Ray Crooke paints tranquil images of ultramarine sea, sandy beaches, lush vegetation, colourful flowers and South Seas islanders. His choice of exotic subject matter, sensitivity to colour, and portrayal of the tropical landscape and its people invites comparison with Gauguin. However, although his work displays similarities, Crooke simply captures the stillness of the moment and nothing more. He does not set out to make social comment.
Ray Austin Crooke was born in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1922. At 15 he joined an advertising agency while studying art at night at Swinburne Technical College. He enlisted in the Army, serving in areas such as Borneo and Cape York, exotic places that would feature dramatically in his later work.
After the war, Crooke’s jobs included working as a trochus diver on Thursday Island and in 1950 he married June Bethel. They settled in Cairns before moving to the Cook Islands, an experience central to his development. He successfully exhibited all over Australasia, before returning to Yorkey’s Knob near Cairns and setting up a studio. Life in the North Queensland tropics became a key element in his work, his carefully controlled compositions capturing motifs such as the Palm in works that have become increasingly bolder in colour over the years.
But he also paints wonderful portraits, and in 1969 he won the Archibald for a portrait of his friend, the writer George Johnston. In 1993 Crooke was made a member of the Order of Australia for services to the visual arts.
“I repeat myself endlessly because the variations of the vision are never-ending, and with added painting experience I approach closer to the ultimate wedding of vision and hand - the moment in time when all factors are right,” he says.
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