120125 Ng_text.art
LIST OF WORKS AND CATALOGUE NOTES
65
RICK AMOR (born 1948)
9
Maquette II for Relic 2006
Literature/Further reading
bronze, editon of 3 plus 1 AP
Bruce Adams, Ralph Balson: A Retrospective, Heide
Rick Amor studied at the Caulfield Institute of Art and
50.5 x 16 x 15cm
Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne, 1989
the National Gallery School in Melbourne. Amor’s first
inscribed: R. Amor 06 AP
Ralph Balson 1890–1964, Niagara Galleries,
solo exhibition of paintings was with Joseph Brown
Melbourne, 1989
Gallery in 1974 and he has continued to exhibit
Provenance
annually since then. Widely acknowledged as perhaps
The artist
40 (Non-objective painting) 1955
the best figurative artist working in Australia at this
oil on composition board
Exhibited
time, his work is keenly sought by collectors and
62.5 x 75cm
The full-scale version of this work was first exhibited
institutions. In 2004, the National Gallery of Australia
signed and dated lower right: R Balson/55
at Niagara Galleries, Melbourne in September 2006.
acquired a major bronze sculpture, The dog 2004,
inscribed verso: TOP
These most recent sculptures by Amor exemplify the
which is now sited in the sculpture garden. Amor’s
Provenance
artist’s concerns with the decay of civilisation or
outstanding success as a contemporary artist is
Gallery A, Sydney
vanitas; that beauty and life is fleeting and when man
testament to his ability to combine painting, sculpture
Peter Powditch, Sydney
has passed, the earth will remain. Relic is fashioned
and printmaking in a continuous exploration of his
Private collection, Sydney
after a figure from antiquity. Part-man, part-beast, the
themes. In 2005, the McClelland Gallery held a
canine features draw parallels to several ancient
significant survey of Amor’s works which was
Related works
mythologies, yet remain resolutely of our own time.
accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue and a
This is an early work from Balson’s Non-objective
Amor’s expressive modelling of the clay shows the
retrospective exhibition is currently being organised
series of paintings. Important related works from the
touch of the artist, like a brush stroke in oil paint, but
by Heide Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne. A
series include Non-objective painting 1958 in the
instead the gouging marks of the thumb. The first
major monograph, Rick Amor: The Solitary Watcher,
collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Non-
maquette was cast from an original clay model, but
published in 2001 by the Miengunyah Press has sold
objective painting 1959 in the collection of the National
when the mould was removed, the clay model had
out and a new monograph by Gavin Fry is expected in
Gallery of Australia and Painting no.9 1959 in the
broken down from the pressure of the mould-making
2008.
collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
process. The result was a damaged version of the
Literature/Further reading
Notes
original which so intrigued the artist that he had
Ashley Crawford, ‘50 Most Collectable Artists’,
An abandoned painting is visible on the reverse side.
another mould made of this decayed model. Thus we
Australian Art Collector, iss.39, 2006
have Maquette I and Maquette II essentially cast from
CLARICE BECKETT (1887–1935)
Robert Lindsay, Rick Amor: Standing in the Shadows,
the same original. In what some may have seen as a
McClelland Art Gallery, Melbourne, 2005
Born in Melbourne in 1887, Clarice Beckett is
ruined model, Amor saw an indication of the human
Rodney James, Rick Amor: The Sea, Mornington
renowned for her atmospheric paintings of dawn and
condition. Individually they are strong pieces, but
Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria, 2002
dusk. Studying under Max Meldrum, she quickly
together, it could be said that they gain exponential
Gary Catalano, The Solitary Watcher: Rick Amor and
gained a reputation as a spirited and independent
strength.
his Art, The Miengunyah Press, Melbourne University
artist, eschewing the standard studio practice in
Press, Melbourne, 2001
RALPH BALSON (1890–1964)
favour of plein air painting. She held ten solo
Gary Catalano, Building a Picture: Interviews with
exhibitions at the Atheneum Gallery, Melbourne yet
Ralph Balson was born in England and migrated to
Australian Artists, McGraw Hill, Melbourne, 1997
received little acclaim for her unique views of modern
Australia in 1913. From the age of twelve he made his
Melbourne, and her reputation lay dormant for many
6
The silent east II 2006
living as a house painter, work he continued in
years after her death in 1935. In 1999, a significant
oil on canvas
Australia and throughout his career as an artist.
