Talking with Painters
Hear Philip Wolfhagen in conversation with Maria Stolijar where he talks about the importance of the colour wheel, mixing paint and the influences that guide his practice. Maria's podcast, Talking With Painters, is available at the below link, and provides an insight into Philip's studio practice.
Reveries - Solo Exhibition in Brisbane

Experimental Garden No. 5, oil and beeswax on linen, 62 x 204cm
Philip Wolfhagen's new body of paintings for his solo exhibition with Philip Bacon Galleries in Brisbane have now arrived at the gallery. The exhibition will open on the 15 October and closes 9 November 2019. Philip will be at the opening on Friday 18 October. Please contact the gallery if you would like to preview the works.
Philip Bacon Galleries, 2 Arthur Street, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006, Australia
Email [email protected]
Phone +61 7 3358 3555
Philip Bacon Galleries, 2 Arthur Street, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006, Australia
Email [email protected]
Phone +61 7 3358 3555
Wolfhagen awarded Highly Commended at the Hadley's Art Prize
Approaching the cusp, oil and beeswax on linen, 3 panels 46 x 170cm
Philip Wolfhagen is a finalist in this years Hadley's Art Prize. His work Approaching the cusp was selected from 630 entries. On Friday night he was one of four artists to be presented with the Highly Commended Award by judges Jane Clark, Raymond Arnold and Susan McCulloch.
Philip's new enquiry is investigating the light on the landscape as the evening closes in.
"I find the approaching gloom of night a visually exciting time; the mutability of light, and inevitable loss that brings on an urgency and serves to heighten all of the senses. The fleeting moment when our perception of colour is almost lost, but the darker forms in the landscape take on a precise tonal weight, is an ongoing area of interest for me."
Philip's new enquiry is investigating the light on the landscape as the evening closes in.
"I find the approaching gloom of night a visually exciting time; the mutability of light, and inevitable loss that brings on an urgency and serves to heighten all of the senses. The fleeting moment when our perception of colour is almost lost, but the darker forms in the landscape take on a precise tonal weight, is an ongoing area of interest for me."
The exhibition is currently on show at the Hadley's Orient Hotel in Hobart until 18 August 2019
Wolfhagen at Sydney Contemporary 18
Elegy in Five Parts, 2018, oil and beeswax on linen, 5 panels, overall dimensions 120 x 280cm
Philip Wolfhagen will be showing a major new work with Dominik Mersch Gallery at Sydney Contemporary from 13-16 September. The five panel work titled Elegy in Five Parts explores ideas about grief and sorrow. The work can be seen at Booth E08 at Sydney Contemporary, Carriage Works in Sydney.
Artist Profile in the latest issue of Art Collector
Philip Wolfhagen's new multi-panel paintings for his upcoming exhibition 'Elegies', have been featured in the July-September issue of Art Collector in an evocative article written by Briony Downes titled 'In Our Nature' on pages 162 - 167.
"There is no doubt Wolfhagen is an expert at the atmospheric. He has held a longstanding fascination with the works of 19th century artist Caspar David Friedrich and French Baroque painter Claude Lorrain. His paintings often reflect the [Tasmanian] landscape around him; the grey lilac skies of early morning over pasture or the crackling embers of a distant fire. ... It is a view that has been studied intently by Wolfhagen for more than 20 years."
'Elegies' will open at Dominik Mersch Gallery in Sydney on Thursday 27 September.
"There is no doubt Wolfhagen is an expert at the atmospheric. He has held a longstanding fascination with the works of 19th century artist Caspar David Friedrich and French Baroque painter Claude Lorrain. His paintings often reflect the [Tasmanian] landscape around him; the grey lilac skies of early morning over pasture or the crackling embers of a distant fire. ... It is a view that has been studied intently by Wolfhagen for more than 20 years."
'Elegies' will open at Dominik Mersch Gallery in Sydney on Thursday 27 September.
Elegies - Solo Exhibition in Sydney
Philip Wolfhagen is currently busy in the studio creating new works for an exhibition titled Elegies with Dominik Mersch Gallery. A selection of works will be previewed at Sydney Contemporary, the art fair held in September at Carriage Works in Sydney. Art Collector magazine will be presenting a profile article on Philip Wolfhagen in the next issue.
