Label

Robert Grieve
Australian, 1924 - 2006
"Amongst The Rows at Gembrook"
Pen, ink and watercolour.

 

Artist Robert Grieve admired the seemingly simple structures of the vineyard. The trellising and wooden posts allowed Robert to focus on form, and he developed a series of illustrations whilst visiting friends Ian and June Marks at the Gembrook Hill vineyard. One of these illustrations forms the focus of the Gembrook Hill wine label.

In a lifetime that saw friendships with Fred Williams, John Olsen, Sam Fulbrook and other notable artists, Robert Grieve was a significant figure in Australian art. He was influenced by his many travels, especially in Japan. He created his own unique style with its powerful and sensitive appeal to the senses and the intellect. Fellow artists and art lovers recognise his uncompromising individuality of style and integrity of vision.

Robert Grieve's work has been exhibited since 1948 in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the USA, and has been acquired by the National Gallery of Australia and all State galleries, as well as numerous civic, corporate and private art collections in Australia and overseas.

His death was a sad loss to Australian art. As art critic and historian Sasha Grishin, the Sir William Dobell Professor of Art History at the Australian National University, wrote in an obituary of the artist: "His death has robbed Australian art of a quiet master whose work possessed an enormous evocative power and an elegant dignity."