UAC Sydney – Feb 2022
March 3, 2022Profile: Tim Storrier
June 2, 2022Del Kathryn Barton 1972 –
- Born and educated in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, New South Wales
- In 1990, she began studying at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales
- 1995 saw her first exhibition at age 23
- Won 2008 Archibald Prize for her self-portrait with her two children ‘You are what is most beautiful about me, a self-portrait with Kell and Arella’
- Recent sales: A comparison of the top living Australian artists was published in 2018 by ABC News following some high-profile sales of Barton’s works over recent years. Del Kathryn Barton became the only female in the list of top ten highest prices for Australian living artists. Her larger works have regularly sold in the $100,000s and in 2018 ‘Of Pollen’ sold for a record $378,000. 2
Drawing and art activities as a child were a way for Del Kathryn Barton to cope with the effects of depression that she experienced, and this served as a calming influence. She suffered sensory disorders and sometimes anxiety, so art was an essential part of her world from an early age.
Barton’s drawings and paintings are dream-like and imaginary, often depicting female figures, flowers, and plants. Motherhood is a key stimulus in her works, both in her experience as a mother, and in terms of her relationship with her own beloved mother who suffered from cancer. Barton uses ‘…her fertile imagination and inner world to produce iridescent paintings that throb with erotic and hallucinatory energy’3. Her works explore and celebrate the female form and experience, and ‘…explore the symbolic language of femininity, interweaving references to traditional folklore and the cosmos.’4
Barton’s paintings and sculptures are highly decorative and very detailed, taking months at a time for each work to be completed. They are vibrant and lively, sometimes described as psychedelic or whimsical, often comprised as collages, incorporating gouache, glitter, sequins, and marker pens.
- Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Kathryn_Barton
- abc.net.au/news/2018-06-16/del-kathryn-barton-most-sought-after-australian-female-artist/
- nga.gov.au/knowmyname/artists.cfm?artistirn=33785#work_1
- roslynoxley9.com.au/artist/del-kathryn-barton
- Sydney Morning Herald – smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/Australia-s-top-12-bestselling-women-artists-and-their-biggest-sales-20201110-p56d7z.html
