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Pamela Griffith is a renowned Australian artist. Her work is held around the world including Australian National galleries and corporate collections. As a painter, Pamela works across many mediums including oil and acrylic works on canvas, drawing, watercolour, gouache.

The intention of Pamela Griffith art always has been to capture the spirit of Australia that utilizes individuality and uniqueness of nature. Her contributions to the Australian environment are reflected by the high-profile nature of many public commissions by Federal, State, and public institutions and private clients. She held a solo exhibition at the Sir John Clancy Auditorium 'Pamela Griffith The Art of Nature'.

Pamela Griffith has trained and assisted many important Australian artists in printmaking. Since the 70’s The Griffith Studio and Graphic Workshop has created myriad limited edition prints by large number of prominent Australian artists.  

Waratahs and Gymea Lily
Acrylic on canvas
90 x 120 cm

PRICE:  ENQUIRE $10,000/12  

Great Mackerel Beach
Acrylic on canvas
101 x 101 cm

PRICE:  ENQUIRE $9,500/105

Price: ENQUIRE $9,500

Rock Fishing
Transparent watercolour on rag paper
58 x 76 cm

Price:  ENQUIRE $2,850

Coastal Headland, Garie Beach
Acrylics on Canvas
91 x 75 cm

Price: SOLD

EXHIBITED: 2020 Wollongong Art Gallery

Price:  ENQUIRE $4,250

Landscape
91 x 71 cm
oil on canvas

Price: SOLD

Exhibited: 2024 AWI Botanic Gardens Gallery, Sydney

The Big Pond, Botanic Gardens, Sydney
watercolour
47 x 76.8 cm

PRICE: ENQUIRE $2,500

Price:  ENQUIRE $4,250

Artist: Pamela Griffith
Banksias and Blight Jug
Acrylics on Canvas
80 cm x 60 cm
Price: SOLD

Artist: Pamela Griffith
Bird of Paradise
91.5 x 76 cm
Oil on canvas
Price: SOLD

Pamela Ann Griffith (26 August 1943-)

Pamela Griffith is a renowned Australian artist from a long family of the artists. As a painter, Pamela works across many mediums including oil and acrylic works on canvas, drawing, watercolour, gouache. Pamela Griffith work is represented in collections around the world. Being a prominent artist, Pamela has been recognised by being commissioned by numerous Federal, State, public institutions and private clients.  

Profession: Artist and Director at Griffith Studio and Graphic Workshop    

Biodata

1964-65 Teachers Certificate, Sydney Teachers College

1962-64 National Art School Certificate, East Sydney Technical College

1976 Founder Director, Griffith Studio and Graphic Workshop

1976 Founding Vice-President, Southern Printmakers Association

1978 Diploma of Art, Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education

1983 Bachelor Art Education, Sydney College of Advanced Education

2017 Member, Australian Watercolour Institute

2016 Fellow, Royal Society of New South Wales

2004 Life Member, Royal Zoological Society of South Australia 

Overview

Pamela Griffith’s professional raison d’être is her contribution to the artistic life of Australia through her concerns for its environment and nationhood, which are symbolised by her interpretations of the Australian landscape, wildlife, and history.  

The intention of Pamela Griffith art always has been to capture the spirit of Australia through a representative style that utilises strong composition and colour palette, drama and action, and individuality and distinctiveness. 

Pamela has assisted and trained many prominent Australian artists in printmaking. The Griffith Studio and Graphic Workshop has been responsible for the creation of nearly three hundred limited edition prints by almost fifty Australian artists. In more technical and didactic directions, Pamela Griffith is one of the generations of NSW intaglio printmakers who worked to revive interest in the medium after it fell into decline during World War II. Pamela’s technically innovative approach to colour printmaking ultimately led to a catalogue of works of over five hundred etchings and lithographs and approximately one thousand other works, consisting of drawings and oil, acrylic, and watercolour paintings (Figures 1a-z).  

