As the longest continuing art school in Australia, the National Art School has a substantial and impressive cohort of alumni who have contributed to the history of Australian art and continue to influence contemporary art practice. Our alumni are represented in the most prestigious collections around the world, from the Tate in the UK and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, MoMA and the Solomon R. Guggenheim in New York, to all Australian state and the national galleries.
Graduates of National Art School who continue to enjoy outstanding success include Fiona Hall AO who represented Australia at the 2015 Venice Biennale of Art, 2012 Archibald Prize winner Tim Storrier and contemporary ceramicist Juz Kitson, who was selected to exhibit in Primavera: Young Australia Artists at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in 2013.
Below is a sample of some of our most esteemed alumni from the 1920s till the present day.
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Check out a selection of alumni, staff and student exhibitions on this month around Australia and the world here.
Key Alumni
1920s – Lyndon Dadswell, Elaine Haxton AM
1930s – Max Dupain OBE, AC, Rosaleen Norton, Dorothy Thornhill
1940s – Kevin Connor, Bert Flugelman AM, Robert Klippel AO, Margaret Olley AC
1950s – Les Blakebrough AM, John Coburn AO, Elisabeth Cummings OAM, Margaret Fink, Norman Hetherington OAM, Michael Johnson, John Olsen AO OBE, Roslyn Oxley OAM, Peter Rushforth AM, Tony Tuckson, Guy Warren AM, Wendy Whiteley OAM, William Wright AM
1960s – Vivienne Binns OAM, Geoffrey Bardon AM, Colin Lanceley AO, Janet Mansfield OAM, Peter Powditch AM, Ron Robertson-Swann OAM, Martin Sharp, Garry Shead, Tim Storrier AM, Ann Thomson, Ken Unsworth AM
1970s – Dr Philip Batty, Cressida Campbell, Fiona Hall AO, Reg Mombassa/ Chris O’Doherty, Susan Norrie OAM, Thancoupie AO
1980s – Fiona Foley, Ildiko Kovacs, Joan Ross, Louise Tuckwell
1990s – Lucy Culliton, Karla Dickens, Adam Rish, Craig Waddell
2000s – Mitch Cairns, Jumaadi, Juz Kitson, Alesandro Ljubicic, Guy Maestri
2010–2015 – Sophie Cape, James Drinkwater, Todd Fuller, Mason Kimber, Michael McIntyre, Lucy O’Doherty, Catherine O’Donnell, Georgia Saxelby, Elyssa Sykes-Smith
2015–2020 – Eliza Gosse, Kirtika Kain, Ebony Russell, Justine Varga, Natasha Walsh
VALE
The National Art School has been the training ground for some of Australia’s most significant and respected artists. On this page we recognise and pay homage to our alumni who have passed away recently.