Madonna Staunton OAM collection
Collection
The bulk of the collection is about Madonna Staunton OAM. It contains personal correspondence to Madonna such as letters, post cards, Christmas cards, letters from outsider artist and poet Michael Reilly and personal invitations; diaries; scrapbooks; notebooks and address books; clippings and publications collected by Madonna on a range of subjects; artist books and art work collected by Madonna; personal papers; business correspondence and other associated items such as her business card, book plate and bulldog clip used to secure art works; photographs, slides etc mainly documenting her art, studio and pet cats; biographies, clippings, ephemera and exhibition catalogues about Madonna and/or her art; varied writings by Madonna as well as two small poetry publications of her work; a selection of the type of material used by Madonna Staunton to create her art works, predominately found objects, but also different types of paper, letrasets, stickers and embroidery thread; mail art projects Madonna was interested in and/or involved in; and a selection of the type of art created by Madonna such as collages, paintings, drawings and stampings and including artist books and pieces featuring the safety pin.
Madonna Pearle Staunton OAM was an artist and poet. Madonna was born in 1938 in Murwillumbah, N.S.W., to parents Madge and Albert Errol Staunton. In 1940 the family moved to Sydney briefly before returning to Brisbane in 1952. Madonna attended art classes from 1965-1967 with Bronwyn Thomas receiving occasional tuition from Jon Molvig, Nevil Matthews and Roy Churcher. Madonna began her career painting lyrical abstract paintings and started exhibiting her work in 1956. Ill health led her to abandon painting in the mid-1970s. She concentrated instead on collage, assemblage and related media for which she became known, using everyday items, or parts of them, in her work, such as safety pins, tickets and postcards. Madonna returned to painting later in life. Madonna has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions at a wide range of galleries throughout Australia and occasionally overseas for over 5 decades. Her work is held in several major public and private collections. (Information taken from: Madge Staunton, autobiography, item 73 of the collection guide, Milani gallery website, viewed 30 September 2021; Queensland University of Technology, Madonna Staunton : a survey 1966 - 1993)
Multiple copyright statuses. Please refer to the Collection Guide for copyright status of individual items.