{"id":13,"date":"2018-03-24T09:05:32","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T23:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maxboyd.com.au\/?page_id=13"},"modified":"2018-06-24T17:18:07","modified_gmt":"2018-06-24T07:18:07","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.maxboyd.com.au\/","title":{"rendered":"The Early Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This painting of \u201cGlenfern\u201d was done by Max in 1984.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Early Years<\/strong>
\nMax Boyd was second cousin to the Boyd Dynasty of painters, sculptors, potters and writers sharing a great grandfather, Captain John Theodore Thomas Boyd, of \u201cGlenfern\u201d in East St Kilda, Melbourne.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0 Max being born on the land and unable to access early training, pursued a 30-year corporate career before taking up the palette professionally and claiming his place in the creative Boyd Dynasty.<\/p>\n

1915<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a>\u201cWetheron\u201d by Max Boyd<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Robert Max Boyd was born on 18 April, 1915, at the 1848 historic \u201cWetheron\u201d property near Gayndah, in Southern Queensland.<\/p>\n

Because his father was also Robert, he was always known as Max. This is one of many paintings Max did of his birthplace.<\/p>\n

1927-28<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a>\u201cWetheron House\u201d by Max Boyd as a youth.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In Max\u2019s own words, \u201cI grew up on Wetheron Station near Gayndah and went to Gatton Agricultural College.The land is in my blood.\u00a0 My father, Robert, was a member of the Queensland Parliament and I ran the property while he was away\u201d.<\/p>\n

Before 1930<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a>Parliament House, Brisbane, by Max Boyd<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A very early art work by Max as a student.<\/p>\n

While he lived at Wetheron his maternal relatives lived in Brisbane and he often visited their house, \u201cThoonbah\u201d in Highgate Hill.<\/p>\n

His maternal grandfather, A J Thynne, was a member of the Queensland Parliament for 40 years.<\/p>\n

1931<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a>Gatton Agricultural College, Central Queensland<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This is a sketch of Gatton Agricultural College done by Max, aged 16, during his education there. His grandfather, A J Thynne, then Secretary for Agriculture, helped found the College in 1896..<\/p>\n

1930s<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a>Max (front left) was the eldest son of five siblings.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Boyd family from left – Josephine, Dorothy, (Robert) Max, Peter and (John) Tony. Max was the eldest son.<\/p>\n

As of 2018 all are deceased.<\/p>\n

1935<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a> Done when Max was 20.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Probably on one of South East Queensland\u2019s Islands where it is believed he spent some of his leisure time after moving to Brisbane.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1930s<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nThese two sketches were done some time after 1935,\u00a0 but probably prior to Max\u2019s four years in the AIF.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nThey show how ahead of his time, were his foresight and how deep his philosophical thought.<\/p>\n

1930s<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nMax was fascinated by modern transportation.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

1939<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a> In Brisbane in 1939, Max married Moya Ransome, a union which lasted for 47 years.<\/p>\n

With the outbreak of the Pacific War, Max enlisted in the AIF.<\/p>\n

In 1943 their first daughter, Sandra, was born in Cairns, North\u00a0 Queensland.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1940 – 1945\u00a0<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

These amazing sketches of his surroundings, during his four years\u2019 service in the Pacific Regional, adorned the letters Max wrote to his wife, Moya, during their separation.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

1945<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Drawn in April 1945, probably near his location in New Guinea, prior to his return to Australia after the war.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A favourite spot for Moya to stay and possibly a place for Max to recover after his war service.<\/p>\n

Once a Main Beach favourite, it has since been replaced with high-rise development.<\/p>\n

Max returned to Caltex Oil to complete a successful 30-year career.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sans Souci Private Hotel, Main Beach, Southport
\nDone by Max Boyd<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This painting of \u201cGlenfern\u201d was done by Max in 1984. The Early Years Max Boyd was second cousin to the Boyd Dynasty of painters, sculptors, potters and writers sharing a great grandfather, Captain John Theodore Thomas Boyd, of \u201cGlenfern\u201d in East St Kilda, Melbourne. However,\u00a0 Max being born on the land and unable to access … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Early Years”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maxboyd.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maxboyd.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maxboyd.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxboyd.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxboyd.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13"}],"version-history":[{"count":65,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxboyd.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":489,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxboyd.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13\/revisions\/489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maxboyd.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}