Andrew Sibley, “The Complete Trick”, 1983, Oil and Enamel Paint on Canvas, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
Andrew John Subley was an English-born Australian artist. Sibley has been commonly listed in histories and encyclopedias of Australian art as a significant figurative painter of the mid and late 20th century. In 1944 Sibley was awarded a scholarship at Gravesend School of Art, where he studied with fellow students including English artist Peter Blake.
Sibley commenced his formal painting career in Brisbane during the latter half of the 1950s alongside notable artists such as Roy Churcher,Jon Melvin and Ian Fair-weather, Charles Blackman and Clifton Pugh. In 1960 Sibley had his first solo exhibition at Rowes Arcade Gallery. In 1962 Sibley received the Australia’s largest art award the Transfield Art Prize with his painting “The Bathers”.
In 2001, Andrew Sibley took part in an expedition to Lake Eyre in South Australia, along with nine other artists, which resulted in a book “William Creek and Beyond”, a film documentary and a touring exhibition. Sibley joined Kick Gallery in Melbourne in 2012, where he exhibited until his death in 2015.