Standing

As one of Australia’s most recognized artists and an authority on a range of printmaking and painting techniques, Pamela has been commissioned to create prints and paintings widely across international as well as State and Federal Government levels.  Her works are in the permanent collections of, inter alia:

International Governments

     Premier of the State Council, Beijing, China

     Prime Minister, Paris, France

     Prime Minister, Vilnius, Lithuania

     Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei, Brunei

Federal Government

     Parliament House, Canberra, ACT

     Old Parliament House, Canberra, ACT

     Prime Minister of Australia, Canberra, ACT

     Family Court of Australia, Sydney, NSW

     Family Court of Australia, Parramatta, NSW

State Governments

      Parliament of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW

     Governor of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW

     Family Court of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW

     Family Court of New South Wales, Parramatta, NSW

     New South Wales Government Architect, Sydney, NSW

     Public Works Advisory, Sydney, NSW

International Museums

      Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

     Musei Vaticani, Città del Vaticano, Italy

     Musée National de la Marine, Paris, France

     Musée Lapérouse, Albi, France

Principal Australian Museums

      National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT

     National Trust of Australia (NSW), Sydney, NSW

     The Mint (Sydney Living Museums), Sydney, NSW

     Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, NSW

     Mitchell Library, Sydney, NSW

     State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW

     La Perouse Museum, La Perouse, NSW

Regional Art Galleries

  Bathurst Art Gallery, Bathurst, NSW

  Bundaberg Art Gallery, Bundaberg, QLD

  Dubbo Art Gallery, Dubbo, NSW

  Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith, NSW

  Maitland Regional Gallery, Maitland, NSW

  Manning Regional Art Gallery, Taree, NSW

  Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, QLD

  Tamworth Art Gallery, Tamworth, NSW

  Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, NSW

  Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Wagga Wagga, NSW

  Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong, NSW

Australian Universities

     Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW

     University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC

     University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW

     UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW

Artist: Pamela Griffith
Oriental Lilies Asian Pots
76 x 91cm
Oil on canvas
Price: SOLD

Hospitals

     Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, VIC

     Blacktown Hospital, Blacktown, NSW

     Nepean Hospital, Kingswood, NSW

     Sydney Children’s Hospital, Westmead, NSW

Corporate Collections

     Abbi Group Pty. Ltd.

     Comalco (now Rio Tinto Aluminium)

     Commonwealth Bank of Australia

     Derivan

     Fairmont Hotels & Spas

     Hagemeyer Brands Australia Pty. Ltd.

     Hilton International Hotels

     Kimberly Clark Australia & New Zealand

     Letraset Bainbridge

     Nissan Australia

     Qantas

     Regent Hotels & Resorts

Bodies for Art Dissemination

     Artbank, Sydney, NSW

     Australiana Fund

Bibliographical Documentation

 Pamela’s professional standing also has been documented in essentially all of the standard reference sources:

On-Line Resources

Centre for Australian Art:  Australian Prints + Printmaking

http://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/artists/3698/

http://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/artists/6272/

Design & Art Australia Online

https://www.daao.org.au/gio/pamela-griffith/

Trove

https://trove.nla.gov.au/search?keyword=pamela%20griffith

Dictionaries/Encyclopaedias 

Artist: Pamela Griffith
Title: Oriental Lilies
Medium: Oil on canvas
Image Size: 51 cm x 62 cm
Price: SOLD

Allan McCulloch, Sue McCulloch, and Emily McCulloch Childs, The New McCulloch’s Encyclopedia of Australian Art, 4^th Edition

Australian Art Editions/Miegunyah Press, Carlton, VIC, 2006

Allan McCulloch and Susan McCulloch, Encyclopedia of Australian Art, 3^rd Edition

Allen & Unwin, St. Leonards, NSW, 1994

Max Germaine, A Dictionary of Women Artists of Australia

Craftsman House, Sydney, NSW, 1991

Max Germaine, Artists and Galleries of Australia

Boolarong Press, Brisbane, QLD, 1984

Texts

Roger Butler, Printed:  Images by Australian Artists 1942-2020

National Gallery of Art, Canberra, ACT, 2021

Penny Olsen, Feather and Brush:  Three Centuries of Australian Bird Art

CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 2001

Surveys

Elizabeth Stuart, Australian Art Masters Series:  Flowers

Lothian, Melbourne, VIC, 1993

Elizabeth Stuart, Australian Art Masters Series:  Women Painters

Lothian, Melbourne, VIC, 1993

Anonymous, Australian Artists Producing Prints

Print Council of Australia Inc., Melbourne, VIC, 1988

Various, 100 x 100 Portfolio

Print Council of Australia Inc., Melbourne, VIC, 1988

Cornerstones of Contribution

The basis for the present nomination is the four cornerstones of contribution to the artistic life of Australia that have pre-occupied Pamela during her professional life of over 55 years.  These areas reveal her concern for the Australian environment and nationhood through her interpretations of the Australian landscape, its wildlife, and its history, in particular, their depictions through printmaking.  These cornerstones are epitomised through a number of representative publications:

