Greenhill Galleries

1956 - 2011
Born Ballarat, Victoria
1976 Prahran College of Advanced Education
1980 Preston Institute of Technology

David Larwill has been painting in his distinctive style since his earlier years as a founding member of the famous ROAR Studios in Fitzroy. Influenced by movements as diverse as tribal art, aboriginal art, abstracted figuration of the 1940s and 1950s, and the naive style of DuBuffet and Art Brut, David’s paintings are controlled and sophisticated, and characterised by their simplified forms and overall geometric patterns.

Larwill paints with a deceptively simple style that in reality is a complex weaving of colours and shapes. His paintings are populated by figures and animals, painted in an almost child-like naive manner, culminating in an all over distinctive design that both contains and conveys a sense of joy and discovery. He firmly believes that when painting “you’ve got to put your heart in it, and be honest”.

David Larwill is a significant figure in the art world, represented in prestigious galleries such the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Queensland Art Gallery, ArtBank as well as numerous private and corporate collections throughout Australia, North America, Asia and the UK.

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Artbank
New Parliament House, Canberra
Sir William Dobell Foundation, Sydney
Holmes a Court Collection, Heytesbury, Perth
Allen, Allen and Hemsley, Sydney
Baillieu Myer Collection, Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Melbourne
Orica, Melbourne
Shell Collection of Contemporary Australian Art
Western Mining Corporation Collection
World Congress Centre Collection, Melbourne
Australian Football League Collection, Melbourne
Coventry Collection, Sydney
Australian Football Hall of Fame, AFL, Melbourne
Launceston College of Advanced Education, Tasmania
Preston Institute of Technology (now RMIT), Melbourne
Shepparton Art Gallery, Victoria
Deakin University Collection, Geelong, Victoria
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Victoria
The British Museum, London
Victorian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne
Ballarat University Collection, Victoria
Esplanade Art Centre, Singapore
Newcastle Region Art Gallery, N S W
Gold Coast Art Centre, Queensland
Deague family Art foundation, Victoria
Artspace Makay, Regional Art Gallery and Museum, Queensland
Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum
Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Queensland
Lismore Regional Art Gallery, NSW
The University of Queensland, Brisbane
Benalla Regional Art Gallery, Victoria

2009
Greenhill Galleries, Perth
Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane
Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney

2008
Stephan Weiss Studio, New York, NY
Gould Galleries, Melbourne
BMG Art, Adelaide

2007
Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney

2006
Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane
Melbourne Art Fair, Gould Galleries, Melbourne
Solander Gallery, Canberra

2005
Gould Galleries, Melbourne
Greenhill Galleries, Perth

2004
Adelaide Festival of Arts, BMG ART, Adelaide
Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane

2003
England & Co, London, UK
Tim Olsen Gallery, Paddington, Sydney

2002
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Victoria, touring Regional Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland
Gould Galleries, Melbourne

2001
Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane
Greenhill Galleries, Perth, Western Australia

2000
Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney

1999
Gould Galleries, South Yarra, Melbourne
Tim Olsen Gallery, Paddington, Sydney
Greenhill Galleries, Perth, Western Australia

1997
Gould Galleries, South Yarra, Melbourne
Olsen Carr, Paddington, Sydney

1996
Gould Galleries, South Yarra, Melbourne

1994
Gould Galleries, South Yarra, Melbourne

1992
Peter Fox’s home, South Yarra, Melbourne

1991
William Mora Galleries, Melbourne

1989
William Mora Galleries, Melbourne

1988
William Mora Galleries, Melbourne
24 Macquarie St, Prahran (in conjunction with William Mora)

1987
Coventry Gallery, Paddington, Sydney
William Mora Galleries, Melbourne

1985
Tolarno Galleries, South Yarra, Melbourne
Cockatoo Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania

1984
Coventry Gallery, Paddington, Sydney

1983
United Artists Gallery, St Kilda, Melbourne

1982
ROAR Studios, Fitzroy, Melbourne

1981
Green Studios, Prahran, Melbourne

1984
Mural for Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, South Yarra, Melbourne

1986
Painted Tram, Victorian Ministry for the Arts, Melbourne
Poster and set design for the play, Ubu Roi, by Alfred Jarry, Australian National University
Canvas-mural Phillip Morris Art Grant commission, Australian National Gallery Restaurant

1988
Design for Artists and Industry

1989
Lithograph design for the program Rigoletto, commissioned by The Australian Opera

1995
Cover design for boxed set ‘Six pieces du theatre contemporain
Australian’, (Six Australian Plays). A boxed set published Editions Lansman,
Belgium. A project assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council – it’s art funding and advisory body

1996
Painting for Australian Football Hall of Fame, Hidden Treasures, A Visual History of Australian Football, the Australian Football League hall of fame & Museum, Melbourne
Artwork Design for entrance foyer, St Leonard’s Pty Ltd, Melbourne

