| Mathias Kauage Sold thanks Brisbane Miugu Village, Simbu Province, Every day, Kauage would present his paintings to the public for purchase on the sidewalk in front of a hotel in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea�s main urban centre, where he lived in a small house with his wife and children. In 1987, he was one of four recipients of Sydney, Australia�s prestigious Blake prize for Religious Art. His reputation grew internationally, and he travelled throughout Europe, where he met and created a painting for Queen Elizabeth II in 1998. At that time, she bestowed upon him the Order of the British Empire for his contributions to the art of Papua New Guinea Admitted to the National Arts School in 1972, Kauage began exhibiting regularly and his lively drawings of modern technology and life in town made his work popular with expatriates and the new PNG elite. As Kauage's success and fame grew, he received many government commissions as well as many invitations to exhibit his work in Europe, Africa, and Australia. His best known works include figures he designed for the mosaic facade of the new PNG Parliament House as well as a series of images he made of the death of Highland leader Iambakey Okuk, which now hang in the National Gallery of Australia. However, Kauage's colorful imagery has also been selected for book covers, stamps, and covers of magazines, including the July edition of Australia's Art Monthly. Mathias Kauage died in May, 2003 at the age of sixty-six |
No comments:
Post a Comment