Biography

JOSEPH ZBUKVIC
EDUCATION

His early education was completed in Croatia. Despite his obvious talent for art, in 1967 he enrolled into Ivo Lole Ribara University, Zagreb, to study languages and literature in order to pursue a teaching career. This was interrupted in 1970,when due to political unrest, his parents decided to emigrate to Australia, where he saw an opportunity to return to his love of art. He continued his formal education at Deakin University, Melbourne, graduating in 1974,gaining a Diploma of Art, majoring in Industrial Design. During that course, he was introduced to the medium of watercolour.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

He received his first major art award in 1974 during his university course, the Corio Council Art Award, soon to be followed by numerous further awards and recognition. He took up full time painting in 1978. His other achievements include over 50 solo exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, London UK , San Antonio, Texas USA and more recently in Zhujiajiao and Shanghai China. He is also highly respected and sought after as a teacher. He has produced five top selling instructional DVDS and published a book “Atmosphere and Mood in Watercolour”.

MEMBERSHIPS-
1991 Watercolour Society of Victoria
1991 - 1994 Vice President, Watercolour Society of Victoria
1998 Australian Guild of Realist Artists
1998 Victorian Artists Society
1998 Australian Watercolour Institute
1998 Twenty Melbourne Painters Society
1998 Victorian Racing Club
2008 American Watercolour Institute, Signatory Member

AWARDS
He has won over 200 major awards in his 40 years career, including the coveted Gold Medal and $20,000 for the best painting of the show at the Camberwell Rotary Art Exhibition in 2001, 2003 and 2004. The most recent award was in 2012 for the Best Painting in Show at the Shanghai Zhujiajiao International Watercolour Biennial Exhibition. In 2019 he received the “ Lifetime Achievement Award” presented by the Plein Air Magazine.

REPRESENTED
ArtarmonGalleries, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Red Hill Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Tyron and Swann Gallery, London, UK
Quan Hua Watercolour Art Gallery, Shanghai, China
Hong Museum, Shanghai, China
Barbara Frigerio Gallery, Milan, Italy
Principle Gallery, Alexandria, USA
Hanyuchen Art Museum, Handan, China
COLLECTIONSCastlemaine
Regional Gallery and Historical Museum, Victoria, Australia
Grafton Regional Gallery, New South Wales, Australia
Mimara Museum of Fine Arts, Croatia
Commonwealth Art Bank, Australia
Sheraton Towers Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Hong Museum, Shanghai, China
Quan Hua Watercolour Art Gallery, Shanghai, China
Victorian Racing Council, Australia
Tokar Estate, Melbourne, Australia
Numerous Municipal and private collections worldwide

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alan McCulloch, The Encyclopaedia of the Australian Arts, Hutchinson, 1978 and subsequent editions.
Jean Campbell, Australian Watercolour Painting 1780 to the Present Day, Craftsman House 1990.
Tom Roberts, the Australian Impressionist and Realist Artists, Graphic Management Services 1991.
Australian Watercolour Institute, 75th Anniversary Publication, the Beagle Press 1998.
The Best of Watercolour, Vol 3, Selected by Serge Hollerbach and Bettie Lou Schlemm, Rockport Publishers Inc 1999.
“The Art of Watercolour” Magazine, No. 27 issue, 2017
“Arabian Horse Spirit” Magazine, No.6 Spring / Summer 2018
B. Eric Rhoads “Plein Air Magazine ” April-May 2019 Volume 9, Issue 2