Paul Guest is at Bendigo Art Gallery, perusing works shortlisted for the drawing prize named in his honour, when when he stops in front of a work from Tasmanian creative Erika Gofton.
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“How on Earth did she do it?” he exclaims.
It is a striking image, depicting a young girl enveloped by a plastic shroud, her face just visible through the translucent surface.
Mr Guest speaks with the same sense of awe about many of the artworks nominated for the prize, all of which will be on display at the central Victorian gallery from Saturday.
An art lover, former Family Court judge and three-time Olympic rower, Mr Guest seems the epitome of the term, Renaissance man. But it is a label he is uncomfortable wearing.
“I would’ve thought I was more of a modernist,” he said.
His private art collection, pieces from which are also hung inside the Bendigo gallery, fits that description: its scale imposing, its subjects abstract and its use of colour bold.
He said his choice of work was not persuaded by the fashion of the moment, staying away from artists he diplomatically described as “fancy”.
Instead, he was attracted to works that elicited a feeling or emotion.
“It can be painted by the biggest dud in the world, but if I like it, that’s it: it’s somehow dived into my intellectual space,” he said.
Mr Guest considered his collection “a roadmap” through his friendships with artists, many of whom he met by becoming their barrister.
Some of them, like abstract painter Jon Plapp, have since died, gone before his art had garnered popular acclaim.
Collecting was a way of protecting those friends’ legacies, he said, convinced some would come to be celebrated posthumously.
Although he lives in Melbourne, oft-considered an epicentre of the Australian art scene, Mr Guest brims with praise for the Bendigo gallery that hosts his works, calling the institution “brave” and “the best regional gallery in the country”.
“In tough economic times, this gallery seems to be a site all Bendigonians are proud to own,” he said.
But despite his passion for art, Mr Guest maintains he is not creative.
Drawing lessons given to him as a 70th birthday present ended with the teacher, maestro drawer Ted May, calling Mr Guest his “only failed student”.
He quickly returned to collecting.
Prize rewards ‘challenging’ drawings
A collection of works shortlisted for the biennial Paul Guest Prize will open to the Bendigo public on Saturday.
It is the fourth time a collection of drawings have been shown at the city’s art gallery.
The prize’s namesake, a former Family Court judge and Olympic rower, initiated the competition to encourage artists to use the drawing medium to create challenging, unique work.
“My abiding and passionate interest in art commenced several decades ago and from those early beginnings I was introduced to contemporary art in a holistic way which ran parallel to my professional career,” Mr Guest said.
“I appreciate that the journey for artists is, at times, a demanding and tortuous one and I trust that in some small way I have and will continue to assist them to achieve their full potential.”
The winning artist, who will take home a $12,000 cash prize, will be announced at the exhibition opening on Friday.
Which of the 47 works hung at the Bendigo Art Gallery is awarded first place will be the decision of draftsman and Australian artist Godwin Bradbeer.
Previous winners include Heather Swann, Tom Nicholson and Belinda Fox.
The collection will remain on show until the middle of October, exhibited alongside works from Mr Guest’s private art collection.