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Newstead Art

31 Lamrock Avenue, Bondi Beach, NSW 2026, Australia

adrian@newsteadart.com +61 412 126 645

Acknowledgement of Country

Newstead Art acknowledges the Bidjigal, Birrabirragal and Gadigal peoples of the Eora Nation, the Traditional Custodians of the land at Bondi Beach on which we live and work, and pays respect to their Elders past and present. We honour the enduring connection of First Nations peoples to Country, culture and community, and the artists whose work we are privileged to share.

© 2026 Newstead Art. Adrian Newstead OAMSite by Jasmin Smith

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↩ All exhibitions

Let's Dance!, Johnny Bell, December 2024

Artist

Johnny Bell

Johnny Bell

Let's Dance!

December 2024 · Newstead Art, Bondi Beach, NSW

As the “Swinging Sixties” rippled towards Australia, Margaret Jones - the legendary pioneering female journalist wrote a feature for the Sun Herald about what she described as “a minor miracle”. “Collectors queued for six hours before the Barry Stern Galleries in Paddington opened,” Jones explained in 1962 about an unprecedented exhibition by a debut solo artist. In the first hour alone, £2000 worth of the young artist’s paintings had sold - over $70,000 in today’s money. Buyers sought to toast the celebrity artist, but he wasn’t there. He was at home in East Sydney’s notorious red-light district with his young wife and son. Before the official opening, however, the young Johnny Bell, 24, then seen as the future of Australian art and a rival to his contemporary, Brett Whiteley, had been spied prowling uneasily amid the chaos. Lady Mary Fairfax purchased the exhibition’s massive tour de force, Mardi Gras, and for the rest of her life it hung in the Southern Highlands retreat she shared with her husband, Sir Warwick(then patriarch of the Fairfax newspaper empire). Perhaps no young Australian artist has ever shone so brightly, then turned their back on fame and fortune at the height of their celebrity as Bell did - apart from Ian Fairweather, “the hermit of Bribie Island” with whom he has often been compared. And yes, with the artistic world at his feet, he admits, that he“disappeared”. A dramatic, well-publicised falling out with his former friend, Barry Stern, meant he never committed to a commercial gallery again. Over the intervening years, Johnny’s lived in squats and strange places including under a ledge with an overhang where I could keep his stuff dry. He took refuge there on the sandstone cliffs of La Perouse, off and on, for 30 years. Yes, there were undiagnosed mental issues, from the age of four. Johnny says that he never regarded them as breakdowns, but creative episodes that were sometimes terrifying and sometimes great.What saved him he believes, was that he always avoided psychiatrist. Today, at 87, Johnny still paints or draws most days, scraping by from week to week on his pension, exhibiting occasionally, and is the proud grandfather of ten. The young man who in his 20s looked for all the world like a thin-faced Modigliani portrait is still handsome, sporting a wispy beard borrowed from a Fu Manchu movie. Hidden amongst his possessions are scores of sketch books awaiting to be assigned; diaries full of phrases learnt in Indonesia, Timor Leste, and Aboriginal Australia; and smaller paintings which speak to a lifelong love of dancing and sexual encounters. © Steve Meacham

Works in this exhibition42

Click on available works to view more details.

Johnny Bell, Untitled, April 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, April 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

46 x 34 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, April 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, April 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

42 x 33 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

44.2 x 37 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45.5 x 35 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, April 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, April 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

33.5 x 46.5 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45.5 x 43 cm

Johnny Bell, Study II, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Study II, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

36.5 x 43.5 cm

Johnny Bell, Jazz Club II, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Jazz Club II, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

37 x 40 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

42 x 27.5 cm

Johnny Bell, On Leave, April 2024

Johnny Bell

On Leave, April 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

42 x 40.5 cm

Johnny Bell, Stripper, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Stripper, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45.5 x 42.5 cm

Johnny Bell, Hot Club, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Hot Club, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

37 x 48 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, April 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, April 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45 x 35.5 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, April 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, April 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

44 x 35 cm

SOLD

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

37 x 42 cm

SOLD

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

37 x 49 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, April 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, April 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45 x 34 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

37 x 45 cm

Johnny Bell, Good Boy, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Good Boy, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45.5 x 30 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45.5 x 35.5 cm

Johnny Bell, Les Belles, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Les Belles, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45.4 x 36.5 cm

Johnny Bell, Carribbean Encounter, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Carribbean Encounter, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

37 x 48 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45.5 x 35 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45.5 x 35 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, April 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, April 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45 x 33 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, April 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, April 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

36.5 x 45 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

43 x 37 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45 x 33.5 cm

Johnny Bell, Stripper II, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Stripper II, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45.7 x 36.6 cm

Johnny Bell, Carnivale I, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Carnivale I, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

46 x 39 cm

Johnny Bell, Swing, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Swing, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45.5 x 43 cm

Johnny Bell, Jazz Club, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Jazz Club, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

37 x 51 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

37 x 47 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

37 x 47 cm

Johnny Bell, Carnivale II, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Carnivale II, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

37 x 45.5 cm

Johnny Bell, Sway Me Now, April 2024

Johnny Bell

Sway Me Now, April 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

42 x 40 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45.5 x 39.5 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, April 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, April 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

35.5 x 41.5 cm

Johnny Bell, Cane Cutters, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Cane Cutters, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

46 x 36.8 cm

Johnny Bell, Untitled, April 2024

Johnny Bell

Untitled, April 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

46 x 34 cm

Johnny Bell, Back Stage, April 2024

Johnny Bell

Back Stage, April 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

42 x 33 cm

Johnny Bell, Across the Bar, September 2024

Johnny Bell

Across the Bar, September 2024

pigment fine art print on Hahnemuhle art paper

45.5 x 35 cm

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