Introduction [1]
Ken Done is an Australian icon who has become nationally and internationally renowned for his oil paintings, drawings, posters and prints. His iconic impressions of Sydney Harbour gave it a whole new artistic perspective that people did not believe could be possible. The so called 'Done' phenomenon suddenly expanded adorning all facets of human use from post cards, wall prints, tea shirts, bed sheets, duvet covers, pareos, dresses, sweatshirts and posters galore.
A young Ken Done.
Done was reported reflecting, 'I love it that people have a AUS$20 poster in their bedroom. Only a few would be able to pay for the original painting anyway. Art as an elite thing is in direct conflict to how it should be. Whether you wear it, or sleep on it doesn't matter to me. It's just another place for me to put a design on.'
Sydney 1980. Original oil crayon for a poster.
Collection of the artist.
He has been a success on an international scale. At one stage you could buy his work in Bloomingdale's in New York, Neiman-Marcus in Dallas, Malibu in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Paris. In each case he integrates some aspects of the place into his designs, using words on images and words as images in a personal calligraphy that creates a new fusion of these elements. Kosta Boda in Sweden commissioned Done to work with a team of glass-blowers to create a series of designs around his parrot-fish theme.
Ken Done's Kosta Boda Art Glass Fish.
Done studied design at East Sydney Technical College under the stewardship of such teachers as John Coburn, John Passmore and Ted Drury. His first job was with the art studio, Smith & Julius, where well-known artists, like Roland Wakelin, Lloyd Rees, Percy Leason and Adrian Feint, all had applied themselves to the disciline of commercial art. Done worked in advertising for twenty years, winning many awards, including the coveted Cannes Gold Lion Award. Of this time he has said, 'Advertising made me dextrous and versatile. If I'd started as a painter, I think I would have felt confined.'
Originally an annexe to Sydney Technical College, it operated independently between 1955 and 1996 when it became the National Art School.
Ten years later he gave up his extremely successful career (among other positions, as Art Director/Creative Director for J. Walter Thompson in New York, London, and Sydney) to follow the dictates of his own imagination. Acceptance by a number of major Australian art competitions, including the Blake, Archibald and Sulman Prizes, which encouraged him, and in 1980 he held his first one-man exhibition at age 40. Since that time he has been walking the fragile edge between fine and commercial art with a finesse that has partially re-defined the traditional boundaries between the two. In the words of his own celebrated statement: 'I have no pretensions about where art can be found. I don't mind my work ending up on the back of a dunny door in Broome.'
There are many facets to Ken Done's art journey. Today we are featuring some of his most iconic prints on paper.
Prints of Ken Done
Title: Morning Glories (1984).
Description: Silkscreen from original gouache drawing.
Size: 51 x 65 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Title: Hibiscus (1984).
Description: Silkscreen from original gouache drawing.
Size: 51 x 65 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Title: Beach (1985).
Description: Silkscreen edition of 60 prints.
Size: 69 x 52 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Title: Early Morning Sailing (1985).
Description: Limited Edition Silkscreen.
Size: 76 x 46 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Title: Late Afternoon Sailing (1985).
Description: Limited Edition Silkscreen.
Size: 76 x 46 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Title: Beach (1983).
Description: Silkscreen from original crayon drawing. Edition of 50 prints.
Size: 61 x 61 cm.
Courtesy: original drawing in private collection, London.
Title: Frangipani (1984).
Desription: Silkscreen.
Size: 51 x 65 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Title: The First Etching (1984).
Description: Edition of 25 etchings.
Size: 45 x 53 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Title: Parrots (1985).
Description: Limited edition of 60 silkscreen prints.
Size: 67 x 45.5 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Reference:
[1] K. Done, Paintings, Drawings, Posters and Prints, Craftsman House, Seaforth, NSW.
Ken Done is an Australian icon who has become nationally and internationally renowned for his oil paintings, drawings, posters and prints. His iconic impressions of Sydney Harbour gave it a whole new artistic perspective that people did not believe could be possible. The so called 'Done' phenomenon suddenly expanded adorning all facets of human use from post cards, wall prints, tea shirts, bed sheets, duvet covers, pareos, dresses, sweatshirts and posters galore.
Done was reported reflecting, 'I love it that people have a AUS$20 poster in their bedroom. Only a few would be able to pay for the original painting anyway. Art as an elite thing is in direct conflict to how it should be. Whether you wear it, or sleep on it doesn't matter to me. It's just another place for me to put a design on.'
Collection of the artist.
He has been a success on an international scale. At one stage you could buy his work in Bloomingdale's in New York, Neiman-Marcus in Dallas, Malibu in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Paris. In each case he integrates some aspects of the place into his designs, using words on images and words as images in a personal calligraphy that creates a new fusion of these elements. Kosta Boda in Sweden commissioned Done to work with a team of glass-blowers to create a series of designs around his parrot-fish theme.
Done studied design at East Sydney Technical College under the stewardship of such teachers as John Coburn, John Passmore and Ted Drury. His first job was with the art studio, Smith & Julius, where well-known artists, like Roland Wakelin, Lloyd Rees, Percy Leason and Adrian Feint, all had applied themselves to the disciline of commercial art. Done worked in advertising for twenty years, winning many awards, including the coveted Cannes Gold Lion Award. Of this time he has said, 'Advertising made me dextrous and versatile. If I'd started as a painter, I think I would have felt confined.'
Ten years later he gave up his extremely successful career (among other positions, as Art Director/Creative Director for J. Walter Thompson in New York, London, and Sydney) to follow the dictates of his own imagination. Acceptance by a number of major Australian art competitions, including the Blake, Archibald and Sulman Prizes, which encouraged him, and in 1980 he held his first one-man exhibition at age 40. Since that time he has been walking the fragile edge between fine and commercial art with a finesse that has partially re-defined the traditional boundaries between the two. In the words of his own celebrated statement: 'I have no pretensions about where art can be found. I don't mind my work ending up on the back of a dunny door in Broome.'
There are many facets to Ken Done's art journey. Today we are featuring some of his most iconic prints on paper.
Prints of Ken Done
Description: Silkscreen from original gouache drawing.
Size: 51 x 65 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Description: Silkscreen from original gouache drawing.
Size: 51 x 65 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Description: Silkscreen edition of 60 prints.
Size: 69 x 52 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Description: Limited Edition Silkscreen.
Size: 76 x 46 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Description: Limited Edition Silkscreen.
Size: 76 x 46 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Description: Silkscreen from original crayon drawing. Edition of 50 prints.
Size: 61 x 61 cm.
Courtesy: original drawing in private collection, London.
Desription: Silkscreen.
Size: 51 x 65 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Description: Edition of 25 etchings.
Size: 45 x 53 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Description: Limited edition of 60 silkscreen prints.
Size: 67 x 45.5 cm.
Courtesy: Art Directors Gallery, Sydney (Australia).
Reference:
[1] K. Done, Paintings, Drawings, Posters and Prints, Craftsman House, Seaforth, NSW.
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