Australian Landscape

Pamela is the author of a major book about her interpretation of the Australian landscape through her art (Figure 2): 

Pamela Griffith, Australia:  An Artist’s Journey through the Landscape

International Artist Publishing, Chatswood, NSW, 2003 (168 pp.)

Australian Wildlife

Pamela’s artistic endeavours also have been the subject of numerous exhibition catalogues, an example featuring her work on Australian wildlife being (Figure 3):

Pamela Griffith, Judith Jensen, Joanna Mendelssohn, and Penny Olsen, Teeming with Life:  The Wongaloo Project

Gallery Services, Townsville, QLD, 2015 (89 pp.)

Australian History

Pamela’s cognisance of the importance of Australian history is demonstrated by another book written by her (Figures 4a & b): 

Pamela Griffith [compiler], The Roadmakers:  A History of Main Roads in New South Wales

Department of Main Roads, Sydney, 1976 (359 pp.)

Pamela Griffith's attention to Australian history also is highlighted by an upcoming solo exhibition of over forty paintings (21 March – 14 June 2020) at the Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong, NSW.  The focus of the exhibition is how the historic photographs of the region taken by Charles Kerry & Co, circa 1890, have inspired her to interpret regional history through her paintings.

Australian Printmaking

Pamela’s efforts in establishing printmaking as a major force in Australian art have been documented in another major exhibition catalogue, which is an overview of the influence of the Griffith Studio and Graphic Workshop on this development (Figure 5):

Roger Butler and Kate Milner, Prints from the Griffith Studio:  1978 - 2011

Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre, Gymea, NSW, 2011 (56 pp.)

What generally is not known is Pamela’s role in the development of the Hilldav press, to which Roger Butler referred in Printed:  Images by Australian Artists 1942-2020.  She actually instructed Charles Hill, who was a furnace manufacturer, in printing press design and directed him to manufacture it to her specifications.

The importance of the subsequent use of this press and the establishment of the Griffith Studio and Graphic Workshop is emphasised by the fact that, through her roles in formal instruction and as a master printer, Pamela has been responsible for developing the printmaking skills and enabling the publication of prints by a line-up of major Australian artists, many of whom are listed subsequently.

Pamela’s multigenerational influence is shown by the fact that she trained Michael Kempson in editioning, who is in charge of printmaking at UNSW Art & Design as well as being the founding Director of Cicada Press, which fosters education and research in the printmaking process.  She also trained other master printers, including Rew Hanks, Trevor Riach, and Paul Thirkell.

In addition to her paintings and prints of Australian landscape, wildlife, and history, she also is a noted portraitist of prominent Australian public figures, having been commissioned to create the portraits of many notables, including, inter alia:

Sir William Deane, AC, KBE, 22^nd Governor-General of Australia (1996-2001)

Dame Marie Bashir, AC, CVO, Governor of New South Wales (2001-2014)

Cardinal George Pell, AC, Cardinal of the Catholic Church (2003-)

Bishop Kevin Manning, Bishop of Parramatta (1997-2010)

Dame Joan Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE, La Stupenda

Richard Bonynge, AC, CBE, conductor

Elena Kats-Chernin, AO, composer

Henry Szeps, OAM, actor

Professor Ross Steele, AM, Francophile academic, University of Sydney

Dr. Saul Griffith, inventor, entrepreneur, and environmentalist

Since her first major one-person exhibition in 1978, she has exhibited widely across Australia and internationally in over one hundred solo exhibitions, including in New York and Hong Kong, and over fifty group exhibitions.

