Gregory Cliffe

Gregory Cliffe is an Australian painter whose work blends technical mastery with a deep conceptual engagement with landscape, memory, and cultural identity. Trained in Sydney and originally recognised for his contributions to performance and sculptural formalism — including a 1984 residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris — Cliffe later completed a Master of Arts at the University of Western Sydney, refining the foundations of his current practice. Over the past two decades, he has developed a distinctive approach to oil painting, using classical glazing, scumbling, and controlled impasto to build luminous, stratified surfaces that resonate with Romantic and post Romantic traditions. His recent series investigates European and Australian environments as sites where geology, history, and lived experience converge. For collectors, Cliffe’s work offers a compelling synthesis of emotional depth, historical awareness, and enduring craftsmanship, making each piece a thoughtful and lasting addition to contemporary collections.

1999-2001 University of Western Sydney, Nepean. Master of Arts (Honours). Contemporary Arts. Painting research, exhibition and exegesis.
1979 Diploma of Education, Sydney Teachers College.
1978 New South Wales Department of Education Teachers’ Scholarship.
1976-78 Alexander Mackie C.A.E., Diploma of Art (Design, Electromedia, Performance Art, Sculpture and Installations).
1974-5 The National Art School. Art Diploma Qualifying (Sculpture, Painting, Objective Drawing, Photography, Graphic Design, Silk-Screen and Block Printing, Design, Media Studies, Weaving).

2025: Finalist, Milburn Art Prize, Brisbane Institute of Art.
2025: Finalist, St. Columba’s Art Prize, Springwood, NSW.
2024: Finalist, Basil Sellers Art Prize, Moruya, NSW.
2024: Selected, Circle Arts display Amsterdam EuropFair.
2023: Finalist, Salon Des Refuses for The Lethbridge Small
Art Prize. 2022: Selected Group Show, Out of The Blue Exhibition at NSW Parliament House. BMCAN.
2019: Group show: Picturesque. Blue Mountains Artists’ Network at Braemar Gallery, Springwood
2019: Group Show, Brunswick Street Art Gallery 50 Squared prize.
2019: Group Show, Gallery 188 BMCAN Group Show: "Art Is the Reason".
2018-19: Blue Mountains Artists' Network Summer Spring and Autumn Shows at Edge Theatre Gallery, Katoomba.
2018: Finalist, Brunswick Small Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery.
2018: Online Finalist for The Lethbridge Art Prize.
2018: Finalist, Bald Archy Travelling Exhibition.
2016 One Artist Show: Lost Bear Gallery, Katoomba: “Groupthink”. Painting.
2001 Tin Sheds Art Gallery, University of Sydney: "Fragmented Values: Compulsive Lives".
1994 Wentworth Falls School of Arts. “Wild & Domesticated”. Paintings.