George W Bell (1920 – 2008)
George W Bell (also known as Geo Bell) was a 20th century Melbourne painter, photographer and press artist. He was a 'pioneer member of the new art classes’ at Caulfield Technical School. William Dargie was one of his lecturers.
Bell served in New Guinea during World War II and after his service remained to study native artefacts. He eventually returned to Australia and began what would become a nearly 25-year career working on Melbourne's Herald and Weekly Times.
After serving in New Guinea during WWII, Bell remained studying native artefacts. Then he returned to Sydney and attended classes at the Society of Realist Artists (SORA) , a period he describes as full of 'rich, exciting ideas’.
He returned to Melbourne and spent nearly 25 years as a press artist with the Herald and Weekly Times. |
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Between 1952 and 1972 Bell practiced photography. In the I960s, he was part of a Melbourne group who organised a series of ‘alternative' Photovision salons. Group M, as they called themselves, was formed in 1959 by a number of men who were mostly serious amateur photographers. Group M members who tended to have technical backgrounds, included central figures John Crook (b.1927), George W Bell (b.1920) and Albert Brown (b.1931).
George Bell's Paintings
George Bell retired from paid work in the mid-1970s and concentrated the rest of his life on his painting.
His charcoal illustrations on rag paper of 'Alice in Wonderland’ were included in the Carroll Foundation exhibition of 1990. In 1990 he was working on the theme of Eureka, 'Australia’s most celebrated rebellion against colonial rule’.
A selection of George Bell's paintings - click here.
An essay by Mary Eagle, December 1981 - for the catalogue of an exhibition of Geo W Bell’s paintings and drawings at Gryphon Gallery, Melbournne, 8-26 March 1982, Click here
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