Samuel Laurence Atyeo (6 January 1910 – 26 May 1990) was an Australian painter, designer and diplomat.
Atyeo was active in Melbourne's modernist movement in the 1930s and was associated with the Heide circle. He later had a diplomatic career working under Herbert Evatt, and was noted for his unconventional approach to the work. He gave up both artistic and diplomatic work in the 1950s and spent the rest of his life farming in France with occasional returns to painting. Atyeo's art and design work made a considerable contribution to modernism in Australia, and his painting "Organised Line to Yellow" is considered Australia's first abstract painting.
Biography
Early life and artistic career
Sam Atyeo was born in Brunswick, Melbourne in 1910. His parents were Alfred Vincent Atyeo, a chauffeur, and Olivia Beatrice Victoria (née Cohen). During his childhood, Atyeo suffered long periods of illness which allowed him time to practice drawing. He studied at the Working Men's College and the National Gallery of Victoria Art School, where he was tutored by William Beckwith McInnes and Lindsay Bernard Hall. While studying, Atyeo became romantically involved with fellow art student Moya Dyring.
In 1932, Atyeo attracted controversy for his submission for the NGV Art School's travelling scholarship. He was dismayed by the gallery director Hall's adherence to realism as well as his teaching style. Atyeo's submission, an abstract painting titled A Gentle Admonition, depicted a caricature of Hall with two nude female students. Hall was offended by the painting's style and perceived it as an attack on his teaching. Hall refused to display the painting in the scholarship exhibition, reasoning that the painting did not meet style regulations. The painting was then displayed at furniture designer Frederick Ward's shop on Collins Street.
Atyeo became a designer at Cynthia Reed's shop and would exhibit his paintings there. Reed organised Atyeo's first exhibition in 1933 and helped him gain commercial commissions. The two also had a romantic relationship that reportedly produced a daughter, Jinx, who was adopted by Sidney Nolan. Aside from painting, Atyeo was active in industrial design and architecture, including designing a cocktail bar for the Hotel Australia with Reed and Ward. His time with Cynthia Reed led him to meet and establish a life-long friendship with politician and art patron H. V. Evatt. Reed also introduced Atyeo to her brother and sister-in law, art patrons John and Sunday Reed. John Reed was impressed by Atyeo and encouraged him to become part of their circle. Atyeo had an affair with Sunday at the same time that John had an affair with Dyring. Despite this, Dyring and Atyeo stayed together.
"Organised Line to Yellow" In 1933, Atyeo painted "Organised Line to Yellow" which is believed to be Australia's first abstract painting. The painting resembles the work of Paul Klee although Atyeo was not familiar with Klee at the time. He said he created the painting after listening to Bach's Double Violin Concerto at a time when he exploring the relationship between music and art. The painting was a breakthrough in Atyeo's work. After completing it, he wrote to the Reeds saying: "I have risked everything, have burnt every bridge. I have painted an abstract big picture. I think it nearly very good, it may be terribly good".
"Organised Line to Yellow" was first exhibited in 1934 at the Contemporary Art Group exhibition. The work greatly impressed John Reed who purchased it and hung it above the fireplace at Heide.
Time in Europe
In 1936, using money earned from redesigning a facade on Flinders Lane, Atyeo moved to Paris. In France, Atyeo spent time with fellow Melburnian Louise Hanson-Dyer and frequently attended her salon. Hanson-Dyer commissioned him to design covers for her music publishing press. He met refugees from the Spanish Civil War which influenced his socialist views and resulted in the production of Republican propaganda posters. Through the posters, Atyeo came into contact with Picasso, Robert Delaunay and Fernand Léger. In 1939, Atyeo moved with Dyring, who had also moved to Europe, to a farm in Vence. Following the German invasion of France, the couple moved to Barbados where they married in 1941.