Natives on the River (after Glover)

Natives on the Ouse River (John Glover, 1838) stands in marked contrast to the actual situation of the traditional owners of Ouse River country - the Braylwunyer people of the Big River nation - which was one of dispossession and violence at the hands of the colonists." - AGNSW Archive

Yellow Peril (aka Vault, Ron Robertson-Swann, 1978) stands foreign and timeless in a Glover landscape (John Glover, 1838). In the foreground a dying Burke and Wills (John Longstaff, 1907) stare helplessly out. Glover's imagined noble paradise torn apart by ambition.

"I believe it is my best work so far and part of my ambition to be one of the best artists of my generation." - Ron Robertson-Swann (The Sun, 1981). Vault was unceremoniously removed from City Square after 6 months, in July 1981.

In 1860 Burke and Wills led a failed expedition to cross Australia. Arriving at the 'DIG' tree just hours after their support team had unexpectedly departed; they died alone at Cooper Creek. The third figure, King, was saved by the Yandruwandha people.

Robert Hague is an artist who brings an impeccable skill set to the contemporary scene. Throughout his work he revels in ambiguity, conveying simultaneously elements of the heavy and light, the fixed and fluid, the brutal and the tender. He works across numerous media including, printmaking, video, painting and installation but with a concentration on sculpture, in both metal and stone.

Robert Hague’s lithographic prints bring together the feel and grandeur of antiquity with an often-biting commentary on the modern world. By embracing classical techniques, he manages to make the bitter into the sweet and shows us that contemporary art can be timeless. His fan series employs the metaphor of the decorative folding-fan, a decorative object that speaks of the politics and culture of the collector, decoration as meaning, pattern as ownership and our desire for a cultural belonging.

From his studio in Melbourne, Hague prints his own work directly from limestone slabs, on a 1940’s Charles Brand lithography press. He has exhibited widely and is represented in major public collections such as the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria. In 2019 his work was the subject of a retrospective at the Casula Powerhouse (Sydney). Recent exhibitions include ‘Melbourne Now 2023’, NGV Australia, ‘New Prints’ at IPC New York, ‘Common Ground’ at NGV International, ‘The Megalo International Print Prize’ (Canberra), ‘Porcelaine’ at Turner Galleries (Perth), the Blake Prize (awarded the Blake Residency), 'CRUSH' at Fehily Contemporary, the ‘Wynne Prize’ at AGNSW and 'Inaugural' at Nicholas Projects.

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