Erwin Fabian

5 - 30 May, 2007 
 
Sculpture 

Vigil

Erwin Fabian: A tribute 

One of the pioneers of modern art history, Ernst Gombrich, in his classic text, Art and illusion, 
when speaking of Erwin Fabian's work, observed that "The character of the illusion [which he has 
created] is hard to describe". For Fabian, who was born in Berlin in 1915, the concept of illusionism 
is central to his art and in each new assembly of elements, there is alchemy involved in establishing 
a new, self-apparent and natural order. 

I remember when I first visited his studio, there was an overwhelming sense of a new order, where 
things appeared as if they all belonged precisely in the way in which he had made them. It is this 
sense of metamorphosis - conceptual  illusionism, that is the most pronounced quality in both his 
sculptures and works on paper. It is a quality which he has  maintained consistently over many 
decades. Throughout Erwin Fabian's art there is evidence of very hard fought formal struggles in 
the resolution of questions of mass and volume, surface and space, light and texture and all of this is 
informed by an emotional and intuitive response to materials and form. 

In the final analysis, Erwin Fabian is a major and significant artist whose work is a celebration of 
visual intelligence. 

Professor Sasha Grishin AM, FAHA 
The Sir William Dobell Professor of Art History 
Head, Art History, Australian National University

Bloom's Day

Emerging

Malatesta

Shades

Cloister

Enigma

Lethe

Keep

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click here to see images from previous shows

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Erwin Fabian Born in Berlin in 1915, son of the painter Max Fabian (1873-1926). Left for England in 1938, interned, and deported to Australia in 1940 on the troopship Dunera. After internment, joined the Australian Army, later transferred to the Army Education Unit, to do covers and illustrations for its 'Current Affairs Bulletin', until demobilisation in 1946. Left Australia for London in 1949. Worked as a graphic designer in London until the 1960s, lecturing in Graphic Design at the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts. Returned to Australia in 1962. Held his first exhibition of sculpture at the Hungry Horse Gallery in Sydney. In 2000-2001, a large retrospective exhibition, 'Max und Erwin Fabian: Berlin - London - Melbourne', was held in the Stadtmuseum Berlin (Ephraim Palais). SOLO EXHIBITIONS 1965 1973 1977 1980 0 1984 1985 1987 1989 1995 1996 1998 2000/1 2002 2004 2005 2006 0 2007 Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney Bonython Gallery, Sydney Warehouse Gallery, Melbourne Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney Solander Gallery, Canberra Realities Gallery, Melbourne Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney Realities Gallery, Melbourne Australian Galleries, Melbourne Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney Stadtmuseum Berlin (Ephraim Palais) with Max Fabian Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney Australian Galleries, Melbourne Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney A Survey 1977 - 2004, McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park, Melbourne Australian Galleries, Melbourne Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 1966 1968 0 1973 0 1979 1981 1989-2006 0 1991 1992 1988-94,98 1997 0 2002 2004 Australian Sculpture Centre, Canberra Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford, England Clytie Jessop Gallery, London Sculpturescape '73, Mildura 17th Tasmanian Art Gallery Exhibition New South Wales House, London First Australian Sculpture Triennial, Melbourne Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney - Sculpture I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, 15, 16 ,17 ,18 Australian Galleries, Melbourne Meridian Gallery, Melbourne Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne The Europeans:Emigre Artists in Australia1930-1960, National Gallery of Australia Axia Modern Art, Melbourne Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne BIBLIOGRAPHY Bartmann, Dominik (2000) Max und Erwin Fabian. Berlin - London - Melbourne. Berlin Stadtmuseum, Berlin, Ephraim Palais. Butler, Roger, ed. (1997) The Europeans: Emigré Artists in Australia 1930-1960. Canberra, National Gallery of Australia. Designers in Britain, (Ray, Peter, ed.) (1954) vol. 4, London, Wingate. Designers in Britain, (Ray, Peter, ed.) (1957) vol. 5, London, Deutsch. Downer, Christine & Phipps, Jennifer (1985) Victorian Vision: 1834 Onwards: Images and Records from the National Gallery of Victoria and the State Library of Victoria. Melbourne, NGV. Germaine, Max (1979-1997) Artists and Galleries of Australia. Sydney, Landsdowne; Brisbane, Boolarong. Gombrich, Ernst (1960) Art and Illusion. London, Phaidon Press. Grant, Kirsty & Leahy, Cathy (2003) On Paper: Australian Prints and Drawings in the National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne, NGV. McCulloch, Alan (1968, 1977, 1984) (Editions 1-3) Encyclopedia of Australian Art. Hawthorn, Hutchison. McCulloch, Susan (1994) (Revised 3rd edition) Encyclopedia of Australian Art. St Leonards, Allen & Unwin. McCullough, Tom (ed.) (1981) The First Australian Sculpture Triennial. First Australian Sculpture Triennial Committee, Bundoora. Saur, K.G. (2003) Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon: die Bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Voelker. München, Leipzig, Saur. Scarlett, Ken (1980) Australian Sculptors. Melbourne, Nelson. Vogue Living (1988, Spring) Steely resolve (Diana Bagnall). Who's Who of Australian Visual Artists (1995) 2nd Edition. Thorpe, Port Melbourne, in association with the National Association for the Visual Arts. COLLECTIONS National Gallery of Australia Art Gallery of New South Wales National Gallery of Victoria National Portrait Gallery, Canberra Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston High Court of Australia, Canberra Parliament House, Canberra Australian War Memorial, Canberra Commonwealth Art Advisory Board McClelland Gallery, Victoria University of Wollongong Art Collection British Museum, London Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin Kupferstich Kabinett, Berlin Stadtmuseum Berlin (Ephraim Palais) Jüdisches Museum, Berlin Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Collection, Langwarrin, Victoria Elgee Park Sculpture Collection, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria James Fairfax Collection, Sydney Michael Feller Collection, Sydney William Burge Collection, Sydney Margaret Tuckson Collection, Sydney Mr & Mrs R. Curry Collection, Sydney Richard & Carolyn Green Collection, Sydney Ruth Schaffner Collection, USA

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