Roland Wakelin
“The Convent of the Sacred Heart, Rose Bay”

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Medium
Oil on canvas

Dimensions
99.5 x 119.5cm

Description
Roland Shakespeare Wakelin (1887 – 1971) was an Australian painter and teacher, who with Roy de Maistre and Grace Cossington Smith are regarded as founding the modern movement in Sydney. In 1919, he and Roy de Maistre held a two-man exhibition Colour in Art influenced by Cezanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh at Gayfield Shaw’s art salon in Sydney. In 1913, he started work at the New South Wales Land Tax Office. From 1916, worked for the commercial art firm of Smith and Julius.

He worked in London as a freelance artist (spending some time in Paris) between 1922–24. On his return to Sydney in 1925 he held an exhibition of his work, largely influenced by Cezanne at John Young’s Macquarie Galleries. He was to hold frequent further exhibitions between 1928 and 1970, with a memorial exhibition held in 1972.