It is no secret that artists have long sought inspiration from the written word, taking narratives and orated myths and turning them into something visually mesmerising. Inspired by our current exhibition, ‘Tall Tales’, this select curation explores the enduring relationship between storytelling and visual art, proving that a picture can indeed tell a thousand words.

The most compelling stories are ones that become more than just words, with characters often taking on a life of their own. Few artists understood this better than Charles Blackman, whose celebrated ‘Alice’ series reimagined Lewis Carroll's curious heroine as a deeply personal symbol. For Blackman, Alice became a reflection of his wife Barbara, whose deteriorating eyesight left her navigating a world that felt increasingly unfamiliar.

Charles Blackman ‘Alice’s House’

Elsewhere, artists have turned to the myths and legends that have echoed through generations. Passed from voice to voice across centuries, these enduring stories continue to captivate through their mystery and imagination, while offering timeless insights into the universal experiences, values, and questions that shape what it means to be human.

Auguste Blackman ‘Minos’

Auguste Blackman ‘Waiting for Beauty'

Sidney Nolan ‘From Degas: Idea for Indoor Leda, Kind of Still Life (Braque) or Courbet - Lesbians  or Manet s Olympia 1961…’

Many of the stories that shape our cultural imagination also begin in real life. Through repeated retelling, historical figures become larger than life, their identities blurred by legend. In Australia, few examples are as enduring as the Ned Kelly. For Adam Cullen the infamous bushranger is presented as complex - more of a mythologised figure than a real person.

John Cullinane ‘Icarus’

Elsewhere, artists have looked to the myths and legends that have echoed through generations. These enduring tales, passed from voice to voice for centuries, continue to resonate. We see this in the tragic story of Icarus, captured here by John Cullinane. Soaring too close to the sun before falling to earth, this myth remains a timeless meditation on ambition, pride and consequence.

Whether inspired by millenia-old mythology, literary classics or modern Australian folklore, artists continue to demonstrate that stories are never confined to words alone. Through art, these narratives are reimagined, reinterpreted and passed on, inviting each new generation to discover their own meaning within them.