The exhibition will be showing at Dominik Mersch Gallery running from 27 September to 29 October 2018. Please contact the gallery if you would like to preview the exhibition. Philip Wolfhagen, Concept for Elegy in Five Parts (detail), oil & beeswax on linen, 62 x 33cm, five panels - 62 x 148cm overall
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New Works by Philip Wolfhagen
Philip Wolfhagen will be showing three new works at Sydney Contemporary, the art fair held in September at Carriage Works in Sydney. The fair will open on 7 September. New works by Wolfhagen will be showing at Dominik Mersch Gallery (Booth E13) and Bett Gallery (Booth F06).
A new exhibition Hinterlands will be Wolfhagen's next solo exhibition, opening on 13 October at Bett Gallery in Hobart. Please contact the gallery if you would like to preview the exhibition. Philip Wolfhagen, remnants no. 2, oil and beeswax on linen, 62 x 46cm (showing at Bett Gallery, Booth F06)
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Wolfhagen wins the Lloyd Rees Art Prize
Governor Kate Warner pictured with Philip Wolfhagen and Colville Gallery Director Trudi Curtis. Photo Amy Brown
Congratulations to Philip Wolfhagen for winning the 2017 Lloyd Rees Art Prize. The prize is a biannual independently judged, acquisitive prize that recognises Rees' legacy and contribution to Australian landscape painting. The prize is awarded to the best painting to demonstrate light in the landscape. Wolfhagen's winning work titled transitory light depicts a twilight scene of the view overlooking Norfolk Plains in northern Tasmania. This year the prize was judged by Janet Holmes a Court AC.
Major artwork acquired by the National Gallery of Australia
A litany of vapours, 2007, oil and beeswax on linen, 200 x 941cm overall
The National Gallery of Australia has acquired A litany of vapours, a major work by Philip Wolfhagen. Over seven panels, the drama of the weather system of cumulous clouds building over Ben Lomond.
The acquisition was made possible by the efforts of the NGA Foundation Fundraising Gala Dinner. Dr Gerard Vaughan, Director of NGA said in his address on the night “we are continuing our commitment to bringing works of national significance into the NGA’s collection. We are delighted to be able to focus this year’s Gala Dinner Fund on the acquisition of Philip Wolfhagen’s breathtaking panorama, arguably his magnum opus.”
The acquisition was made possible by the efforts of the NGA Foundation Fundraising Gala Dinner. Dr Gerard Vaughan, Director of NGA said in his address on the night “we are continuing our commitment to bringing works of national significance into the NGA’s collection. We are delighted to be able to focus this year’s Gala Dinner Fund on the acquisition of Philip Wolfhagen’s breathtaking panorama, arguably his magnum opus.”
Wolfhagen in the studio with the 'litany' panels, 2007
Clouds have been a recurring theme in Wolfhagen’s work. Inspired by the cloud studies of English painter John Constable (1776-1837), Wolfhagen has returned again and again to this painterly subject matter.
Deborah Hart, Head of Australian Art at NGA has described the work as one of the great achievements of contemporary painting in the first decade of the 21st century. “A litany of vapours suggests the transient nature of weather patterns and their effect on the earth. Yet, in the interplay of light and dark and variously radiant clouds from one panel to the next, Wolfhagen reminds us that these apparently evanescent natural phenomena can convey tremendous dramatic presence and evoke a sense of poetry and music.”
A litany of vapours was painted for the exhibition Wonderful World, the premier exhibition at the opening of the Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art in Adelaide in 2007. More recently it was exhibited at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston in Transformations: the art of Philip Wolfhagen which opened in November 2016.
Deborah Hart, Head of Australian Art at NGA has described the work as one of the great achievements of contemporary painting in the first decade of the 21st century. “A litany of vapours suggests the transient nature of weather patterns and their effect on the earth. Yet, in the interplay of light and dark and variously radiant clouds from one panel to the next, Wolfhagen reminds us that these apparently evanescent natural phenomena can convey tremendous dramatic presence and evoke a sense of poetry and music.”
