About the Artist
Cynthia Breusch's atmospheric paintings convey an other-worldly timelessness, evoking universal themes of meaning and purpose, memory, dreams and the transcendent. Born in Brisbane and raised in a musical and artistic household, Cynthia is a graduate of the Queensland College of Art. She has exhibited continuously since 1979 but in earlier years spent time as a graphic designer, a principle illustrator for the University of Queensland Press, lecturer in Illustration at the School of Art University of Tasmania, and exhibition designer for the Queensland Museum, winning numerous industry awards across these disciplines.
Cynthia has been full-time in her painting practice since 1991 and lives and works in the World Heritage area of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. She has held over 35 solo exhibitions around Australia, and participated in numerous group and 'by invitation' exhibitions around Australia, in Tokyo, and California.
In 2004 her first international solo exhibition was held in California where her work was featured on the cover of a major magazine. Cynthia's paintings and drawings have featured on the book jackets of many of Australia's most celebrated authors including Peter Carey, Kate Grenville, David Malouf and Olga Masters. This work is highlighted in Craig Munro's 2016 memoir, Under Cover, published by Scribe.
Her work has also been included in Australian Vision (Hodder Education), a collection of Australian Paintings & Poetry for use in schools. Cynthia has won prizes for figurative and landscape painting. She was a finalist in the 2018 Salon des Refusés, a 2017 semi-finalist in the Moran Portrait Prize and a 6-time finalist in the Portia Geach Memorial Award (Australia's most prestigious award for female artists).
She has also been a finalist in the Mosman Art prize, the Paddington Art Prize, Tattersalls Landscape Prize, Redlands Westpac Art Prize, and the Eutick Memorial Still Life Award (EMSLA).
Her paintings and drawings are represented in the public collections of the Tweed River Gallery, Ipswich City Council and Rockhampton Art gallery, as well as the corporate collections of BHP Billiton, News Corp, the Tattersalls Club Brisbane, and the University of Queensland Press.
Her work is in private collections in Australia, NZ, the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Fiji and the United Emirates.
Education
1979 Diploma in Visual Communications, Queensland College of Art
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022 Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane
2020 40th Anniversary Exhibition & Survey Exhibition, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane
2018 & 2016 Gallery One, Gold Coast
2014 & 2013 Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane
2010 Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney
2006 Art Galleries Schubert, Gold Coast
2004 William Merrill Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
Art Galleries Schubert, Gold Coast
2002 Valerie Cohen Gallery (at Mary Place), Sydney
2000 Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane
Valerie Cohen Gallery, Sydney
1998 Valerie Cohen Gallery, Sydney
Cintra Galleries, Brisbane
1996 Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney
Cintra Galleries, Brisbane
1995 Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney
Melbourne Fine Art Gallery, Melbourne
1994 Cintra Galleries, Brisbane
Melbourne Fine Art Gallery, Melbourne
1993 Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney
1992 Cintra Galleries, Brisbane
Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney
1991 Despard Gallery, Hobart
1980 Paddington Gallery, Brisbane
Selected Group Shows & Awards
2022 Finalist, Portia Geach Memorial Award
Finalist, Darling Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
Semi-Finalist Doug Moran Portrait Award, Sydney
2022 Finalist, Darling Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
Salon des Refusés, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2021 Finalist, Portia Geach Memorial Award, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2019 Interplay : profiling the four collection areas