Artist: Pamela Griffith
Wattle and Iris Flowers
80 x 100 cm
oil  on canvas
Price:  SOLD

Significant Contributions to the Artistic Life of Australia (Collective)

Pamela’s contributions to the environment and nationhood of Australia through her art are reflected by the high-profile nature of her public commissions, a selection of which is as follows:

Significant Contribution 1:  Printmaking in NSW

Pamela has played a pivotal role in the establishment, development, and maintenance of intaglio printmaking in New South Wales.  This alone has assured her a prominent place in the history of Australian art, artistically, didactically, and economically.  Referring to the postwar period in Printed:  Images by Australian Artists 1942-2020 (National Gallery of Art, Canberra, ACT, 2021), Roger Butler, formerly Senior Curator of Australian Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Australia, documents Pamela’s contribution to printmaking:

The lack of a common space or organisation made printmaking in New South Wales almost invisible.  But in the late 1950s isolated artists were at work.  Roy Fluke, Sue Buckley, James Sharp, John Coburn and Guy Warren all went on to exhibit prints.  Elizabeth Rooney, who began producing prints in the early 1950s, consistently etched and re-etched her plates depicting the madness of the urban environment in time-lapse superimposition.  Her friend Joyce Allen was equally pointed in her depictions of family and the foibles of day-to-day life.  Joy Ewart produced some lithographs of emotional power and was responsible for establishing the access workshop, Workshop Arts Centre, in Willoughby…

Eighteen-year-old art student Pamela Griffith approached the Principal of East Sydney Technical College in 1961, requesting that the old etching press stored in pieces under the stairwell be reassembled and that printmaking be added to the syllabus.  This happened two years later when Earle Backen, who had studied with William Hayter in Paris, and David Strachan, who had run Stramur-Presse, also in Paris, began teaching in Sydney…

The first Australian-made etching presses were manufactured in Melbourne in response to the printmaking revival of the 1960s.  Mechanical designer Neil Jeffrey, who developed a range of etching presses over the years, constructed the first Enjay press for, and in conjunction with, George Baldessin in 1968.  A lithographic press was later added to the range.  The Hilton press, first produced in 1971, was made in conjunction with Bruno Leti.  Australian’s third locally manufactured press, the Hilldav press, was designed by Sydney Engineer Charles Hill after extensive research and discussion with local printmakers.  The first two presses were built for David Rose and Pamela Griffith in 1976.  As Griffith wrote at the time:

The production of a press in Sydney is good news for local artists.  Freight costs added to interstate models are eliminated, the presses are considerably cheaper than equivalent English, American and Italian counterparts.  There is the additional advantage of local servicing facilities…

In 1975 Pamela Griffith began construction of a purpose-built studio, the Griffith Studio and Graphic Workshop at Bardwell Park in Southern Sydney.  The studio was equipped with one of the new Hilldav presses as well as a large nineteenth century lithographic press.  The aim was to create a professional printmaking studio where Griffith could facilitate the production of prints of the highest technical standards for professional artists.  The Griffith Studio and Graphic Workshop was not to be financed by government grants, nor was it to be a print seller or attached to a commercial gallery.  The focus was on providing artists (many who had never produced prints) with the technical support they needed to create a printing matrix, and then to supply the services of skilled printers to produce the editions.

To facilitate these goals Griffith invited many young printmakers to work with her in the studio, passing on to them the finer points of the profession.  This helped create a larger pool of skilled practitioners and the recognition of the complexities involved in print production.  The range of artists who worked at the Studio include:  Tony Coleing, Salvatore Zofrea, Christopher Gentle, George Gittoes and the late Adam Cullen.  The studio encouraged an experimental and open-minded approach to printmaking, using both traditional and contemporary techniques.  Between 1975 when it was established and 2011 when a major survey of it was mounted by the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre, Griffith Studio and Graphic Workshop had produced more than 700 editions for some fifty artists.

Significant Contribution 2:  Teaching

A singular contribution by Pamela to Australian artistic life is her lifelong passion for the teaching of art, both painting and printmaking.  Through her establishment of the Griffith Studio and Graphic Workshop, she taught two generations of artists and master printers.  Although she has taught or provided technical assistance to hundreds of artists over nearly half a century, Table 1 lists some of the prominent Australian artists she has assisted.

Table 1.  Prominent Australian Artists Assisted Professionally

In addition to her contributions to specific artists, Pamela was an Advisory Editor for the practical monthly magazine for Australian artists, Australian Artist.  Pamela was appointed to her role upon commencement of the magazine’s publication in 1984 and served in this role until the demise of the magazine in 2020.  Her writing many articles on etching, lithography, oil painting, and acrylic painting as well as her being featured on covers several times helped to establish her reputation as an authority on these techniques.

