Rigby Gallery has Landed! · 7 April 2006
I just got back from a quick trip down to Margaret River today after being invited to attend the opening of Paul Rigby’s new Gallery/Studio.
He and his sons have worked hard to transform an old cow-milking shed on his property into a working (and impressive) gallery showcasing a swag of his oil paintings and sketches from his extensive travels.
His wife, Marlene, made a point to tell everyone that Paul did all of the work and hanging entirely on his own (he even makes his own frame mountings.) This is a mind-boggling accomplishment, considering how impressive the gallery now looks, along with the fact that Rigby (now 81) was in very poor health last year after a major hip operation and increasing respiritory difficulties.
The Riggers I chatted with on Thursday night was a picture of health, having lost quite a bit of weight and speaking with the quick, dry wit he’s always had.
I bumped into my mate Greg ‘Smithy’ Smith on arrival who just “happened to be down South” at the same time as the opening according to his wife Sandy. Smithy’s a self-professed Rigby fan, so wading through the pile of original cartoons on duoshade board on the main gallery table we both looked like a couple of kids in a candy store.
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I picked up this pearler (with a generous discount from Paul) along with an A2 print of a painting he did to commemorate Australia’s tragic ashes lost last year – it’s a real beauty.
His son, Bay, has his own studio in the gallery with some impressive work of his own on display. He definately inherited “that” gene.
If you’re not too sure who Paul Rigby is, or his significance in the cartooning world, have a read of this PDF of Inkspot #41 that I put together a couple of years ago. He’s undoubtedly one of the most influential and successful cartoonists in the world, and even though he was born in Melbourne, we’re happy to claim his as a WA boy seeing as he moved here to start his career at the Daily News (well before it folded in 1990.) His cartoons were run in News Limited papers across Australia, followed by a five-year stint in London at The Sun and News of the World and then 12 years on The New York Post and New York Daily News.
I’ll be heading back down to see Paul before I leave for New York in June to get a list of people and places to see – including the best remaining Jazz clubs in New York.