Tweed Regional Gallery Downtown Annex, Murwillumbah, NSW
2018 Salon des Refusés, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Tattersalls Landscape Art Prize, Brisbane (by invitation)
2017 Semi-finalist Doug Moran Portrait Prize, Sydney
2017 - 2013 Finalist, Portia Geach Memorial Award, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2016 & 2015 Tattersalls Landscape Art Prize, Brisbane (by invitation)
2014 Gallery Artists, Eva Breuer Gallery, Sydney
Commended Award, Tattersalls Landscape Art Prize, Brisbane
2013 Finalist, Paddington Art Prize, Sydney
2013 - 2011 Tattersalls Landscape Art Prize, Brisbane (by invitation)
2011 Finalist, Portia Geach Memorial Award, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
The Drawing Show, Defiance Gallery, Sydney ; The Landscape Show, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
2009 Finalist, Mosman Art Prize, Sydney ;
Gallery Artists, William Merrill Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
2007 Finalist - Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery
Interaction: Contemporary Photography & Painting , Logan Art Gallery Logan City Council Qld
2006 - 1994 Tattersall's Landscape Art Prize, Brisbane (by invitation)
2006 Winner, Figurative Prize, Brisbane Rotary Exhibition ;
Gallery Artists, William Merrill Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2005 Small Treasures William Merrill Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2004 Rockhampton Art Gallery, by invitation, selected for Acquisition
2002 4 x 4 Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane ; Australian Women Artists 1920 - 2000 , Vanessa Wood Fine Art, Sydney
2001 Finalist - Mosman Art Prize, Sydney
2000 Vast - Contemporary Australian Art Max Lawson Gallery, Sydney
Contemporary Australian Paintings curated by Nicola Townsend, Tokyo
1998 Winner, Editor's Prize, Sunday Mail Art Prize, Brisbane;
Finalist, Redland's Westpac Art Prize, Sydney
1996 Finalist, Redland's Westpac Art Prize, Sydney
1994 Focus: Women's Suffrage Centenary Exhibition, Adelaide Central Gallery, Adelaide
1987 1st Prize, Painting Section, L.J. Hooker Art Awards, Brisbane
1985 Highly Commended , Drawing Section, Caloundra Art Exhibition, Qld;
Highly Commended, Painting Section, Caloundra Art Exhibition, Qld;
Highly Commended, Cloncurry Art Exhibition, Qld
1983 L.J. Harvey Memorial Prize for Drawing, Queensland Art Gallery
Ipswich City Council Acquisition Prize
Highly Commended , Caltex City of Brisbane Art Awards
1982 L.J. Harvey Memorial Prize for Drawing, Queensland Art Gallery
2nd Prize, Drawing section, SGIO (Suncorp) Art Awards, Brisbane
1979 Two-person show Paddington Gallery, Brisbane
Selected Public & Corporate Collections
Tweed Regional Gallery; Ipswich City Council ; Rockhampton Museum of Art ; BHP Billiton ; News Corp ; University of Qld
Press; Tattersall's Club Brisbane; St Albans Gold Coast ; Suncorp Collection Brisbane; Tamar Collection,Tasmania,
Catalina Research, Laguna Niguel, California; Silver Bear Properties, Laguna Niguel, California.
Private Collections in Australia, NZ, Asia, USA, Germany, UK, France & United Emirates
Selected Bibliography
. Hare+Klein, Meryl Hare, Thames & Hudson Australia, 2020
. Belle Magazine, Feb/March , 2017
. Under Cover, Craig Munro, Scribe (Memoir), 2015
. Sally Browne, Sunday Mail, August 2012 : When Art Beats As One
. Judy Andersen, Gold Coast Bulletin, June 17-18/ 2006 : A Lightness in the Moment
. Coast magazine, cover, Issue 12, CA, USA, 2004
. Heidi Meyer, Courier Mail, May 11, 2004: Solitary Figures Convey Sense of Longing
. Sue Smith, Courier Mail, June 4, 1998 : World of Her Own
. Australian Vision, Anthology of Australian Paintings & Poetry, Hodder Education, 1997
. Shadows of Utopia - A History of Australia by Manfred Jurgensen, UCQ Press, 1994
. Focus : 17 Australian Women Focus on the Progress of Women in Society Over the Past 100 Years,
published by Adelaide Central Gallery, 1994
. Elwyn Lynn, The Australian, The Weekend Review May 22-23, 1993
. Elwyn Lynn, The Australian, The Weekend Review Jan 18 -19, 1992
. Australian Artist Magazine, cover & feature article, Oct 1992