Robert Henry Dickerson AO (1924 – 2015) was an Australian figurative painter and former member of the Antipodeans group of artists. Dickerson is one of Australia's most recognised figurative artists and one of a generation of influential artists who include Ray Crooke, Charles Blackman, Laurence Hope, Margaret Olley and Inge King.
Dickerson was a self-taught artist who refused to go to art school. His art has been described as angular and high contrast chiaroscuro and executed in a range of materials including paint, pastels, charcoals and other graphic media.
The inspiration for his art came from everyday life and he drew on the themes of loneliness, vulnerability and isolation. Lone characters with long noses and whimsical, often averted eyes featured heavily of his work. He said it is "the same style I've always used", and did not intend to change it.
In November 1955, art patron John Reed published an article in Ern Malley's Journal (Vol 2) which described Dickerson's work as containing "a new sense of beauty, a new truth". But his break as a professional artist came in 1954 when the National Gallery of Victoria purchased his work Man Asleep On The Steps. In 1959 he joined Charles Blackman, David Boyd, John Brack, Bernard Smith, Arthur Boyd and Clifton Pugh to form the Antipodeans—a group of figurative artists making a statement opposing abstractionism in their day. According to the former deputy director of the National Gallery of Victoria, Frances Lindsay, members of this group continue to be 'productive and innovative after many decades of practice.
Dickerson took up drawing at the age of five, mainly aeroplanes and warships. Later the people in streetscapes became his subject matter. He joined the Royal Australian Air Force as a guard and continued to sketch in his spare time. Inspired by Somerset Maugham's novel The Moon and Sixpence he spent the time painting island children using tent canvas and camouflage paint.
Back in Australia he resumed a life of poverty. By the age of 30, he was married with three small children. He shovelled coal to provide for the family, painting at weekends. Later the family lived in a caravan. He continued to find time to paint and, by the end of the 1950s, his work was being noticed.
He turned professional at 35 when he won £100 in the 1957 Australian Women's Weekly fridge decorating competition. A small fortune then, the prize allowed him to buy more art materials and extend his techniques. Until then he had used whatever materials were available.
In the mid-1960s Dickerson remarried, had two more children and, despite a drinking problem, continued to paint. The marriage lasted eight years. He moved to Brisbane, showing at Johnstone Gallery, travelled, exhibited—at times in London, returned to Sydney and finally settled at Nowra, New South Wales.
© 2019. All images are copyrighted © by Robert Dickerson or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only.
Dickerson was a self-taught artist who refused to go to art school. His art has been described as angular and high contrast chiaroscuro and executed in a range of materials including paint, pastels, charcoals and other graphic media.
The inspiration for his art came from everyday life and he drew on the themes of loneliness, vulnerability and isolation. Lone characters with long noses and whimsical, often averted eyes featured heavily of his work. He said it is "the same style I've always used", and did not intend to change it.
In November 1955, art patron John Reed published an article in Ern Malley's Journal (Vol 2) which described Dickerson's work as containing "a new sense of beauty, a new truth". But his break as a professional artist came in 1954 when the National Gallery of Victoria purchased his work Man Asleep On The Steps. In 1959 he joined Charles Blackman, David Boyd, John Brack, Bernard Smith, Arthur Boyd and Clifton Pugh to form the Antipodeans—a group of figurative artists making a statement opposing abstractionism in their day. According to the former deputy director of the National Gallery of Victoria, Frances Lindsay, members of this group continue to be 'productive and innovative after many decades of practice.
Dickerson took up drawing at the age of five, mainly aeroplanes and warships. Later the people in streetscapes became his subject matter. He joined the Royal Australian Air Force as a guard and continued to sketch in his spare time. Inspired by Somerset Maugham's novel The Moon and Sixpence he spent the time painting island children using tent canvas and camouflage paint.
Back in Australia he resumed a life of poverty. By the age of 30, he was married with three small children. He shovelled coal to provide for the family, painting at weekends. Later the family lived in a caravan. He continued to find time to paint and, by the end of the 1950s, his work was being noticed.
He turned professional at 35 when he won £100 in the 1957 Australian Women's Weekly fridge decorating competition. A small fortune then, the prize allowed him to buy more art materials and extend his techniques. Until then he had used whatever materials were available.
In the mid-1960s Dickerson remarried, had two more children and, despite a drinking problem, continued to paint. The marriage lasted eight years. He moved to Brisbane, showing at Johnstone Gallery, travelled, exhibited—at times in London, returned to Sydney and finally settled at Nowra, New South Wales.
© 2019. All images are copyrighted © by Robert Dickerson or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only.
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| Mr Robert Dickerson |
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| 1949, The Literates |
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| 1949-51, Two Figures |
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| 1950, Street Scene |
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| 1954, The Bottle |
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| 1956, The tired man |
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| 1960, Family Group |
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| 1961, Children in Paddington |
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| 1963, Sisters II |
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| 1965, Children Playing, Darlinghurst |
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| 1965, Man in Rushcutters Bay Park |
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| 1969, Child in the Street (Daumier) |
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| 1966, Man Walking Home |
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| 1970s, Faces |
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| 1970s, Repose |
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| 1970s, The Ladies of Paddington |
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| 1972, Emma Chisit, Edgecliff |
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| 1972, Lovers |
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| 1979, Woman on a Park Bench |
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| 1980, The Tenants |
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| 1981, Japanese Tourists After the Bushfire |
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| 1985, The Witness |
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| 1989, Sunset |
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| 1989, The Audience |
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| 1989, Three Advocates |
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| 1994, The Woman in Red |
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| 1995, Le Picnic |
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| 1997, The Taxi |
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| 1999, The Local Girl |
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| 2000, Man with Hat |
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| 2000, Swimmers at the River |
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| 2004, Country Homestead |
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| 2005, After Work, 7pm |
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| 2006, Early Morning Track Work |
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| 2006, Lovers, William Street |
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| 2008, After the Meeting |
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| 2011, The Card Players |
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