galleries in Brisbane.