Erwin Fabian
Erwin Fabian: A tribute
One of the pioneers of modern art history, Ernst Gombrich, in his classic text, Art and illusion, when speaking of Erwin Fabian’s work, observed that “The character of the illusion [which he has created] is hard to describe”. For Fabian, who was born in Berlin in 1915, the concept of illusionism is central to his art and in each new assembly of elements, there is alchemy involved in establishing a new, self-apparent and natural order.
I remember when I first visited his studio, there was an overwhelming sense of a new order, where things appeared as if they all belonged precisely in the way in which he had made them. It is this sense of metamorphosis – conceptual illusionism, that is the most pronounced quality in both his sculptures and works on paper. It is a quality which he has maintained consistently over many decades.
Throughout Erwin Fabian’s art there is evidence of very hard fought formal struggles in the resolution of questions of mass and volume, surface and space, light and texture and all of this is informed by an emotional and intuitive response to materials and form.
In the final analysis, Erwin Fabian is a major and significant artist whose work is a celebration of visual intelligence.
Professor Sasha Grishin AM, FAHA
The Sir William Dobell Professor of Art History
Head, Art History, Australian National University
Exhibitions
Biography
Born in Berlin in 1915, son of the painter Max Fabian (1873-1926). Left for England in 1938, interned, and deported to Australia in 1940 on the troopship Dunera. After internment, joined the Australian Army, later transferred to the Army Education Unit, to do covers and illustrations for its ‘Current Affairs Bulletin’, until demobilisation in 1946. Left Australia for London in 1949. Worked as a graphic designer in London until the 1960s, lecturing in Graphic Design at the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts. Returned to Australia in 1962. Held his first exhibition of sculpture at the Hungry Horse Gallery in Sydney. In 2000-2001, a large retrospective exhibition, ‘Max und Erwin Fabian: Berlin – London – Melbourne’, was held in the Stadtmuseum Berlin (Ephraim Palais).
Solo Exhibitions
- 2009
- Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
- Australian Galleries, Melbourne
- 2007
- Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
- 2006
- A Survey 1977 – 2004, McClelland Gallery + Scu;lpture Park, Melbourne Australian Galleries, Melbourne
- 2005
- Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
- 2004
- Australian Galleries, Melbourne
- 2002
- Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
- 2000/1
- Stadtmuseum Berlin (Ephraim Palais) with Max Fabian
- 1998
- Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
- 1996
- Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
- 1995
- Australian Galleries, Melbourne
- 1989
- Realities Gallery, Melbourne
- 1987
- Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
- 1985
- Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
- 1984
- Realities Gallery, Melbourne
- 1980
- Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
- Solander Gallery, Canberra
- 1977
- Warehouse Gallery, Melbourne
- 1973
- Bonython Gallery, Sydney
- 1965
- Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney
Selected Group Exhibitions
- 1989-2009
- Annual Group Sculpture Exhibition, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
- 2007
- Small Pleasures: Painting and Sculpture, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
- 2006
- 50th Anniversary Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
- 2004
- Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
- 2002
- Axia Modern Art, Melbourne
- 1997
- The Europeans: Emigre Artists in Australia1930-1960, National Gallery of Australia
- 1988-1994 1998
- Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne
- 1992
- Meridian Gallery, Melbourne
- 1991
- Australian Galleries, Melbourne
- 1981
- First Australian Sculpture Triennial, Melbourne
- 1979
- New South Wales House, London
- 1973
- Sculpturescape ’73, Mildura
- 17th Tasmanian Art Gallery Exhibition
- 1968
- Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford, England
- Clytie Jessop Gallery, London
- 1966
- Australian Sculpture Centre, Canberra
Bibliography
- Bartmann, Dominik (2000) Max und Erwin Fabian. Berlin – London – Melbourne. Berlin Stadtmuseum, Berlin, Ephraim Palais.
- Butler, Roger, ed. (1997) The Europeans: Emigré Artists in Australia 1930-1960. Canberra, National Gallery of Australia.
- Designers in Britain, (Ray, Peter, ed.) (1954) vol. 4, London, Wingate.
- Designers in Britain, (Ray, Peter, ed.) (1957) vol. 5, London, Deutsch.
- Downer, Christine & Phipps, Jennifer (1985) Victorian Vision: 1834 Onwards: Images and Records from the National Gallery of Victoria and the State Library of Victoria. Melbourne, NGV.
- Germaine, Max (1979-1997) Artists and Galleries of Australia. Sydney, Landsdowne; Brisbane, Boolarong.
- Gombrich, Ernst (1960) Art and Illusion. London, Phaidon Press.
- Grant, Kirsty & Leahy, Cathy (2003) On Paper: Australian Prints and Drawings in the National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne, NGV.
- McCulloch, Alan (1968, 1977, 1984) (Editions 1-3) Encyclopedia of Australian Art. Hawthorn, Hutchison.
- McCulloch, Susan (1994) (Revised 3rd edition) Encyclopedia of Australian Art. St Leonards, Allen & Unwin.
- McCullough, Tom (ed.) (1981) The First Australian Sculpture Triennial. First Australian Sculpture Triennial Committee, Bundoora.
- Saur, K.G. (2003) Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon: die Bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Voelker. München, Leipzig, Saur.
- Scarlett, Ken (1980) Australian Sculptors. Melbourne, Nelson.
- Vogue Living (1988, Spring) Steely resolve (Diana Bagnall).
- Who’s Who of Australian Visual Artists (1995) 2nd Edition. Thorpe, Port Melbourne, in association with the National Association for the Visual Arts.
Collections
- National Gallery of Australia
- Art Gallery of New South Wales
- National Gallery of Victoria
- National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
- Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston
- High Court of Australia, Canberra
- Parliament House, Canberra
- Australian War Memorial, Canberra
- Commonwealth Art Advisory Board
- McClelland Gallery, Victoria
- University of Wollongong Art Collection
- British Museum, London
- Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin
- Kupferstich Kabinett, Berlin
- Stadtmuseum Berlin (Ephraim Palais)
- Jüdisches Museum, Berlin
- Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Collection, Langwarrin, Victoria
- Elgee Park Sculpture Collection, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
- James Fairfax Collection, Sydney
- Michael Feller Collection, Sydney
- William Burge Collection, Sydney
- Margaret Tuckson Collection, Sydney
- Mr & Mrs R. Curry Collection, Sydney
- Richard & Carolyn Green Collection, Sydney
- Ruth Schaffner Collection, USA
- Anita & Luca Belgiorno-Nettis, Sydney
