Grace Crowley & Ralph Balson is the first-ever major exhibition to explore in-depth the longstanding creative partnership and artistic synergies between pioneering abstract artists Grace Crowley (1890-1979) and Ralph Balson (1890-1964). Opening 23 May 2024 at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, the exhibition charts their radical leap into pure abstraction, and the important role they played in shaping the modern art movement in Australia.

Painting exclusively together for many decades, Crowley and Balson’s dynamic exchange extended and challenged both artists. Crowley and Balson respectively produced some of the earliest and most important works of abstract art in the country. Their collaborative approach to painting – the sharing of ideas, techniques and materials – resulted in two significant bodies of work that broke new ground in Australian art.

By presenting the work of Crowley and Balson together, the exhibition invites audiences to trace the shared influences and harmonies between their works, as well as to appreciate the centrality of collaboration to their individual practices. The exhibition comprises more than 75 paintings and works on paper, with some of these never-before-seen by the Australian public, and drawn from Victorian and interstate collections, major institutions including the Art Gallery of New South Wales and National Gallery of Australia, regional and private collections.

Image: Grace Crowley, Abstract painting, 1950, 61 x 75.8 cm, oil on hardboard, Art Galley of New South Wales, Sydney, Purchased with funds provided by the Art Gallery of New South Wales Foundation, 2019, © Grace Crowley Estate