Ep 85: Ian Fairweather (part 1): Claire Roberts

Talking with Painters

Learning about someone through their letters is a fascinating exercise and this is precisely what Claire Roberts set out to do when she amassed over 700 letters of the celebrated 20th century artist Ian Fairweather.

Together with cultural historian John Thompson, Roberts has produced a brilliant book ‘Ian Fairweather A Life in Letters’ which not only gives us an insight into Fairweather’s life in his own words but provides context by setting periods of letters in chapters with their own introduction. The book is published by Text Publishing.

Claire Roberts is an art historian, curator and Associate Professor of Art at the University of Melbourne, specialising in modern and contemporary Chinese art and the cultural flows between Australia and Asia.

It was the author Murray Bail who suggested she write this book. He had written a monograph on Fairweather and had already located many letters but while that monograph focussed on Fairweather’s art, this book looks more at the man himself. 354 letters are ultimately included in this publication and the book was 12 years in the making.

Fairweather lived an unusual life. Although he was born in Scotland in 1891, the last 20 years of his life he lived on Queensland’s Bribie Island in a hut he made himself with a thatched roof and dirt floor and photos of his huts are included in the book.

However, the event which is probably the reason I became interested in Fairweather in the first place is the famous raft story where Fairweather sailed off into the open sea from Darwin heading for Portuguese Timor on a triangular raft he built himself and which was not much bigger than he was. What happened next was incredible.

He’s without a doubt one of Australia’s most important artists, with his works held in almost every state and national institution as well as the Tate in London and other international museums.

In the next episode of the podcast I talk with artist Ann Thomson who actually met Fairweather on several occasions. She brings him to life and reinforces many of the observations Claire Roberts makes in this episode.

Fairweather has been described as a recluse and a hermit but, as you will hear from Claire’s careful consideration of his life, it’s a little more complicated than that.

To hear the podcast episode press ‘play’ beneath the above feature photo. Click the link below to purchase the book.

Purchase ‘Ian Fairweather A Life in Letters’ (2019)

Links to things we talk about in this episode

• Associate Professor Claire Roberts
• Murray Bail
• The Slade School of Fine Art
• Henry Tonks
• Lafcadio Hearn
• Ernest Fenollosa
• Macquarie Galleries
• Bribie Island
• Ann Thomson
• Robert Walker
• Roy Churcher
• Lawrence Daws
• Margaret Olley
• The Drunken Buddha by Ian Fairweather

Links to selected major works in Australian Galleries

• House by the Sea, 1967
• Epiphany, 1962
• Gethsemane, 1958
• Kite Flying, 1958
• Monastery 1961

Ian Fairweather A Life in Letters (2019)
Co-edited by Claire Roberts and John Thompson
Published by Text Publishing