"Taking up seven feet of wall space, Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz is a psychedelic portrait of the then Greens leader, Bob Brown, rendered in rich colours and filled with hidden details: from faces smuggled into the trees to little green men walking around Brown's feet. But just as noteworthy as the painting was the man standing next to it. Clad in hand-painted clothes, with painted false teeth in his mouth and a walking stick he didn't really need in his hand, stood Harold the Kangaroo Thornton."
"Recognition eluded Thornton during his lifetime. It still does. If you've heard of Thornton at all, it's probably thanks to the portrait of Brown, even though he can count the likes of Martin Sharp and Ken Done among his admirers and friends for his part, Done once helped Thornton out by paying for a crate of his paintings to be shipped around the world."
"Thornton's psychedelic works, marked by a mischievous sense of humour, always seemed primed to enter the mainstream. But even when surrealism became popular in Australia's art world, Thornton never got his dues or any money. Maybe he was ahead of his time, maybe he was behind his time, Done says. Maybe he was just on Harold Thornton's time."
Harold Thornton was an unconventional Australian artist who created vibrant, psychedelic paintings filled with hidden details and humor. His seven-foot painting 'Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz' was exhibited at the 1983 Archibald Prize, where Thornton famously stood beside it daily in hand-painted clothes and false teeth, seeking recognition. Despite befriending gallery staff and earning admiration from notable artists like Martin Sharp and Ken Done, Thornton never achieved mainstream success or financial reward in Australia. His work seemed destined for popularity, yet remained overlooked even as surrealism gained traction in Australian art. Thornton eventually found greater recognition in Amsterdam, where he lived and painted on streets, becoming better known internationally than domestically.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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