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.