The Promised Land: The art of Lawrence Daws is a major touring exhibition that celebrates the life and career of iconic Australian painter, Lawrence Daws. Featuring work from each of the six decades that this honoured and respected artist has been painting, The Promised Land celebrates his unique place in Australian art.  

His studio was a haven for prominent Australian artists, with Daws having forged friendships with Brett Whiteley, John Olsen, Tim Storrier, Ian Fairweather and Donald Friend. Lawrence Daws’s first public exhibition in Australia was in 1954, Group 4 at the Victorian Artists’ Society Gallery in Melbourne. Group 4 artists included Daws, Donald Laycock, Clifton Pugh and John Howley.  In 1962 Daws and two of his close friends, Brett Whiteley and Charles Blackman, had their first London solo exhibitions at the Matthieson Gallery.

While early influences on his career included Hans Heysen, Arthur Streeton and Lloyd Rees, over the years Daws developed more of a passion for symbolism and his work became filled with his own personal lexicon of images. His distinctive landscape style has developed from a combination of influences including writings by Freud, Jung, the tarot and alchemy.  

A Caloundra Regional Gallery travelling exhibition
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To listen to 702 ABC Radio presenter Simon Marnie’s interview with artist Lawrence Daws click here: