ROY DALGARNO
As a social realist painter Roy Dalgarno made little distinction between his life and politics, typifying the philosophies and principles of a significant group of Australian artists that flourished in the 1940s.
Dalgarno’s training in the arts was comprehensive. He attended the National Gallery of Victoria School (1926-1930), received tuition from Dattilo-Rubbo (1930-1932), and studied at the East Sydney Technical College (1932-34) and in Paris (1951-53).
From 1936 he worked in the Queensland cane fields, devoting time to painting and exhibiting works that honoured the dignity of working people and illuminated the circumstances in which they lived. His images of miners, steel workers and indigenous people were characterised by an expressive line and dramatic light, embodying an emotionally charged ‘call to action.
From 1946 he tutored at the East Sydney Technical College, leaving Australia in 1949 in the wake of the political climate of the Cold War to study at the École des Beaux Arts. He travelled in Europe and Asia, settling in India in 1956, teaching and serving on the Board of Studies of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Baroda University (1968-1975).
In 1975 he moved to Auckland, New Zealand, where he worked as a Lecturer in drawing and composition at the Auckland Society of Arts.
His work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
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