Charles Billich

Charles Billich
Charles Billich
	Charles Billich, photographed in his studio.
Known for	Painting, Sculpting

Charles Billich (born 1934, in Lovran, Istria, Croatia) was named Artist of the 1996 Summer Olympics. He is the recipient of the 2000 Sport Artist of the Year Award presented annually by the American Sport Art Museum and Archives.

He was named Designated Artist 2001 Centenary Nobel Peace Prize.

Inspired by his work entitled The Beijing Cityscape, the official image for the successful Beijing bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, Charles Billich conceived a sensational series of images based on the Bing Ma Yong Terracotta warriors. So well received was this work that the Bing Ma Yong images are represented on a collection of 16 postage stamps currently in circulation in China, adding to the cultural worth of this collection.

Biography

Charles Billich's exceptional spirit and talent have been forged by many dramatic personal experiences in a career spanning some forty years and have taken him to the highest pinnacles of artistic success, among which he counts the honour of having his work hung in the The White House, the UN and the Vatican.

Billich paints and draws in all media and sculpts in precious and semi-precious metals.

He paints from what he sees around him. Ballet and sport, architecture and town planning, eroticism and classicism, portraiture and stage, all provide the imagery of his work, and always in a way that challenges the norm. Sport and movement have always been conduits for the immensely talented Billich and much of his work is fuelled by these inspirations. As a fitting balance to this, Humanitarian pieces and works of religious significance are also within the focus of the Artist. Colour, drama, compassion, humanity, the distilled elements of artist Charles Billich life and work, generate the visual impact of his internationally acclaimed achievement.

"Humanity United" is a stirring creation from a brief extended to him by the Australian Red Cross to commemorate the 2001 Centenary of the Nobel Prize for Peace. It was a brief made poignant by the deprivations suffered during a youthful incarceration as a political prisoner in former Yugoslavia which ended only with the intervention of the Red Cross.

Billich was further honoured when Dr José Ramos-Horta, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation for Timor-Leste, requested he paint their Independence painting to honour the determination, courage and patience that the Timorese people have shown in their successful bid for independence.

Then, in June 2004, Billich again fused humanity and fine art when he exhibited at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Hosted by the UN Friendship Club and in another first for an Australian Artist, Billich has been invited back with his "Humanity United" collection in September 2006.

Inspired by his work "The Beijing Cityscape", the official image for the successful Beijing bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, Charles Billich has conceived a sensational series of images based on the Bing Ma Yong Terracotta Warriors. These world heritage listed historic treasures have been transposed through the art of Billich into images of the New Millennium, imbuing them with a new life and an everlasting future. The collection of images, portray the Bing Ma Yong Terracotta Warriors in a series of fabulous sporting compositions challenging the conventions of space and time.

Fostering further his commitment to China and Beijing 2008, in June 2004 Billich completed "Jubilation China's 100 Year Olympic Dream Realised" - a piece depicting the triumph, joy and celebration that followed the announcement of China's victory in the quest to be the next Olympic host nation.

His Olympic involvement continues and in this vein Billich created a symbolic cityscape painting of the 2008 Olympic Water Sports Venue Qingdao, which has been presented to the Mayor and the Beijing Olympic Committee in Qingdao in July 2005.

Demonstrating that his skills and imagination have no boundaries on the playing field of sports art, Charles Billich also created "The World In Union." This is the official image of the Rugby World Cup 2003. It captures the essence of a great sporting event together with an artistic design that is unmistakably representative of the host nation.

Charles Billich has received the coveted "Honorary Citizen of Atlanta" and the Key to the City during the Centennial Games; the title Sports Artist of the Year 2000, an Honorary Doctorate and the "Order of the Eagle Exemplar" - three of the world's most prestigious awards from the United States Sports Academy and American Sport Art Museum. In 2004 he has also assumed the role of Trustee of this premier sports education facility. Moreover, Charles Billich has been decorated with the Olympic Gold Order by the French Ministry of Sport for his contributions to the French Olympic Team during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

A master craftsman, he has exhibited at some of the world's best venues, has been an honoured guest and resident artist on many occasions and the recipient of many prizes, such as the Spoleto Prize in Italy. His editions and originals adorn boardrooms, galleries and collections across five continents.

Charles Billich dreams of a "peaceful, harmonious world, its values determined by compassion and human inherent nobility of spirit."

Biography - Early life

Billich's sense of time, place, history and occasion has conditioned much of his work. His opus may be variegated and eclectic, at times playful to the point of mundanity, but he never lets you forget his perceived role as chronicler of the times, that his life is dedicated to visually document contemporary and personal experiences.

He focuses on tragic events, some biographic, celebrations he attended or historic personalities. His fascination with distant pasts and myths transcends the mere recent. He has researched and speculated on history, particularly the Chinese, and has animated archaeological finds to give us hyperbolic glimpses of life as it could have been thousands of years ago.

