John Mutsaers MA
Celebrating 40th solo exhibition
2023
I have been a full-time professional artist since 1983. In 2023 I held my 42nd solo exhibition in celebration of my 40th year.My solo exhibitions include a successful London show in 2006 and, as part of a group of selected Australian artists in Shanghai with the assistance of the Australian Trade Commission in 2008.
My work is influenced by painters such as Archie Colquhoun, John Singer Sargent, Vincent van Gogh, Max Meldrum, Lucien Freud, Fred Williams, Kees Bol and John Balmain who taught me composition and the principles of tonal painting.
I am represented in public, corporate, and private collections around the world, including The Nederlands, England, Ireland, USA, China, Canada and Australia.
Collectors include:
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The late, HRH Princess Margaret, UK,
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Brigadier General Charles Duke, USA
(Astronaut, Moon walker- Apollo 16)
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Lisa Gerrard, Australia (Composer)
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La Trobe Regional Gallery Morwell, Vic, Australia
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Bega Regional Gallery, Bega NSW, Australia
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Shanghai Electric Power Company, China
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Returned and Services League, Australia
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LaTrobe City, Vic, Australia
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Australian Paper Mills
I was born in Eindhoven, The Netherlands in 1942, and have generations of artists in my family. I arrived in Melbourne in 1956.
My earliest memory of being rewarded for my artwork was when my kindergarten teacher pinned my drawing of a boy opening a water tap on the classroom wall. Pinning artwork (or anything else) to a wall was never done in those days. I was four at that time. I don’t remember the name of the nun but I believe that her encouragement was the impetus to my career today. Now 77 years later I can recall that drawing well enough to reproduce it.(2023)
I have held 42 solo exhibitions including a successful London show in 2006 and with a group of artists, each with a solo section in Shanghai with the Australian Trade Commission in 2008.
Although I mainly paint I also love to sculpt and my first international success was a sculpture based on C J Dennis’ poem, “The Sentimental Bloke,” which, was sold in New York in 1994.
My large stone and steel sculptures, “Forks in Spuds,” were a featured solo exhibition for two months in six locations around Federation Square and on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne in 2008. The sculptures were part of an artistic response to the United Nations’ call for an end to world hunger. They are now permanently placed beside the Princess Highway near Trafalgar, Victoria, Australia.
My 39th Exhibition “The Infinite Birdcage” was shut down a few days into a six-week season complying with the Covid lockdown.
Since then I have relied on people who are interested in this exhibition to visit my website. Several have sold here in Australia and OS
My exhibition curator suggested that I put out a batch of smaller and cheaper works during the Covid season. I embarked on depicting a set of horse’s heads on small 30cm x 30cm canvasses. I advertised them on social media such as FB and Instagram. I have sold all nine out of nine to clients across the world..I am grateful to have this income in such a security tight period; small successes are worthy successes in any season.
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