A litany of vapours was painted for the exhibition Wonderful World, the premier exhibition at the opening of the Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art in Adelaide in 2007. More recently it was exhibited at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston in Transformations: the art of Philip Wolfhagen which opened in November 2016.
Survey exhibition at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston
Transformations: the art of Philip Wolfhagen opens on Friday 4 November 2016 and runs until 5 March 2017.
Transformations is an exhibition of some of the artist’s rarely seen works. From 1989 to the present, it focuses on major works commissioned or undertaken for specific sites and themed exhibitions in public museums and art galleries. These special projects have called upon the artist to respond to places and concepts beyond his studio practice. There are recurrent motifs, such as the serial image or multi-panelled compositional device used to convey the passage of time, and the use of atmospheric phenomena to express his concerns about the fragility of the natural world.
Philip will give an artist's floor talk at the gallery on Saturday 12 November at 11am.
The exhibition has been co-curated by Philip and Catherine Wolfhagen.
Transformations is an exhibition of some of the artist’s rarely seen works. From 1989 to the present, it focuses on major works commissioned or undertaken for specific sites and themed exhibitions in public museums and art galleries. These special projects have called upon the artist to respond to places and concepts beyond his studio practice. There are recurrent motifs, such as the serial image or multi-panelled compositional device used to convey the passage of time, and the use of atmospheric phenomena to express his concerns about the fragility of the natural world.
Philip will give an artist's floor talk at the gallery on Saturday 12 November at 11am.
The exhibition has been co-curated by Philip and Catherine Wolfhagen.
Solo Exhibition in Brisbane
Skeletal Remnants no. 2, oil and beeswax on linen, 62 x 204c
Philip Wolfhagen's solo exhibition Re-visions opens in Brisbane at Philip Bacon Galleries on 23 September 2016. The exhibition includes 18 new works based on the Tasmanian midlands landscape and the highlands of Ben Lomond. Exhibition runs until 15 October 2016.
Fleurieu Art Prize
National Self-Portrait Prize 2015
Skeletal Remnants no. 2, oil and beeswax on linen, 62 x 204c
Philip Wolfhagen was one of 30 invited artists in this years prize. The $50,000 invitation-only, acquisitive prize is held by The University of Queensland every two years. Philip's self-portrait titled Seven states of being, is painted on seven plywood panels.
You can download the catalogue here.
You can download the catalogue here.
Exhibition currently showing in Sydney
Philip Wolfhagen's solo exhibition Tracks and Traverses is currently showing at Dominik Mersch Gallery, 1/75 McLachlan Avenue, Rushcutters Bay in Sydney. The exhibition is showing until 21 November 2015.
The Wynne Prize 2015
Alpine Transect, 2015, oil and beeswax on linen, 91 x 300cm
Philip Wolfhagen is a finalist in this year's Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW. He was one of five artists shortlisted for the prize. His painting titled Alpine Transect is a return to the highlands of Tasmania as his source. The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prize exhibition runs until 27 September at the AGNSW
Other Worlds
The Serpentine Path, 2015, oil and beeswax on linen, 96 x 338cm (3 panels)
Philip Wolfhagen's exhibition Other Worlds opened at Karen Woodbury Gallery in Melbourne on Wednesday night. The exhibition runs until 31 July. If you are unable to visit the gallery you can see installation shots and images of the works on the gallery's website
Last Destination for Illumination survey exhibition
llumination: The art of Philip Wolfhagen the first comprehensive survey of his art practice to date, is due to open at Hamilton Art Gallery in VIC on Wednesday 12 November. This national touring exhibition has been curated by Newcastle Art Gallery and Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery and has now traveled to galleries in ACT, QLD, NSW and VIC. It opened in June 2013 at TMAG in Hobart and Philip will be attending the opening in Hamilton to celebrate the end of the tour.
The exhibition runs until 1 Feburary 2015.
The exhibition runs until 1 Feburary 2015.
