[1] Voitre became an apprentice to a metal engraver in 1935, before going to study at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts between 1939 and 1944, where he met his future wife, Věra Podpěrová.
[2] The pair stayed for some time at a refugee camp in Dillenburg, West Germany,[1] where Voitre sculpted busts of the American commander, being paid in peanut butter sandwiches.
[1] After landing at Sydney, the brothers spent some time in Bathurst migrant camp before moving to Adelaide, where Vera joined them and married Voitre on 8 April 1949.
He then developed a technique for welding steel rods to create sculptures, which initially included several works of an abstract and biomorphic nature.
From this point onwards he started producing religious art, in particular sculptures incorporating steel rods and embossed copper, which is held in 24 churches in Australia,[1] including five works commissioned by St Joseph's in Tranmere in 1965.
[10] The gallery, unusually for Adelaide, opened on weekday evenings, as well as daytimes Monday to Saturday, and had permanent displays as well as time-limited solo and group exhibitions.
[9][11] The inaugural exhibition at the New Gallery showcased the paintings of George Matthews (born 1924 in Kent Town[12]),[13] who had sketched small drawings in places such as Ceylon, Port Said and London.
[14] The second exhibition was of the work of Francis Roy Thompson (1896–1966[15]), described as a "well-known artist", who painted scenes from nature in South Australia.