1999
Celebration Tapestry for the new Esplanade-Theatres-on-the-Bay, Singapore
A 2.8 x 4 metre tapestry woven by the Victorian Tapestry Workshop, Commissioned by the Victorian Government and the Victorian Art Centre Trust
Things that Matter, a painting auctioned and reproduced on
The invitation to launch the Republican Countdown

2001
William Creek and Beyond, Deague Family Art Foundation, Melbourne, Australian artists explore the outback

2003
Painting for wine label, Leeuwin Estate, Fremantle Western Australia
University of Ballarat, Tapestry design for Camp Street Campus, Victorian
Tapestry Workshop

2006
Paintings for ART HOTELS, Asian Pacific Building Corporation

2008
Tapestry design for Foxtel, Victorian Tapestry Workshop

2010
Art Melbourne, Melbourne

2009
SKETCHED, Greenhill Galleries, Perth
Solander Gallery, ACT

2008
Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane
SQUARED, Greenhill Galleries, Perth

2007
SQUARED, Greenhill Galleries, Perth
Nellie Casten Gallery, Melbourne

2006
SQUARED, Greehill Galleries, Perth
Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane

2005
SQUARED, Greenhill Galleries
Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane

2004
Bright Gallery, St Kilda, Melbourne
Solander Gallery, ACT
Shepparton Art Gallery
Surfworld Museum Torquay, Melbourne
Sorrento House, Victoria
The George White Bar, Melbourne
Christies Fine Art Auctions, Victoria
Christies Fine Art Auctions, NSW

2003
The Ian Potter Centre, Federation Square, National Gallery of Victoria,
Solander Gallery, ACT
Spring Racing Carnival, Crown Casino, Melbourne
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery touring exhibition,
Shepparton Art Gallery, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery

2002
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney,
American Express Foundation Hall
Celebration, Victoria’s Tapestry gift to Singapore, George Adams Gallery Melbourne
Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane

2001
Celebration, Victoria’s Tapestry Gift to Singapore, Benalla Art Gallery, Victoria, touring regionally then Esplanade-Theatres-on-the-Bay, Singapore
Art on Steel, Wollongong City Gallery, New South Wales, touring nationally.
Secret Country, Gould Galleries, Melbourne

2000
The Art of Saving Lives, Sotheby’s Melbourne
Gould Galleries, Melbourne
Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
‘An Affair to Remember’, Art Sauce, The Orientalists, Singapore

1998
Mask, Jewish Museum of Australia
SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales
Gould Galleries, Melbourne
Luna Park and the Mass Delirium, Heide Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne
George Adams Gallery, Victorian Art Centre, Melbourne
Australian Galleries in association with Smith & Stoneley, Newstead, Queensland
Olsen Carr Gallery, Paddington, Sydney
Victorian Trades Hall 125th Anniversary Art Exhibition and Auction for the restoration appeal, Melbourne
Gould Galleries, South Yarra, Melbourne

1997
Gould Galleries, Hong Kong
Charity Art Show 1997, The Alannah and Madeline Foundation, with John Perceval, Westpac Private Bank, Melbourne
1996 Gould Galleries, Hong Kong, November

1996
Hidden Treasures, A Visual History of Australian Football, Australian Football League Centenary Art Exhibition, National Tennis Centre, Melbourne, April

1995
Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Gould Galleries, Hong Kong

1994
Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Faces of Hope, Amnesty International, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Gould Galleries, Hong Kong

1993
Gould Galleries, Hong Kong

1992
ROAR Studios Touring Exhibition, Shepparton Art Gallery, Victoria
Gould Galleries, Hong Kong

1991
Gould Galleries, Hong Kong

1990
Greenpeace, Linden Centre and Gallery, St Kilda, Melbourne

1989
Heidelberg and Heritage 9” x 5”, Linden Art Centre and Gallery, St Kilda, Melbourne
Moet & Chandon Touring Exhibition, various venues

1988
A New Generation 1983-88, The Phillip Morris Arts Grant Purchases, Australian National Gallery, Canberra
Director's Choice, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
A Horse Show, Heide Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne
The Naked City, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, Adelaide

1987
Inaugural exhibition, Murdoch Court, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

1986
Coventry Gallery, Sydney
Modern Masters, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Hugh Williamson Prize, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Victoria

1985-86
Victoria, Views by Contemporary Artists, Benalla Art Gallery, Victoria

1985
Melbourne Group Show, Coventry Gallery, Sydney
Realities Gallery, Melbourne
Coventry Gallery, Sydney

1984
Vox Pop: Into the Eighties, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

1983
Roar Group Show, ROAR Studios, Fitzroy, Melbourne
United Artists Gallery, St Kilda, Melbourne

1982
ROAR Studios Opening Show, ROAR Studios, Fitzroy

1981
ROAR Benefit Show, Green Street, Prahran, Melbourne