Leslie has long painted Australia – being attracted to the shape of the continenet yet disturbed by the overall design in which Tasmania just simply looks like an error. He is constantly trying to resolve this design dilemma.
Hall Street residence – Les was gardener and when asked 50 years later to paint the house he did so as it was when he was the gardener.
The Comfort Station once stood proud in Victory Park but was demolished to make way for the Ray Bradfield Room.
The Pie Ship or McShanag’s is one of Castlemaine’s most talked about shop windows. Leslie Thornton was commissioned to paint a decorative motif to be placed centrally in the window in 1978. This decal reamined until the window was broken in 2022, so sadly the image is no more and the window is even more bland than it was before.
Grandparents Farm was located where the main street of Woodford is now – location of the famous folk festival
Thompsons Foundry Band (Hall) there was a time when industrial organisations across the world had a band of workers associated and this was the proactice room for the local foundry band for decades. Recently rendered many people are sad no longer used by the band though the band lives on.
Castlemaine Hospital pictures – UPPER one shows the Castlemaine Hospital in Halford Street as it was in 1974 when Leslie drove his Riley to collect his new born son. The site is now used by artists, healing practictioners, artisans and is the home of the best little radio station in the nation Mainfm.
The current hospital painting depicts the very old section of the hospital that predates Halford Street and has been modernised and updated. The addition of the ambulance bay is recent.
Les Thornton is as quintessentially Australian as the pie he painted on the local baker’s shop window (the first time apparently an image had been paired with wording on a sign, in Castlemaine.) Australian in a way that perhaps a tourist wouldn’t recognise – but fellow inhabitants instinctively do. This Australianness is in the way he sees Australia – as a series of shapes that may (or may not, in the case of Tasmania) fit together and his affection, respect – and puzzlement of the landscape. It also manifests in his laconic approach to imagery and the way he describes (or doesn’t) his art.
His wonder at our vastness and unique geography compel him to survey his surroundings and thankfully we are the benefactors of this exploration. His work is unpretentious, humble and doesn’t take itself too seriously. He, like a cheeky rogue Google mapper, zooms in on Australia – showing us that yes, we are important – but not too important to not take the piss out of, using witticism as the Australian way. The further telescopes down to his affection and depiction of local buildings – helping us discern and appreciate our local landscape, in all its gloriousness and familiarity.
Sir Leslie Thornton: Castlemaine Art Museum’s First Blockbuster
22 March until 31 August
Opening
Sat 22 March at 2pm
Opening by Em. Pr. Chris McAuliffe
EMERITUS PROFESSOR, ANU School of Art & Design
Free entry. Open: Thurs-Sat 11am–4pm, Sun 12pm–4pm.
“Sardonic, ironic, iconic” Suzanne Donisthorpe
“He is an artist always interested in the edge of the world.” Craig McDonald
“He paints the culture of Castlemaine – how it looks and feels – it’s strange little madnesses. …. all roads lead to Castlemaine, sometimes quite literally!” Gary James (Spook)
“His predominantly playful wit takes the familiar and exaggerates it, with the skill of a cartoonist.” David Murray-Smith
“A modern day Bloomsburyist” Linda Heyworth
“He gives us, the viewer, an opportunity to see more than what we would stumble across ourselves. He is the artist as a guide.” Katherine Seppings
“He is our alternative historian – connecting us to place through his art” Judy Laycock
An interview with Castlemaine artist and musician Sir Les Thornton by Lucy Armstrong
They were 20 in the 70s and are now 70 in the 20s and they have spent a lifetime making art. Suzanne Donisthorpe asked the artists some of the big questions- is it a privilege or a miracle to still be making art, do they care less or more about the world, are they more philosophical, and what about legacy, regrets and proud moments? And what at the end of day – is art after all?
Sir Leslie Thornton: Art Exhibition Caspa 1998 “Re-making Australia”
In early 2015, the Village Festival began talking with Castlemaine residents who have lived in the town for more than twenty years. Over many cups of tea, the elders of the town have shared a wealth of personal stories about this place: from heart-breaking to heart-warming and from quirky to the profound, these stories are Castlemaine’s hidden history.