Charles Billich was born in Lovran, in what was Italy, now Croatia, Sep 6 1934. So coveted was Billich's native environment that in his own lifetime it was conquered by Italy (1918-1943), Germany (1943-1945), Yugoslavia (1945-1991) and finally Croatia (1991-).

Charles Billich migrated to Australia on the Italian ship Toscana on her last voyage before scrapping. He was asked to join the two Australians teaching English on board and that was his first Australian job. Upon disembarcation he worked for the Employment Service at Bonegilla migrant camp, dispatching immigrants and political refugees from all over Eastern Europe to work all over the Australian continent.

Three months later he went to Melbourne to study art at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and the National Gallery Art School, working as taxi driver, sign writer, graphic designer and advertising art director before embarking on a risky career in fine art. He needn't have worried - the Australian public rewarded him with immediate interest in all States.

Collections

The Vatican Collection, Rome
United Nations Heardquarters, Geneva
The White House Collection, Washington D.C.
Ferrari Collection, Milan
Shaolin Temple, China
International Red Cross Museum, Geneva
International Olympic Museum, Lausanne
Museum of Modern Art Mobile, Alabama

Art Bank Commonwealth of Australia; City of Düsseldorf, Germany; Brisbane City Hall Art Gallery; The Parliament of Victoria; Australian Embassy to Germany; Australian Embassy to Croatia; Hall of Congress, Washington D.C., Queensland Art Gallery; U.S. Sports Academy; Royal Collection, Kuala Lumpur; City of Melbourne; Government Utah, USA; Government East Timor; Central Queensland University, Rockhampton; The City of Sydney; Embassy of Croatia, Canberra; Australian Embassy to Japan; City of Kanagawa, Japan; USA Australian Olympic Committee Headquarters, Sydney; New York State Govt. Port Authority; The Royal Collection of Thailand; Parliament House, Dili, East Timor; Exhibition Building, Melbourne; Royal Australian Air Force; Rockhampton Gallery, Qld; The City of Hakodate, Japan; The City of Osaka, Japan; State Theatre, Sydney; The Parliament of Japan; City of Rijeka, Croatia; NSW Government, Australia; Beijing Olympic Organising Committee; City Of Qingdao China;

Recent appointments

Artist, Florence Biennale 2009
Artist, Monaco Eco Art Parade 2009
Artist, ChinaWhite Cartier Polo Tournament 2009, Guards Polo Club, UK
Artist, St. Tropez Open Du Soleil Polo Tournament 2009, France
Appointed, by Royal Command, Artist in Residence for the Coronation of His Majesty King George Tupou V, Tonga 2008
St Moritz Art Masters, Switzerland 2008
Artist for Australian Olympic Team, Beijing 2008
Artist for US Olympic Team, Beijing 2008
Artist Carnivale Christi 2004/2005
Artistic Patron Sydney Polo Club 2004
Artist for Australian Olympic Team, Athens 2004
Artist for US Olympic Team, Athens 2004
Artist for Australia Day Regatta 2001 - 2006
Trustee United States Sports Academy
Patron NSW Chin Woo Athletics Association
Artist Sydney Greek Festival 2004
Artist for Rugby World Cup, 2003
Artist for Timor-Leste Independence Day, 2002
Artist for United States Olympic Committee, 2002/2003
Designated Artist 2001 Centenary Nobel Peace Prize
Sports Artist of the Year, 2000
Artist for the Australian and US Olympic Teams, Sydney 2000
Artist Beijing Olympic Bid, 1999-2000
Artist for the Australian and US Olympic Teams, Atlanta 1996
Artist 1996 Formula 1 Grand Prix, Melbourne, 1996
Commemorative Centenary Painting, Australian Football League, 1996

and more.

Recent Exhibitions

Eco Art Parade 2009

”Eco Art Parade 2009" is an environmental art exhibition in aid of the Prince Albert II Foundation of Monaco. This year’s theme is that of the Bonelli’s Eagles, an endangered species of the Mediterranean, whose protection is supported by the Foundation.

To honor the beauty and the rights of the Bonelli’s Eagles, Charles Billich presented a bronze sculpture of the “The Order of the Golden Eagle.” The work can be viewed from 8 June to 8 October 2009 in the Principality of Monaco.

Awards

77th Honorary Shaolin Monk, Henan, China 2004
Milan & Spoleto Award, Italy, 1989
Victorian Heritage & Cultural Award 1988
Centennial Olympic City, USA 1996
Honorary Citizen of Atlanta,1996
Order of the Eagle Exemplar, USA, 2000
Doctor Philosophy Honoris Causa-United States Sports Academy
Prints award/Gold Medal 1987/88
Spoleto Award, Italy, 1987

Published resources

Who's Who in Australia 2009
USA Sports Academy Publication, 2000
Billich Art Armanae, Grafiche Nicolini Editore, Italy 2000
2000 Outstanding Artists and Designers of the 20th Century, UK
Artists & Galleries of Australia
Billich 1971-1991(Editalia)
Encyclopaedia of Australian Art
Australian Impressionist & Realist Artists
Who's Who of Australian Visual Artists

External links