Biography

Greg Hyde was born in Sydney in 1950 to Russian/Australian parents. As both his parents were trained as commercial artists they encouraged him to paint and sketch from an early age. Although art was not part of the curriculum he and a group of friends began painting and exhibiting at school and worked to establish a gallery as part of the regular life of the school.

In 1968-1971 Greg Hyde studied medicine but decided to take a year of absence to travel and visit galleries. He visited the USA briefly then spent two years living and working in England. He made a brief visit to Russia in 1973 to connect with his heritage and there he developed an abiding love of the iconographic tradition. In 1976-77 Greg and his young family went to live in the countryside in Greece. There he developed a strong rapport with this ancient landscape deeply imbued with myth. His feelings for the colour, texture and spirituality of this landscape continue to haunt his paintings.

On returning to Australia Greg and his family moved to a small farm outside Bathurst to create a home which expresses a love of the places that they have visited and a commitment to a lifestyle which is in keeping with the Australian environment.

Greg’s paintings reflect this harmony. He has developed a style, which combines his love of European tradition with an insightful use of the natural features and cultural phenomena of traditional and modern Australia to create a personal iconography.

Greg works in various media from oils to etchings and has illustrated several children’s books. Over the years he has had one-man exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane and regularly participates in group exhibitions through out Australia. He has exhibited in the Wynne and Archibald prizes and his work is represented in Australian and overseas collections.

Greg’s work is usually colourful and often whimsical, he says, with a twist of pseudo intellectual aestheticism. This he hopes is vaguely relevant today.