Bert flugelman biography

Biography

A major public sculptor in Australia, Herbert ‘Bert’ Flugelman is best known for his highly recognisable large-scale works of simplified geometric forms in stainless steel. He was also a teacher of sculptural methods and principals who, over the course of three decades, had a profound influence on several generations of Australian artists.

Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1923, Flugelman came to Australia in 1938 as a 15 year old. Living in Sydney, at 25 he started at the National Art School (East Sydney Technical College), studying painting under Frank Hinder.

In 1951, Flugelman travelled to Europe, where he contracted polio and was hospitalised for a period in London. He remained based in that city for three years, holding his first solo exhibition at Piccadilly Gallery in 1953, then moved to New York.

Returning to Sydney in the mid 1950s, he exhibited paintings at the Macquarie Galleries until 1967. A fire in his studio around this time destroyed much of his work, leading him to reassess his art and shift his focus to sculpture.

His first public sculpture commission had been in 1962: cast-concrete relief panels for the offices of Australian Oil. This was followed by a bronze sculpture for the University of NSW in 1964 and a copper and ceramic fountain for the Australian National University in 1966.

Although his early works were semi-figurative expressionist sculptures, from the late 1960s Flugelman became known as one of the leaders of a new wave of sculpture practices that ranged from object-based to installation, conceptual and performance artworks.

He was involved in running the Tin Sheds art workshop at the University of Sydney from 1969 to 1972, and was a founding member of Optronic Kinetics, a group who produced innovative kinetic sculptures and installation projects including Cubed tree.

‘The 60s were very disturbing for me… I saw myself, standing there with a palette, beret, being “an artist” in inverted commas,

Herbert 'Bert' Flugelman, sculptor, painter and lecturer, came to Australia from his native Vienna in 1938, aged fifteen. In the late 1940s he trained at the National Art School; he travelled and studied overseas through the first half of the 1950s. In 1967 he won first prize at the Mildura Sculpture Triennial with a large cast-iron equestrian piece. His subsequent public commissions include the untitled copper and ceramic mosaic fountain at Bruce Hall at the Australian National University; Spheres 1977 (known locally as Bert’s Balls) for the Rundle Street Mall, Adelaide; and the Dobell Memorial 1978 for Martin Place, Sydney. Controversially, Tumbling cubes (Dice) (Untitled) 1978/1979, originally made for Cameron Offices in Belconnen ACT, was some years ago moved to a nearby park, according to the artist a 'hopelessly inappropriate site'. Cones 1982 dominates the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Australia, and the Winged figure (Lawrence Hargrave memorial) 1988 towers 6m high at Mt Keira, near Wollongong. Flugelman taught from 1973 to 1983 at the South Australian School of Art, and from 1984 to 1990 at the University of Wollongong, from which he received an honorary doctorate. There was a retrospective exhibition of his five decades' work at the Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University in 2009.

Updated 2021

Australian sculptor

Herbert FlugelmanAM (28 January 1923 – 26 February 2013), usually known as Bert, was a prominent Australian visual artist, primarily a sculptor, who had many of his works publicly displayed. He is known for his stainless steel geometric public sculptures. Among his best-known works are the "Mall's Balls" in Adelaide, and "the Silver Shish Kebab" (Pyramid Tower) in Sydney.

Early life and education

Herbert Flugelman was born in Vienna, Austria, on 28 January 1923, the son of Leopold and Irma Flugelman (née Feldman). As the Nazis came to power in the 1930s, Leopold was the first to come to Australia, in his official capacity as an agent for the German fabric company he worked for. He then arranged visas for his second wife, Annie, and Herbert to come as well. After queuing for three days for a train leaving Vienna, Herbert was initially turned away for not having the right papers. His uncle intervened, telling the guards that they were supposed to be getting rid of Jews, and Herbert was allowed to board. He met Annie in Genoa, Italy, where in 1938 they boarded a boat to Fremantle, Western Australia, before travelling to Sydney. Leopold got a job as a hotel doorman, later becoming manager. Herbert's mother Irma also escaped Australia, initially to London and then moving to the United States after the war, where she remarried.

Flugelman first worked as a jackaroo. From 1943 to 1946 Flugelman served in the Australian Army (although, being a foreign national, he was not allowed to fight).

From 1948 to 1951, he studied at the National Art School (East Sydney Technical College) in Sydney, where he studied painting under Frank Hinder.

Career

From 1951 to 1955, he travelled to Europe, including a visit in 1954 to Spain with his artist friend John Copnall. In 1952, he contracted polio in Vienna, spending s

Bert Flugelman Resume

Biography

1923

Born Vienna, Austria

1938

Arrived in Australia

1990

Fellow of the University of Wollongong

1995

Doctorate of Creative Art (honoris causa) Wollongong

1997

Emeritus Award, Australia Council, Visual Arts

Solo Exhibitions

2005

Gallows Gallery, Perth

Australian Art Resources, Sydney

Australian Art Resources, Melbourne

Orange Regional Gallery, Orange

New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale

The Panel Show, New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale

(Travelling Exhibition, Goulburn, Penrith)

Greenaway Gallery, Adelaide

25 Year Survey Exhibition, Wollongong City Gallery

Greenaway Gallery, Adelaide

Sherman Gallery, Sydney

BMGART, Adelaide

Wollongong City Gallery, Wollongong

Solander Gallery, Canberra

Irving Sculpture Gallery, Sydney

Macquarie Gallery, Sydney

Group Exhibitions

2007

Continuum, University of Wollongong

Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award, Melbourne

National Sculpture Prize, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Palmer Environmental Sculpture Exhibition, Adelaide

BMGART, Adelaide