Tribute to John Bishop

Wlad (as he was commonly known) came to Adelaide from a Displaced Persons' camp in Germany to Australia. Before coming to Australia, he trained at the Cracow Academy in painting and under scholarship at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He also trained in drama and stage design at the Lwow Opera Theatre.

His first job was working in the Adelaide Railway Station as a painter alongside Czech artist, Alexander Sadlo. He was also employed as a painter at the Elder Conservatorium, where he developed a memorable friendship with Professor John Bishop. As John Neylon, Adelaide arts writer recounted in the artist’s obituary:

‘Wlad reminded Bishop of the ability of Strasbourg to get an arts festival up.’

From 1950, the artist had started to become recognised not only in Adelaide but also interstate, where he exhibited regularly with other leading modern artists Arthur Boyd and John Brack. Celebrated for his semi-abstract portrait and landscape paintings that possess a unique sense of energy, time and place.