Peter Benjamin Graham

Lore & Background

Peter Benjamin Graham was born and raised in the Melbourne suburb of Hartwell. He studied hand lithography and fine art, and after completing his apprenticeship in 1946, he won the Ferntree Gully Art Prize and the Herald prize. He lived and painted at The Abbey Arts Centre in London from 1947 to 1949, where he befriended Irish folk artist Gerald Dillon and studied drawing under Bernard Meninsky. In 1954, Graham rode a motorcycle to Alice Springs, where he worked as a builder's laborer and painted alongside Aboriginal artists Adolf Inkamala and the Pareroultja Brothers, and met anthropologist Ted Strehlow.

From 1960, Graham began developing Thematic Orchestration, a visual geometry related to Chaos Theory that allowed the 2D deconstruction and synthesis of an observed subject. In 1964, he started developing Notation Painting, later called New Epoch Art. He ran The Queensberry Street Gallery in association with Victorian Printmakers' Group from 1973 until 1978. In his final years, he experimented with esoteric printing techniques and returned to his Central Australian subject matter with series such as 'The Painted Land' and 'Tragic Landscape'.

Reader's Guide

Peter Benjamin Graham's significance lies in his innovative contributions to visual art theory and practice. His development of Thematic Orchestration, a visual geometry linked to Chaos Theory, offered a new method for deconstructing and synthesizing subjects in two dimensions, distinct from traditional abstraction. This system allowed artists to 'grow' an image through conscious invention. His later Notation Painting (New Epoch Art) aimed to create a high-level visual notation system for pure imagery. Graham was also a pioneer of the Australian artist-run initiative movement, establishing the Queensberry Street Gallery and supporting printmaking access workshops. His work, including the 1945 painting 'Peter Lalor Addressing the Miners Before Eureka', was featured in a major Australian travelling exhibition in 2006 and a documentary in 2005, underscoring his lasting impact on Australian art and cultural history.

Did You Know?

• Graham rode a BSA 500 motorcycle solo from Sydney to Alice Springs in 1954.
• He developed Thematic Orchestration, a visual geometry related to Chaos Theory, from 1960.
• His 1945 painting 'Peter Lalor Addressing the Miners Before Eureka' was featured in a 2005 documentary and a 2006 travelling exhibition.
• Graham studied hand lithography with Ross McClintock Studios between 1940 and 1941.