Pamela also is a regular contributor to International Artist, which was established 2011 as a forum for artists to discuss their creative methods and reveal their painting techniques.  She also has been the subject of articles in this magazine.

Significant Contributions to the Artistic Life of Australia (Individual)

Significant Contribution 3:  Bicentennial Toile and Macquarie Toile

In 1987, she was commissioned by Ascraft Fabrics, on behalf of the Royal Australian Historical Society (RAHS), Sydney, NSW, to design and mass-produce two commemorative Bicentennial toile fabrics that depicted key events in colonial Australian history.  

The Bicentennial Toile (Figure 6) depicts twelve scenes from the first three years of settlement of the Sydney colony, in three colour variants in a single-repeat pattern over an area of 147 cm by 100 cm.  The Macquarie Toile (Figure 7) complements this by depicting twenty-four scenes of the period during which Lachlan Macquarie served as Governor of NSW (1810-1821), in three colour variants of double-repeat pattern over a smaller area of 86 cm by 74 cm.  

The toiles served important fundraising functions in that proceeds from their sale went to the RAHS; the fundraising was facilitated by Pamela’s donation of all of her efforts.  She undertook the work to design the toiles and to ensure their fabrication using cotton grown and spun in Queensland, woven in New South Wales, and printed in Victoria – the first such all-Australian effort to produce historic artistic textiles.  The Bicentennial Toile is recognised as Australia’s commemorative textile and, as such, has been used extensively in Australian embassies throughout the world.  Examples of both toiles are archived in the Powerhouse Museum.

Significant Contribution 4:  Mary MacKillop Toile

Having established a unique position in Australia for innovative design and manufacture of printed fabrics, in 1993, she was commissioned by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, Sydney, NSW, to design and produce a toile to support the beatification of Sister Mary MacKillop (Figure 8).  It was presented to Pope John Paul II at the Powerhouse Museum as a gift from the children of Australia during his visit to Australia during 18-20 January 1994.  It subsequently entered the collection of the Vatican Museums; it also is archived in the Powerhouse Museum.  The toile shows the life of Mary MacKillop through thirty-one religious, rural, and domestic scenes of her life, in four colour variants of a single-repeat pattern over an area of 142 cm by 72 cm.  The toile also served the purpose of fundraising for the ultimately successful beatification; again, Pamela donated her efforts to this cause.  It was sold worldwide for use in a variety of ways to spread the Mary MacKillop story.  Pamela also donated additional images used to illustrate the life of Mary MacKillop in a book (Pauline Wicks, Mary MacKillop:  Inspiration for Today, 2005) and sixteen pamphlets, all published by the Trustees of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, Croydon, NSW.  The images created by Pamela for the toile also were used as part of the foundation collection of the Mary MacKillop Place Museum, North Sydney, NSW.

Significant Contribution 5:  APEC Heads of State Collection

In 2006, she was commissioned by the Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to produce a limited-edition colour etching for presentation to the twenty-one Heads of State who were attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings held around Australia during January to August 2007 (Figure 9).  Prime Minister John W. Howard presented a suite of four prints, including one of Pamela’s, all of which had been selected by the National Gallery of Australia to comprise the suite.  A limited-edition leather-bound edition of her book, Australia:  An Artist’s Journey through the Landscape, also was presented to each of the participants.  The suites of prints now are housed in the various Embassies and Consulates of the participating nations.  Pamela also was commissioned to produce artwork for the menu for the formal wives’ dinner hosted by Mrs. Howard.

Significant Contribution 6:  Field Guide to Royal National Park

A public science and environment contribution was her support of a major book on the natural history of the Royal National Park, which was published to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the world’s second oldest national park.  Pamela donated the rights to the images for the front and back covers.  The book was released in 2013 at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, NSW (Figures 10a & b):

Robert J. King, Editor

Field Guide to Royal National Park

Linnean Society of New South Wales, Sydney, 2013 (170 pp.)

