1910 - 1990

Sam Atyeo, born in Brunswick, Victoria, was most prominently known as a painter, designer and diplomat. Atyeo’s passion for art blossomed in childhood, where he suffered long periods of bronchial illness and would occupy his time with drawing.

Closely associated with the Modernist art movement in Australia, as well as the Heide Circle, Atyeo began his education at the Working Men’s College in Melbourne before studying art under William Beckwith McInnes and Lindsay Bernard Hall at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School. Constricted by his teacher’s adherence to realism and tradition, Atyeo began to experiment with the more avant garde styles of surrealism and abstraction; to the point of attracting controversy, when his submission for the NGV Art School’s travelling scholarship depicted an abstract caricature of his teacher Hall with two nude female students.

The painting, titled ‘A Gentle Admonition’, was later displayed at the furniture store of Frederick Ward, which was frequently used as a gallery space by Cynthia Reed. It was Reed who organised Atyeo’s first exhibition in 1933 which started an influx of commercial commissions for the artist. Within this same year, Atyeo painted ‘Organised Line to Yellow’, which is said to be Australia’s first abstract painting.

Atyeo was also active in the industrial design and architecture scene before moving to Paris in 1936. While in Europe, Atyeo met a number of refugees from the Spanish Civil War, which shaped his socialist views and inspired him to create propaganda posters for the cause. This activism led to Atyeo becoming an advisor to H. V. Evatt, the Australian Minister for External Affairs, in 1942. Atyeo spent most of his late life travelling as a diplomat before retiring to his farm in Vence, France.

Atyeo’s paintings currently reside in the collections of numerous Australian museums such as the National Gallery of Victoria, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales and the National Gallery of Australia. Commercial exhibitions of Atyeo’s works have also been held at galleries such as Philip Bacon, Niagara Galleries, Golden Age, and Sophie Gannon.

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