The Skullbone Experiment
The documentary 'Skullbone Plains' aired on ABC TV on Tuesday 28 October. The half hour program documents the journey of the artists involved with The Skullbone Experiment exhibition. From the artists retreat at Skullbone Plains in Feburary 2013, the camera follows them into their studios to see the process of creating the artworks for the exhibition. You can now see the documentary on ABC iView on the link below.
http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/skullbone-plains/AC1310T001S00
http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/skullbone-plains/AC1310T001S00
Melbourne Art Fair 2014
Philip Wolfhagen will be holding a solo exhibition at the Melbourne Art Fair with Bett Gallery Hobart on Stand G103. The exhibition titled, Landscape Reinventions will showcase his latest works. The Melbourne Art Fair opens on Wednesday 13 August and runs until 17 August. To see the full catalogue of works go to Bett Gallery.
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The Wynne Prize 2014
Philip Wolfhagen was announced runner-up for the 2014 Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW on Friday 18 July. His small painting titled Landscape reinvention no. 17 only measures 46 x 49cm. The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prize exhibition runs until 28 September at the AGNSW.
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Survey exhibition opens at Tweed River Art Gallery
llumination: The art of Philip Wolfhagen the first comprehensive survey of his art practice to date opens at Tweed River Art Gallery in Murwillumbah, NSW on Friday 8 August. Philip will attend the opening to give an exhibition preview talk. The exhibition runs until 12 October.
The exhibition will then travel to its last destination at Hamilton Art Gallery (Vic): 15 November 2014 - 1 February 2015
The exhibition will then travel to its last destination at Hamilton Art Gallery (Vic): 15 November 2014 - 1 February 2015
The Skullbone Experiment: a Paradigm of Art and Nature
Catherine and Philip Wolfhagen, co-curators of The Skullbone Experiment. Photo couresy of The Mercury
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The Skullbone Experiment, curated by Philip and Catherine Wolfhagen, opened on Friday 14th March with over 300 guests at the Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery at Inveresk. Rob Purves from the Purves Environmental Fund and artist John Wolseley were the guest speakers. Jane Hutchinson, CEO of the Tasmanian Land Conservancy (TLC) was excited to see the result of the artists' engagement with the landscape and believes it will raise awareness of the work TLC is doing to protect biodiversity in Tasmania.
The participating artists are Tim Burns (TAS), Joel Crosswell (TAS), Julie Gough (TAS), Philip Hunter (VIC), Janet Laurence (NSW), Vera Moller (VIC), Imants Tillers (NSW), Megan Walch (TAS), Richard Wastell (TAS), Philip Wolfhagen (TAS), and John Wolseley (VIC). The exhibition was the result of an artists retreat in February 2013, where ten artists were invited to spend four days on a wild and remote reserve, Skullbone Plains in Tasmania’s central highlands. The property had been recently purchased by The Tasmanian Land Conservancy (TLC), a science-based, not for profit organisation protecting private land for conservation in Tasmania. You can listern to an interview about the exhibition on ABC Radio National's Books and Arts Daily. The exhibition runs until 18 May and will later tour to COFA in Sydney on the 18th July, 2014. |
Survey exhibition opens at the Drill Hall
Philip Wolfhagen
Night Beacon VI, 2005, 200 x 210cm, National Gallery of Victoria |
llumination: The art of Philip Wolfhagen the first comprehensive survey of his art practice to date opened at the Australian National University Drill Hall Gallery in Canberra on the 20th February.
Director, Terence Maloon describes Wolfhagen's work as " Tasmanian painter Philip Wolfhagen's landscapes establish a midpoint between sweeping Romantic panoramas and flinty abstractions. His motifs, glowing in suggestive darkness or suffused with a mid grey-and-blonde radiance, relate to the far-Southern latitudes of Australia. Substantial in scale and richly impastoed, they relate equally to post-minimal painters like Brice Marden and Sean Scully and to post-Fred Williams and post-Colin McCahon Australiasian landscape." The exhibition runs until 6 April. The travelling exhibition schedule is as follows: Australian National University Drill Hall Gallery (ACT): 20 February - 6 April 2014 Cairns Regional Gallery (Qld): 9 May - 6 July 2014 Tweed River Art Gallery (NSW): 8 August - 12 October 2014 Hamilton Art Gallery (Vic): 15 November 2014 - 1 February 2015 |
Survey exhibition opens at Cairns Regional Gallery
llumination: The art of Philip Wolfhagen the first comprehensive survey of his art practice to date opened at Cairns Regional Gallery in Queensland on the 9 May. Philip attened the opening to participate in an 'in conversation' floor talk at the opening with Exhibition Manager, Justin Bishop. The exhibition runs until 6 July.