The Linnean Society of NSW was founded in 1874 and is dedicated to the promotion of the study and cultivation of natural history.  Pamela allowed free reproduction rights for seven illustrations of plants and birds, including her paintings of waratahs for the front cover and of kookaburras for the back cover.

Significant Contribution 7:  ANSTO-UNSW Sydney Wetland Ecology

A recent demonstration of Pamela’s commitment to science and the environment through her art practice is a poster commissioned in 2016 by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) in conjunction with the Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW Sydney.  This work has been reproduced in both poster form (Figures 11a & b) and in large-format travelling-booth form (Figure 12) to support these groups’ work in the effects of water quality on bird life.  The poster, of which there were two sizes (86 cm by 120 cm and 60 cm by 84 cm), had a print run in the thousands and was distributed widely around Australia.  Again, Pamela donated her time and talents to assist this effort in Australian ecology.

Significant Contribution 8:  Resonances of Inspiration – A Centenary of Federation Project

As part of Pamela’s contribution to Australia’s Centenary of Federation activities, she was commissioned in 2001 to design a large-scale sculptural embroidery entitled Resonances of Inspiration (Figure 13), a title dedicated to the people who have made contributions to the culture of the Penrith region over the preceding century.  The work was executed by the Creative Embroiderers of the Penrith Valley and it was funded by the Australian Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.  Forty embroiderers contributed to its creation and it consists of five triangular sails of approximate dimensions 3.5 m by 1.0 m, standing proud of two elaborately embroidered panels and spanning approximately 3.5 m by 2.0 m. It was presented to the community in the presence of the Governor General of Australia Dr. Peter Hollingworth.  It hangs in the foyer of the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre in Penrith, NSW.

Significant Contribution 9:  Animals of the Asian Zodiac

In 2008, the year of the Beijing Olympics, Pamela was invited by Dr. Zeny Edwards, President of the National Trust of Australia (NSW), to commemorate Chinese philosophical principles by producing a suite of relief prints that depict the twelve animals of the Asian Zodiac (Figure 14).  This suite, entitled Animals of the Asian Zodiac, was exhibited in the Annie Wyatt Room of the National Trust Centre, Observatory Hill, Sydney, NSW; this exhibition was designed to coincide with a parallel exhibition celebrating the Beijing Olympics in the adjacent S.H. Ervin Gallery.

Significant Contribution 10:  NSW Driver’s Licence Design

Perhaps Pamela’s most conspicuous contribution to Australian artistic life is her being commissioned by Olivetti S.p.A. in 1995 to prepare artwork for the Roads and Transport Authority of New South Wales (RTA).  Four of her watercolour paintings of waratahs were used subsequently on NSW drivers’ licences (Figure 15).  As a result, every licensed driver in NSW to this date holds a licence that bears one of these images.  Pamela worked with a panel of experts with the RTA to complete these hologram-containing licences, which were the first electronic drivers’ licences in the world.

Recognition

Pamela has been recognised as a key practitioner of Australian art by being commissioned by numerous Federal, State, and public institutions as well as by private clients.  Table 2 summarises these commissions.

 Artist: Pamela Griffith
Bella Donna Lilies
100 x 84cm
Oil on Canvas
Price: SOLD

Pamela also has a large body of work in the collection of Artbank, which is an Australian Government visual arts support and access initiative.  It is part of the Australian Government Office for the Arts, within the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications.  It was established in 1980 with the aims of providing direct support to Australian contemporary artists through the acquisition of their work and to promote the value of Australian contemporary art to the broad public.  Works from its collection of over 10,000 prints, paintings, sculptures, photographs, and videos can be leased to individuals, companies, and governments in Australia and overseas.  Artbank considers its collection to be absolutely representative of the indigenous and nonindigenous art held in the State and Federal collections.

Pamela has three etchings and two printing plates in the collection of The Australiana Fund, which is an independent fundraising body established in 1978 with the aims of acquiring a national collection of historic artworks to form the décor for the four Official Residences of the Governaor-General and the Prime Minister of Australia so that visiting dignitaries, international royalty, and government officials are surrounded by the highest quality examples of Australian art and design.  The collection includes prints, paintings, sculpture, ceramics and glass, metalwork, textiles, furniture, and indigenous art.

Pamela’s professional activities have been documented extensively across twenty pages and approximately four hundred entries in Trove, which was established in 2009 to bring together and establish a database comprising the archives of numerous organisations, communities, and individuals working with the National Library of Australia.

