Arthur and his family visited Horsham and the Wimmera. The National Gallery of Victoria purchased Irrigation Lake, Wimmera. Arthur returned to Open Country and worked on large painted tiles.
Arthur travelled to Central Australia, where he experienced Aboriginal people for the first time. He was shocked by their living conditions.
Arthur continued ceramic production and painting, including a major ceramic commission for the Melbourne Olympics in 1956. He represented Australia with Sir Arthur Streeton at the 1958 Venice Biennale.
In 1959 Merric Boyd died, and in November Arthur travelled with his family to England (supported by a stipend from Australian Galleries) after exhibiting with the Antipodeans, a group of painters founded this year, and included David Boyd, John Brack, Clifton Pugh, and John Perceval amongst others. The artists were all committed to the modern figurative image, in opposition to the growing ascendency of abstract painting and sculpture.