The travelling exhibition schedule is as follows: Tweed River Art Gallery (NSW): 8 August - 12 October 2014 Hamilton Art Gallery (Vic): 15 November 2014 - 1 February 2015 |
Illumination: The art of Philip Wolfhagen
llumination: The art of Philip Wolfhagen is the first comprehensive survey of his art practice to date. This national touring exhibition has been curated by Newcastle Art Gallery and Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery and will travel to galleries in ACT, QLD, NSW and VIC in 2013 to 2015. The exhibition covers 25 years of Wolfhagen's practice and features fifty works from public and private collections.
The exhibition was launched at the Newcastle Art Gallery and was opened by Sir Guy Green AC KBE CVO on 22 June 2013. A major publication was produced to document the exhibition and includes essays by writers Tim Winton, Craig Judd, Jane Clark and William Wright along with curators Jane Stewart and Sarah Johnson. The travelling exhibition schedule is as follows: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: 13 September - 1 December 2013 Australian National University Drill Hall Gallery (ACT): 20 February - 6 April 2014 Cairns Regional Gallery (Qld): 9 May - 6 July 2014 Tweed River Art Gallery (NSW): 8 August - 12 October 2014 Hamilton Art Gallery (Vic): 15 November 2014 - 1 February 2015 Gippsland Gallery (Vic): 14 February - 12 April 2015 |
Australia, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Philip Wolfhagen's work Autumn Equinox: The Loss of the Sun has been selected for inclusion in the exhibition Australia. This exhibition is the most significant survey of Australian art ever mounted in the UK. Focusing on the influence of the landscape, Australia spans more than 200 years from 1800 to the present day and features 146 artists with over 200 works, including painting, drawings, photography, watercolours and multimedia. This ambitious exhibition brings together works from the most important public collections in Australia, the majority of which have never been seen in the UK before.
Philip's work is part of the National Gallery of Australia's collection and was purchased by them in 2009. Australia is showing at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 21 September - 8 December 2013 |
The Skullbone Experiment
The Tasmanian Land Conservancy (TLC) is a science-based, not for profit organisation protecting private land for conservation in Tasmania. In February 2013, ten artists accepted an invitation from the TLC to spend four days on an artist’s retreat at their wild and remote reserve, Skullbone Plains in Tasmania’s central highlands.
Invited artists were Tim Burns (TAS), Joel Crosswell (TAS), Julie Gough (TAS), Philip Hunter (VIC), Janet Laurence (NSW), Vera Moller (VIC), Imants Tillers (NSW), Megan Walch (TAS), Richard Wastell (TAS), Philip Wolfhagen (TAS) and John Wolseley (VIC).
The artistic results will culminate in a touring exhibition curated by Catherine and Philip Wolfhagen. The exhibition will be launched at the QVMAG, Launceston on 14 March 2014 and then tour to COFA, Sydney, opening on 18 July 2014.
Invited artists were Tim Burns (TAS), Joel Crosswell (TAS), Julie Gough (TAS), Philip Hunter (VIC), Janet Laurence (NSW), Vera Moller (VIC), Imants Tillers (NSW), Megan Walch (TAS), Richard Wastell (TAS), Philip Wolfhagen (TAS) and John Wolseley (VIC).
The artistic results will culminate in a touring exhibition curated by Catherine and Philip Wolfhagen. The exhibition will be launched at the QVMAG, Launceston on 14 March 2014 and then tour to COFA, Sydney, opening on 18 July 2014.