Pamela’s expertise has been recognised by her being invited to serve as judge for art competitions too numerous to list.

Pamela also has been invited to make a great many spoken presentations on her art and her professional interests.  However, her public-speaking activities extend beyond these limitations in that she has been an active advocate for women in the arts, as evidenced by her presentations to organisations such as VIEW Clubs of Australia, which is a leading women’s national volunteer organisation established in 1960 and whose acronym stands for Voice, Interests, and Education of Women.

Pamela was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales in recognition of her professional activities.  The on-line citation states that the award was granted for the following: 

Substantial body of art works in the community. Represented in regional, state and federal collections. Commissioned to produce works of national significance for commemorative occasions.  Art, history and science collaborations. 

Pamela was honoured by UNSW Sydney with an invited solo exhibition held at the Sir John Clancy Auditorium Foyer during the extended period of 8 March to 23 May 2021; it was entitled Pamela Griffith │ The Art of Nature and it served as part of UNSW’s International Women’s Day celebrations.  The exhibition included nineteen works, of which fifteen were etchings and four were paintings.  Of the etchings, thirteen were gifted to the UNSW Art Collection.  The exhibition is documented in Appendix 1.

Table 2.  Public, Commercial, and Private Commissions

Philanthropy

Pamela has been a generous donor of works not only by herself but three generations of her family. The value of the donations made directly by her and through her husband Ross and daughter Selena exceed $500,000.  Table 3 lists the major donations that have been made.

Table 3.  Philanthropic Donations

More broadly, Pamela has been very generous in awarding reproduction rights and nonexclusive licence to publish and reproduce her works to organisations and charities for fundraising purposes and promotion.  Some of her beneficiaries include the National Gallery of Australia, the National Library of Australia, the National Trust of Australia, the Parliament of Australia, the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation, the Linnean Society of NSW, the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia, several regional galleries, and many hospitals around Australia.

Pamela has provided as a long-term loan her large antique lithography press and thirty valuable limestone plates from Bavaria to Canopy Art Centre, Cairns, QLD.  This press is used exclusively to produce aboriginal work under the guidance of master printer Theo Tremblay.

Summary

Upon her investiture as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales in 2017, Pamela received the following detailed citation:

Pamela Griffith is a leading Australian artist having worked for nearly 50 years as a painter and printmaker. Her works are represented in National, State and Regional Gallery collections across Australia, and in major corporate and private collections in Australia, England, France, Germany, USA, and Asia. Major commissions include Bicentennial and Macquarie toiles; Mary McKillop toile; portraits of Dame Joan Sutherland, Richard Bonynge, Sir William Deane, Cardinal Pell and recently Marie Bashir, plus numerous private portraits.  Pamela has taught art at Schools and Technical Colleges, has published a book of her prints a copy of which was presented to HM The Queen, and is a public speaker.

For the exhibition Animals of the Asian Zodiac, Dr. Zeny Edwards, President of the National Trust of Australia (NSW), wrote in the exhibition catalogue:

The Zoological Society has awarded Pamela an honorary life membership because of her untiring efforts to make people aware of the plight of endangered animals, now global victims of climate change.  Her love for animals makes this portfolio so appropriate and timely to coincide with the Beijing Olympics.  I commend it to you.

Upon reviewing the same exhibition for the Sydney Morning Herald on 23 August 2008, the art critic Mr. John McDonald wrote:

At the same time as the Yin-Yang, in another part of the National Trust building, Pamela Griffith is showing a suite of relief prints called Animals of the Asian Zodiac and a selection of earlier works.  A consummate technician, Griffith is quite happy to describe herself as a “conservative” artist, which makes a change from all those witless conformists who think of themselves as radicals.  Her images are straightforward in style but this belies the amount of work that goes into each print.  She is an artist who has long followed her own path, acquiring a large, much deserved following.

These comments epitomise Pamela’s contributions to the artistic life of Australia by noting her accomplishments in printmaking, painting, and art teaching.  These comments also highlight her love for Australian wildlife, which is complemented by her equally abiding love for the Australian landscape and Australian history.  Significantly, she has turned these images into action through her long-standing and significant sense of philanthropy, which has benefited many organisations and charities.

