VISTA: Lloyd Rees Festival committee members Andrea Hope and Bobbie Miller at the Wollongong City Gallery with the Lloyd Rees work View of Gerringong Beach which was painted in 1977. Photo: KIRK GILMOUR
ORGANISERS of the Lloyd Rees Festival are hoping to unearth some lesser known works of the celebrated Australia landscape artist for a special exhibition to be held in Gerringong later this year.
The Lloyd Rees Festival will take place in Gerringong throughout November and will include exhibitions of the artist’s works, tours of the painting sites, art classes and food events. It will not only celebrate Rees, but the landscapes of the Gerringong area which inspired him.
The festival coincides with the 25th anniversary of the internationally acclaimed artist’s death.
As part of the festival, the organising committee wants to track down works that may be hanging on walls in homes across the Illawarra and South Coast for a special exhibition to be held at The Mercure in Gerringong for four days starting October 31.
Rees owned a home at Werri Beach, where he painted many of his best-known works. Last month Rees became the first inductee to the Kiama Arts Honour Roll.
Director of the Kiama Art Gallery Andrea Hope said Rees was a prolific painter for many years and believed there may be a number in homes across the region. “[Rees] had his holiday home at Werri Beach so many people may have known him personally ... he was a very personable man,” Ms Hope said.
“The artworks may have been passed on through families, others may have been purchased at local galleries or Sydney galleries or at auction houses.”
Anyone willing to lend their Rees artwork for the four-day exhibition can contact Ms Hope on 0402 841 638.
Meanwhile, the Art Gallery of NSW has agreed to lend a selection of Rees’s works for an exhibition to be held at the Shoalhaven City Arts Centre from October to December linking with the festival.
Mr Hope said the community based not-for-profit festival was already generating plenty of excitement and had the support of Rees’s son, Alan, who is providing an artwork for a raffle prize.
“We are really enthusiastic and the festival already has a lot of support and interest ... we are expecting people from Sydney and Canberra,” Ms Hope said.
The festival website lloydreesfestival2013.com will be launched in coming days.