John Caldwell

John Caldwell, (b.1942) is best known as a painter of landscapes in watercolour, began painting in 1969 while living in London. On his return to his native Sydney, he studied at the University of Sydney and began exhibiting in group shows, amongst them at least two with Desiderius Orban. He held his first solo exhibition at Bloomfield Galleries in 1978; he has held some 40 solo shows since. In 1978 the Australian Antarctic Division invited Caldwell, Bea Maddock and Jan Senbergs to travel to Heard Island, Davis Base and Mawson; on his return, Caldwell completed portraits of his better-known colleagues. Caldwell has won many small prizes including the Trustees’ Watercolour Prize of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (twice), the Miniature Prize and the Seascape Prize (twice) at the Royal Easter Show and the Tattersall’s National Landscape Award (twice). He was an Archibald finalist in 1985, 1986 and 1987. His works are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. Long based in Blackheath, New South Wales, he is active in the Blue Mountains art scene; the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre mounted the retrospective exhibition Journeys: John Caldwell in 2015.