Nude with beast III
Arthur Boyd was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria on 24 July 1920, son of the potter, sculptor and painter, Merric Boyd and brother of David and Guy. He attended night classes at the National Gallery Art School, Melbourne in 1935, and painting with his grand-father, Arthur Merric Boyd 1936-9. Boyd was conscripted into the army and served in the Army Survey Corps 1941-4. Following the war he established the Arthur Merric Boyd Pottery Workshop at Murrumbeena with John Perceval and Peter Herbst. He became a member of the Antipodeans in 1959. Later that year, following his father's death, Boyd and his family left for London. His paintings are drawn from personal experience, and reflect family relationships, values and religious beliefs, and symbolise human passions such as love and aggression.