Name

Paul Haefliger

Other names

PAUL [in monogram]

Culture

Australian | German | Swiss

Gender

Male

Birth date

8 March 1914

Birth place

Frankfurt, Germany View on map Close map

Death date

27 March 1982

Death Place

Bern, Switzerland View on map Close map

Movements

Australia 1929-32, 1939-57; Japan, India, England, 1932-33 Europe ?-1939; Majorca from 1957.

Occupations

Art critic | Artist (painter) | Printmaker | Writer

Summary

Worked: Australia (NSW), Japan, Spain. Linocuts, Woodcuts, Wood-engravings

NGA IRN

21820

Context

Australia

Addresses

• Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
• Spain

Biography

Born in Germany on the eve of WW1, Paul Haefliger grew up in an artistic family, his mother being a painter. In 1930 he moved to Australia, settling in Sydney where he soon enrolled in Julian Ashton’s Sydney Art School. Here he produced his first prints under the tutelage of Thea Proctor.
With his mother he visited India, China and Japan 1932-33 where he furthered his knowledge in the techniques of Japanese wood-block printing. He then studied with Adelaide Perry at her Sydney studio from 1934 to ’36 where fellow students included Margaret Beatty, Harry Swain and Betty Arnott. It was during this period that majority of his colour prints were produced.
In 1935 he married fellow artist Jean Bellette and they moved to Europe the following year where he studied at the Westminster School of Art in London under Bernard Meninsky and Mark Gertler, then at the Academy Colarossi and the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris. His time in Europe and UK, as well his visits to China, India and Japan led to occasional experiments in other printmaking techniques including wood-engraving (1941), screenprinting (1948) and monotypes (1954). About forty images are known, printed in small editions. Haeflinger also designed screenprinted fabrics for Claudio Alcorso’s Silk and Textile Printers Co. in the 1940s.
Returning to Australia in 1939 Haefliger and Bellette became assistant editors of Art in Australia and in 1941 he was appointed art critic for the Sydney Morning Herald, a position he held for sixteen years championing modern art.. He was a foundation member of the Sydney Group of Artists in 1945.
In 1957 Haefliger and Bellette left Australia to live in Europe, mostly in Majorca, Spain though they visited Australia periodically.
[Gregory Heath and Roger Butler, Australian Artist-Printmakers 1870-1970. Canberra, 25 September 2026].

Last Updated

25 Sep 2026