We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.
REES, Lloyd / Australia QLD/NSW/TAS / b. 1895 – d. 1988 / Bunya at the entrance to College 1917 / Gift of Alan and Jan Rees through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2012. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program / © Lloyd Rees / Licensed by Copyright Agency
Lloyd ReesBunya at the entrance to College 1917
Not Currently on Display
Lloyd Rees was born in Brisbane on 17 March 1895. He studied at the Central Technical College and was well known for his sketches of Brisbane. Rees moved to Sydney in 1917 to work for Sydney Ure Smith at the Smith and Julius Studio, one of Australia’s earliest advertising agencies to use artworks and colour printing in their campaigns.
Ure Smith commissioned Rees to draw the architecture and landscapes of Sydney. Throughout his career, Rees documented his observations of Brisbane buildings, streets and landscapes, and his fascination with the effect of light on his subjects.
In his later years, Rees’s works became more abstract as he began to focus specifically on the sources and effects of light. Despite his rapidly failing eyesight, Rees continued to paint, claiming that a benefit of his failing sight was that he was able to look directly at the sun.