The present nomination is based on Pamela Griffith’s 55-year career-length effort in the promotion of the artistic life of Australia.  This has been done through her dedicated efforts to support several generations of artists and through her creation and dissemination of art that reflects her devotion to the Australian environment and nationhood through her impressions of its landscape, wildlife, and history. 

Education:

National Art School, East Sydney Technical College, 1961-1964; Art IV Prize, Sydney Teachers College 1965; Teachers Certificate, 1966; Bachelor of Art Education, Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education, 1983; Evening studies at National art school in life drawing and life painting and etching. Fellow of The Royal Society of New South Wales, 2017; Associate of Royal Art Society; Member of the Marine Artists Society, 2017; Member of Australian Watercolour Institute; Member of the Print Council of Australia.

Activities:

Taught in Secondary schools, Technical Colleges, Colleges of Advanced Education, numerous community art schools; Employed as Historian of Department of Main and author of their history book, ‘The Roadmakers’. Author of ‘Australia, an artist’s journey through the landscape’ Master Printer; Artist; Designer; Advisory editor of Australian Artist Magazine; and Public Speaker. Established Griffith Studio and Graphic Workshop, 1976. Produced over 400 editions of my own limited edition prints, and over 300 editions of more than 20 other prominent Australian artists; Supporter of charities through gifts of work to raise money.

Overseas studies:

Projects:

Family law Court, Parramatta. In 1990, commissioned to produce 12 watercolour images to be hung in the public spaces of the new building. The works were required to be colourful, cheerful, non-controversial in subject matter, or to display or imply any anger or aggression. They were required to have a calming effect. I produced 12 scenes of colonial Parramatta and environs, depicting everyday life in those times.
Over many years I have produced images in paint and print of the Great Barrier Reef. Particular emphasis has been placed on the wildlife of Northern Queenland and the implied threat of climate change and pollution to the underwater life of the region. Reef images were used on banners and street signs produced by Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, to advertise their “Reef” exhibition in 2016.

Memorare of the Snow. In 2007 I was commissioned to provide a history painting for St Gregory’s College, Campbelltown. It was to be an inspiration to the boys in its content and provide an art statement to reinforce the importance of culture in their lives. The theme related to the founder of the Marist Brothers, Marcellin Champagnat. The 140 cm x 190 cm work, anoil on linen painting, now hangs in the school’s Assembly Hall. The headmaster also commissioned the production of a limited edition etching that raised money for the school. I also designed the school’s ceremonial banners.

Four history paintings are now part of the collection of the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville. They relate to the first positive contact between the original inhabitants of the area and European settlers. James Morrill, a young Englishman, survived a shipwreck on the reef in 1842, reached the shore, and was taken in and sheltered by the local aboriginal people. He lived among them for the next seventeen years, finally re-joining the European community. It is a story of the meeting of two cultures, and the works provide a narrative in the course of reconciliation.

Feather Map Project. In 2016 I was approached by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) to prepare imagery that would help them to spread the message of the Feather Map project which they were undertaking in conjunction with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). They required an informative poster, depicting a number of threatened bird species. The images needed to be sufficiently accurate to enable identification and the work was translated into a very effective poster that has been widely distributed.

Wetland Project. My work over the past couple of years has had an emphasis on wetland preservation. I have depicted in oils and acrylics, the birds and animals that depend on healthy wetlands for survival. Over 50 images were exhibited in a very well received one-woman show called “Teeming with Life, The Wongaloo Project” at the Perc Tucker Gallery Townsville. Bungendore Woodworks Gallery showed this work in an exhibition called “Teeming with Life, care of wetlands”. Many of these images are now exhibited in the Blacktown Hospital as part of the combined hospital art program.

Other works:

If you consider buying or selling work of Arthur Boyd, Brett Whiteley, Fred Williams, John Perceval, John Olsen, Charles Blackman, Garry Shead, Arthur Streeton or another significant work of fine art, please contact us. 

 

The vision of Galeria Aniela is to increase the awareness of Australian artists cultural contribution. With passion for art, hard work and dedication, we strive for high ideals to create a better future for the arts. When you purchase Art from Galeria Aniela, you make a valuable contribution to our mission of helping artists to make a living with their creations and together we make a difference.