Philip Wolfhagen at TMAg
The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) is delighted to welcome the first major survey exhibition of Tasmania’s award winning artist, Philip Wolfhagen, to our Argyle Galleries from today.
Illumination: The art of Philip Wolfhagen has been developed in partnership between the Newcastle Art Gallery and TMAG, and features over 50 key works.
“This major touring exhibition had its first showing at the Newcastle Art Gallery in June of this year and I am delighted that TMAG is the next host before the exhibition goes on to tour other states and the ACT,” TMAG Director, Bill Bleathman said.
“It is indeed a great honour to be part of the team bringing the work of this important Tasmanian artist to national prominence."
“TMAG has worked closely with the Newcastle Art Gallery and the artist and we look forward to developing more collaborative exhibitions of this type into the future.”
The exhibition will feature at seven venues across four states and the Australian Capital Territory.
Based in Longford, Wolfhagen has always been committed to the landscape genre which has a long tradition in Australia, saying he strives “to see the landscape in a new way and to feel as passionate about painting it as I do about preserving it.”
Wolfhagen is described as a master of creating works that capture changing light, mood and atmosphere and considers himself a ‘stay-at-home kind of artist’ and says of his work “I want to paint what I understand and love and not rush about being a tourist artist.”
It is not only the Tasmanian subject matter and his portrayal of it that makes his work so fascinating but the surface itself, created by a process of mixing beeswax with his colour pigments giving the works a luscious, creamy tactile quality.
“Wolfhagen is one of Australia’s most insightful landscape painters. He is one of three Tasmanians represented in the celebrated exhibition Australia that opens next week at the Royal Academy in London,” TMAG’s Principal Curator of Art, Jane Stewart said.
“I urge everyone to come and experience the evocative paintings that make up this stunning exhibition.”
The exhibition is accompanied by a major publication sponsored by the Gordon Darling Foundation that features six new essays on the artist including The island seen and felt: some thoughts about landscape by renowned Australian author, Tim Winton.
Illumination will tour to the ACT, Queensland, and Victoria, assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, and supported by the Newcastle Art Gallery Foundation and International Art Services, and in Tasmania by the Friends of TMAG.
Illumination: The art of Philip Wolfhagen has been developed in partnership between the Newcastle Art Gallery and TMAG, and features over 50 key works.
“This major touring exhibition had its first showing at the Newcastle Art Gallery in June of this year and I am delighted that TMAG is the next host before the exhibition goes on to tour other states and the ACT,” TMAG Director, Bill Bleathman said.
“It is indeed a great honour to be part of the team bringing the work of this important Tasmanian artist to national prominence."
“TMAG has worked closely with the Newcastle Art Gallery and the artist and we look forward to developing more collaborative exhibitions of this type into the future.”
The exhibition will feature at seven venues across four states and the Australian Capital Territory.
Based in Longford, Wolfhagen has always been committed to the landscape genre which has a long tradition in Australia, saying he strives “to see the landscape in a new way and to feel as passionate about painting it as I do about preserving it.”
Wolfhagen is described as a master of creating works that capture changing light, mood and atmosphere and considers himself a ‘stay-at-home kind of artist’ and says of his work “I want to paint what I understand and love and not rush about being a tourist artist.”
It is not only the Tasmanian subject matter and his portrayal of it that makes his work so fascinating but the surface itself, created by a process of mixing beeswax with his colour pigments giving the works a luscious, creamy tactile quality.
“Wolfhagen is one of Australia’s most insightful landscape painters. He is one of three Tasmanians represented in the celebrated exhibition Australia that opens next week at the Royal Academy in London,” TMAG’s Principal Curator of Art, Jane Stewart said.
“I urge everyone to come and experience the evocative paintings that make up this stunning exhibition.”
The exhibition is accompanied by a major publication sponsored by the Gordon Darling Foundation that features six new essays on the artist including The island seen and felt: some thoughts about landscape by renowned Australian author, Tim Winton.
Illumination will tour to the ACT, Queensland, and Victoria, assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, and supported by the Newcastle Art Gallery Foundation and International Art Services, and in Tasmania by the Friends of TMAG.