With a career spanning over 50 years there are many essays published on Grahame and his work. A selection of essays, written about specific paintings, are represented here.
Essay on ‘Dog Champs at Charlie’s Bar’. Egg Tempera on Board. 620 x 630mm. 1982 – 2001. Private Collection. Extract from Bowerbank Ninow Auction Catalogue 2016. Essay by Andrew Clark. PDF version available at bottom of page. It’s easy to see why Grahame Sydney’s work has such long standing acclaim,
Artist’s Comment on ‘Simpson Desert’ (also known as ‘The Edge of the Simpson Desert’.) Oil on Linen. 1010 x 1520 mm. 1991. Private Collection. Extract from International Art Centre Auction Catalogue 2025. In 1990 I was invited to join the Headmaster and a party of senior teachers from Melbourne Grammar
Catalogue Description for ‘Brass Monkey Hill. Oil on Linen. 710 x 1010 mm. 2003. Private Collection. Extract from International Art Centre Auction Catalogue 2025. Download PDF at bottom of this page. Dunedin born Grahame Sydney is acknowledged as one of New Zealand’s leading artists. In 1969 Sydney graduated Bachelor of
Essay on ‘Road to Onslow 1’ . Oil on Linen. 710 x 1915 mm. 1997. Private Collection. Extract from Webbs Auction Catalogue 2024. Essay by Emil McAvoy. Download PDF at bottom of page. “Just as film makers are now making the trek into Central Otago looking for the ideal scenery
Catalogue Interview for ‘Hawkdun Moon’. Oil on Canvas. 500 x 550 mm. 2004; ‘Drying Hair’. Oil on Linen. 300 x 300mm. 1988; ‘Fats’. Oil on Panel. 600 x 350mm. 1972. Extract from Webbs Auction Catalogue 2021. Interview by Julian McKinnon. Download PDF at bottom of this page. Grahame Sydney’s paintings
Essay on ‘2.40 Mailbag (Maniototo Plain, Naseby)’. Egg Tempera on Gesso. 440 x 600 mm. 1974. Private Collection, London. Extract from Webbs Auction Catalogue 2021. Essay by Neil Talbot. Download PDF at bottom of this page. Grahame Sydney is one of New Zealand’s greatest living painters. His distinctive images of
Essay on ‘Hinterland’. Oil on Linen. 710 x 1375mm. 1998. Collection of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Collection. Extract from DPAG Quarterly Magazine March – May 2020. Essay by Carolyn Guytonbeck. Download PDF at bottom of this page. One of my most memorable DPAG experiences was the 1999 Grahame Sydney
Catalogue Description for ‘Back of the Mangatuas’. Oil on Linen. 305 x 662 mm. 2007. Private Collection. Extract from Art + Object Auction Catalogue 2017. Essay by Hamish Coney. Download PDF at bottom of this page. Grahame Sydney is a supreme articulator of the specificity of place. So many of
Catalogue Description for ‘Slow Sign’. Egg Tempera. 508 x 669 mm. 1975. Private Collection. Extract from Mossgreen-Webb Auction Catalogue 2016. Essay by Peter Simpson. Download PDF at bottom of this page. There is good reason to believe that Grahame Sydney placed a special importance on this painting since in at
Catalogue Description for ‘Homestead with Mt ida’. Oil on Canvas. 650 x 1010 mm. 2004. Private Collection. Extract from Webbs Auction Catalogue 2015. Essay by Elizabeth Rankin. Download PDF at bottom of this page. ‘Homestead with Mt Ida’ is an excellent example of Grahame Sydney’s landscape art, the genre for
Essay on ‘Nighthouse II’. Oil on Linen. 760 x 1210 mm. 1995. Private Collection. Extract from Dunbar Sloane Auction Catalogue 2012. Download PDF at bottom of page. The land is a shaping influence on every New Zealander’s national, collective psyche. We can measure great tracts of New Zealand through the
Essay taken from Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures 2011 exhibition catalogue ‘Grahame Sydney: Down South. Recent Paintings (Landscape) 2000 – 2011. Essay by Kevin Ireland. PDF version available at bottom of page. The breathtaking technique of a Grahame Sydney painting seems at first sight to make its subject almost