Bernard Hardy, Canberra Series
Bernard Hardy Salamander Paintings
BERNARD HARDY (Australia, b.1941)
“Hydrant” (from the series “The Salamander Paintings”) 2003 Oil on Canvas 100cm x 70cm Acquired 2008 #Inventory/Catalogue No. 110017 |  |
'Art cannot be defined. Art's form and content through its manifestations are so varied, except to say that its principal characteristic is its power to move our feelings beyond its material components in such a way as to excite wonder, a sense of the strange, an awareness of the shaping powers of an artists as image maker'. [1]
Although Bernard Hardy grew up in Melbourne and undertook studies at the University of Melbourne, much of his life has been spent in Canberra. Hardy completed a BA at the Australian National University, a Diploma n Fine Art at the Canberra Institute of the Arts, and a Master of Fine Art at the College of Fine Art, University of New South Wales. He has lectured at the Canberra Institute of the Arts, Australian National University; the University of Canberra; and the Canberra Institute of Technology.
As a practitioner, Hardy has exhibited regularly since 1972.
His works are held in the Australian National Gallery, The Australian National University and in private collections in Australia, USA and in Europe.
Artwork:
In June 2008, Bernard and Jill Hardy donated a series of paintings depicting the effects of the 2003 Canberra bushfires, to the University of Canberra. The local press at the time quoted Hardy as saying,
'The fire makes you rethink your whole life. Everything was gone" said Mr Hardy. "Painting was therapeutic, it became an obsessive practice. After the fire I went back to my house and did some water colours of what was left. It wasn't just where I lived there was a much bigger picture. It was a snowball effect, it got bigger and bigger.'[2]
The works are entitled “The Salamander Paintings”, a reference to either a person or thing able to withstand great heat. Works in this series include:
Tidbinbilla
Hardy noted these works as "… as paintings but when I look at them they are also records”, and [t]here is narrative value in the work. I'm not an illustrator but an implicit story is there.” The paintings reflect on the type of loss the bushfires created. "Historically and culturally, such a loss is enormous. All the things people collect and gather, letter, art and furniture went up." [3]
[1] M16 Artspace, 'Bernard Hardy , a survey of works' March 2011 M16 Artspace Griffith ACT, 20011
[2] Zsuzsi Soboslay, 'Embodied visions: invisible force in the works of Bernard Hardy' Art Monthly Australia, 259, May 2013. p78-79
[3] Kathryn Favero, 'Artist donate's bushfire works to the University' Moniitor Online 20 June 2008, Accessed , 4 April 2022,