Rod Milgate

Rodney Armour Milgate (30 June 1934 – 19 September 2014) was an Australian painter and playwright. He was a professor of the Visual Arts School of the (then) City Art Institute, University of NSW and newsreader (on the broadcast television Channel 7).

Biography Rodney Armour Milgate was born at Kyogle, New South Wales on 30 June 1934.

Milgate was considered one of Australia's most influential artists, especially during the 60s and 70s. His work is represented in major collections around the world and he had many solo exhibitions and awards for his work, including the Blake Prize for Religious Art three times. His play, A Refined Look at existence, first presented in February 1968, was described as "An ironic comedy drama which reworks Euripides' The Bacchae, set in a NSW country town. Daring in form, this was possibly the earliest play to capture the emotional turbulence that characterised the 1960s." In 1960, he married Australian actress Dinah Shearing and the couple had two sons. Milgate retired to the Central Coast, north of Sydney, where he died on Friday, 19 September 2014.

Selected work

Awards 1964 John Fairfax Human Image Prize 1966 Blake Prize for Religious Art 1968 Harkness Fellowship (Commonwealth Fund, New York), two-year tenure 1970 D' Arcy Morris Memorial Prize 1972 Gold Coast Purchase Prize (jointly) 1975 Blake Prize for Religious Art 1977 Blake Prize for Religious Art (jointly with John Coburn) 1978 Six month Residency, Owen Tooth Memorial Cottage, The Karolyi Foundation, Vence, France Six month Residency, Studio Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris, France 1986 Gosford City Art Award – New World 1987 Sydney Morning Herald Heritage Art Award 1991 Mosman Art Award 1993 Outstanding Achievement in Poetry (Editor's Choice), National Library of Poetry, Maryland, USA 1993 CoFA, University of New South Wales, Faculty Research Grant 1995 Positive Images Prize, Pittwater Council, NSW – 'Incident at Avalon Beach', a poem (writing award) 1996 Three months residency, University of NSW Studio, Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris, France

Selected solo exhibitions 1962 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney 1963 South Yarra Galleries, Melbourne Macquarie Galleries, Sydney 1965 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney South Yarra Galleries, Melbourne Johnstone Galleries, Brisbane Macquarie Galleries, Canberra 1966 Commonwealth Institute Galleries (by invitation), Whitechapel, London Macquarie Galleries, Sydney Macquarie Galleries, Canberra 1967 Johnstone Galleries, Brisbane Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle, NSW Macquarie Galleries, Sydney 1969 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney 1970 Johnstone Galleries, Brisbane Macquarie Galleries, Canberra 1971 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney 1972 Johnstone Galleries, Brisbane South Yarra Galleries, Melbourne 1973 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney Macquarie Galleries, Canberra 1974 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney 1976 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney 1977 Macquarie Galleries, Canberra 1980 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney St James Room, David Jones, Sydney Touring exhibition, Phillip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane, and St Johns Cathedral, Brisbane Solander Gallery, Canberra 1982 Painters Gallery, Sydney 1983 Barry Stern Exhibiting Gallery, Sydney 1989 Bonython-Meadmore Gallery, Sydney 1989 Long Gallery, Wollongong University, NSW (public exhibition of PhD presentation) 1991 David Jones Art Gallery, Sydney 1991–92 Fourteen Stations of the Cross (17 major oil paintings accompanied by poems read and recorded by Dinah Shearing and Ron Haddrick), toured Orange Regional Art Gallery, NSW; Dubbo Regional Art Gallery, NSW; Noosa Art Gallery, Queensland A Search for Meaning – Recent Paintings, Blaxland Galleries, Sydney Poetics in the Paintings of Rod Milgate, Manly Art Gallery Survey Exhibition, Sydney 1994 Points of View, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales 1995 The Art of Rod Milgate, Manly Art Gallery and Museum 1996 Wagner Galleries, Sydney 1998 Artarmon Galleries, Sydney 2002 Journey into self, Gosford Regional Art Gallery, NSW 2012 Allograph, Gosford Regional Art Gallery, NSW

Productions and writings 1966 A Refined Look at Existence (three-act stage play), produced at Jane Street Theatre, University of New South Wales, Kensington, Sydney by Robin Lovejoy Art composition: a contemporary view (book) Pub. Angus and Robertson, Sydney "The nature of creativity". Commissioned article for October Hemisphere magazine. Pub. Commonwealth Office of education 1968 At Least You Get Something Out of That, play commissioned by New South Wales Drama Foundation, produced at Old Tote Theatre Season of Australian plays (including revival of A Refined Look at Existence) 1977 Grass Up to Your Ears and Buckets with Holes in Them (two stage plays) 1978 Incident at Novala Beach (novel) 1979 A Golden Pathway Through Europe selected for workshop production presentation at the Australian National Playwrights Conference, Australian National University, Canberra Triage or the Fortunates (stage play) 'First Hearing', 'Australian Letters', 'Poet's Tongue' and 'Quality Street' broadcast on ABC National Radio Pictures at an exhibition (book of poetry) Pub. Elizabethan Press, Sydney 1980 A Golden Pathway Through Europe produced at Ensemble Theatre, Milsons Point, Sydney Favourites (stage play) 1981 Intruders and Destiny's Mill (two stage plays) Grass Up to Your Ears selected for reading at the Australian National Playwrights Conference, Australian National University, Canberra 1982 The Story of Larry Foley (film script) 1983 'Work in Progress', ABC telefilm, The Creative Eye, series on Australian artists Destiny's Mill selected for workshop production presentation at National Playwrights' Conference, Australian National University, Canberra 1984 Triage or the Fortunates adapted for radio and accepted for production ABC Radio, Sydney Wrote Archibald Prize (stage play) 1985 Anniversary Waltz (stage play) Workshop reading of Intruders at Hunter Valley Theatre Company, Newcastle, NSW 1991 Workshop reading of Anniversary Waltz, Iron €ove Theatre, Sydney 1992 The Search for Meaning – Fourteen Stations of the Cross subject of monograph for ABC National Radio, presented by Caroline Jones, produced by Stephen Godley; poems recorded by Ron Haddrick and Dinah Shearing, Catholic Broadcasting Services, Sydney, * * 1992 1993 Incident at Novala Beach Published by College of Fine Arts, NSW University. The coming of dawn, An anthology Pub. The National Library of Poetry, Owing Mills, Maryland USA 'The Sound of Poetry', cassette recording, one of ten international poems selected and recorded by National Library of Poetry, Owing Mills MD, Maryland, USA 1996 Archibald Prize (stage play), Domain Theatre, Art Gallery of New South Wales; director Aarne Neeme

Acting appearances The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day (1960) (TV movie)