Notably, they did not exhibit in the CAS's own gallery, as the society opposed the show, but chose instead to use the premises of the rival Victorian Artists' Society, long a bastion for cultural conservatism in Melbourne.
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Their case was not helped by the fact that they were all enjoying some commercial success, as against their immediate rivals (the local abstractionists Roger Kemp, Leonard French, Inge King and George Johnson) who were struggling.
During this time, Chomley’s London home in Ladbroke Gardens became a social hub for his fellow Antipodeans; as Brenda Niall writes in her biography of the Boyd family, Chomley’s restless temper and radical ideas fostered an environment in which topics of any manner could be discussed.
He was a sympathizer of The Antipodeans, a group of Melbourne painters that also included Arthur Boyd, David Boyd, John Brack, Robert Dickerson, John Perceval and Clifton Pugh.