Neville PILVEN

During the warmer months Melbourne artist, Neville Pilven, spends a lot of time painting at his cottage on the fringe of the Wimmera in Western Central Victoria. His cottage-studio is located in a quiet rural area once mined for gold. Pilven’s semi-realist landscape paintings border on the poetic, with historic folk references employed as pictorial iconography; an old tank, a remnant of a fence, or a dam. His sombre palette and a sense of emotional connection to the landscape, veil a deeper questioning upon the forces that shape nature and our place as people in the landscape—a theme that resonates with the landscape paintings of Russell Drysdale.

Born in 1939, Pilven studied at the National Gallery Art School and the George Bell School (drawing). In the mid-1960s, Pilven left Australia for several years of European travel, study and painting, to England, Spain and Hydra Island, Greece. In 1972, he studied printmaking at Morley College, London, before returning to Australia in 1973, to settle in Melbourne. He was a finalist in the John McCaughey Invitation Art Prize, 1979, National Gallery of Victoria. Neville has held twenty solo exhibitions, many with leading Melbourne galleries.He has undertaken commissions for Myer, Telstra Australia and National Panasonic. His work is in collections including Artbank, Latrobe University, Ansett, Westpac, National Bank, Telstra Australia, Ridley, Potter Warburg and private collections in UK, USA, Australia and Japan.

Neville Pilven

Born Melbourne

1959-61 Studied National Gallery Art School

1960 Studied drawing George Bell School

1965 Travelled to England – painted/studied

1966 Travelled to Spain – painted/studied

1967 Returned to Australia

1970-72 Lived/painted in Hydra, Greek Islands

1972 Studied Printmaking, Morley College, London

1973 Returned to Australia, established home studio in Melbourne

Solo Exhibitions

2009 Pollock Gallery, Richmond

2009 Soho Gallery, Sydney

2008 Pollock Gallery, Richmond

2007 Soho Galleries, Sydney

2007 Art Gallery of Ballarat

2005 Pollock Gallery, Richmond

2002 Pollock Gallery, Richmond

2000 A.R.T. Gallery Eden, Melbourne

1997 A.R.T. Gallery Eden, Melbourne

1994 Steps Gallery, Carlton

1992 Stuart Gerstman Galleries, Richmond

1991 Australian Airlines, Tullamarine

1991 Stuart Gerstman Galleries, Richmond

1990 Stuart Gerstman Galleries, Richmond

1985 Stuart Gerstman Galleries, Richmond

1978 Solander Gallery, Canberra

1977 Warehouse Gallery, Melbourne

1975 Manyung Gallery, Mt Eliza

1973 Ansdell Gallery, London

1971 Joseph Brown Gallery. Melbourne

Selected Group Exhibitions

2004 Pollock Gallery, Richmond

2004 Manyung Gallery, Mt Eliza

1977 Ararat Regional Gallery, Victoria

1972 Joseph Brown Gallery

Invitation Art Prize Participation

1977 John McCaughey Invitation Art Prize, National Gallery of Victoria

1976 Sir William Angliss Memorial Invitation Art Prize

1974 Travelodge Invitation Art Prize, Canberra

Commissions

1993 National Panasonic, Scoresby

1986 Telstra Australia Collection

1976 Myer Melbourne

Collections

Artbank

Latrobe University Collection

Ansett Collection

Westpac Collection

National Bank Collection

Telstra Australia Collection

Ridley Collection

Potter Warburg Collection

Private collections in UK, USA, Australia and Japan

Bibliography

Artist Profile, Flight Deck Magazine, Australian Airlines Publication, No 49, June, 1991.

Alan McCulloch, Encyclopedia of Australian Art, 1770- 1980, Vol 2.