The son of modernist Arch Cuthbertson remembers his father’s studio as calming despite the chaos. He was continuously producing, sometimes working late into the night on several pieces at once, driven by an inexhaustible love for art. Indeed, alongside a practice that spanned cubism, abstract expressionism and texture painting, Cuthbertson was also a devoted art educator. He taught art at Deakin University for twenty-eight years, closing his career there as a Senior Lecturer. In 1959 he was also instrumental in organising the commission of a large mural by Leonard French for the Ballarat Teachers College. 

In this collection of works, Cuthbertson’s generosity of spirit and style burns bright. His expressionist mark-making makes reference to the Victorian landscape, finding hidden figures and forms in the arrangements of nature. He also presents figures locked in romantic entwinement, reminiscent of classicism. In a review for a sell-out survey exhibition, an art critic described Cuthbertson’s work as “like old-time jazz, it’s about the art of improvisation.” Muscular, energetic and conversational. 

A friend to Leonard French and Roger Kemp, Cuthbertson was encouraging, passionate and optimistic, a champion of Australian art. He was also esteemed, collected by the National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of South Australia and New Parliament House, as well as numerous tertiary and regional institutions. Back in the memories of his father’s studio, Cuthbertson’s son recalls its scent of “oil paint and home-made sun thickened linseed oil”, a place where order rose from chaos.