touring retrospective Clarice Beckett: Politically
81 x 162cm
He first studied art around 1922, undertaking night
Incorrect, curated by biographer Ros Hollinrake at the
signed lower left: Rick Amor 06
classes at the Julian Ashton School. He met Grace
Ian Potter Museum of Art, re-ignited considerable
inscribed verso: The silent east II/ 81 x 162/ May 06
Crowley and became involved with the Crowley-Fizelle
interest in her practice. Her work is held in all major
School as well as the Modern Art Centre in Sydney
Provenance
state and regional gallery collections including the
during the 1930s. In 1960, Balson travelled to New
The artist
National Gallery of Australia.
York, London and Paris, his first time outside Australia
8
Maquette I for Relic 2006
since migrating in 1913. In Paris a show of his
Literature/Further reading
bronze, edition of 3 plus 1 AP
paintings was organised for Galerie R. Creuze.
Clarice Beckett 1887–1935, Niagara Publishing,
50 x 17.5 x 15.5cm
Balson’s legacy to abstraction lives on in the
Melbourne, 2000
inscribed: R. Amor 06 AP
collections of all major state galleries.
66
Clarice Beckett: Politically Incorrect, Ian Potter Museum
45 Untitled 2003
Joe Pascoe, Stephen Benwell and David Potter:
of Art, Melbourne, 1999
gouache on acid-free crescent board
Survey Exhibition, Shepparton Art Gallery, 1989
Rosalind Hollinrake, Clarice Beckett: The Artist and Her
51 x 76cm
Daniel Thomas (ed.), Creating Australia 200 Years of
Circle, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1979
Wiliam Mora gallery stamp and label verso
Art: 1788–1988, International Cultural Corporation of
Australia, Art Gallery Board of South Australia, 1988
19 Across the cliff c.1928
Provenance
John McPhee, Australian Decorative Arts in the
oil on board
William Mora Galleries, Melbourne
Australian National Gallery, National Gallery of
29 x 39cm
Private collection, Melbourne
Australia, Canberra, 1982
inscribed verso: Across the cliff/ £8 8/-
Exhibited
55 Vase 1985
Provenance
William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, December 2003
porcelain with underglaze painting
HR Mangan
Reference
38.5 x 21.5 x 21.5cm
Rosalind Humphries Gallery, Melbourne
Paddy Bedford, Museum of Contemporary Art,
signed underneath: S Benwell ’85
Private collection, Melbourne
Sydney, 2006, illustrated in index of works – number
Provenance
PB WB 2003.97, p.171
20 Across the water, Beaumaris c.1930
Private collection, Melbourne
oil on board
Related works
Exhibited
29 x 39cm
Numerous related works from this series are detailed
Maya Behn Gallery, Zurich
label of authenticity verso, signed by HR Mangan,
and discussed in the monograph published by the
sister of the artist
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
Notes
This work was handbuilt in Lile, France during a
Provenance
STEPHEN BENWELL (born 1953)
twelve month residency. The work is made from
HR Mangan
Benwell is first and foremost a ceramicist, his
earthenware using a spotted clay purchased in Paris
Rosalind Humphries Gallery, Melbourne
practice rooted in the decorative arts. But within this
with which the artist particularly liked to work.
Private collection, Melbourne
he has developed a flourishing vocabulary of painterly
and sculptural techniques. This has been one of the
CHARLES BLACKMAN (born 1928)
PADDY BEDFORD (born c.1922)
hallmarks of his career which has spanned more than
(Represented by Jirrawun Arts, Western Australia)
Studying at East Sydney Technical College from 1943
three decades. The continual improvisation he has
to 1946, Blackman moved to Melbourne in the late-
Growing up and working on the Bedford Downs station
performed with the possibilities of his medium has
1940s to join what he perceived as a more lively and
in the Eastern Kimberley, Paddy Bedford only began
seen his work receive national and international
creative artistic millieau. It was there that he met John
painting on canvas in 1997. As a senior law man in his
recognition. Examples of his ceramics are held in the
Reed, who promoted Blackman’s work through his
community, he has had a very long and active
collections of the National Gallery of Australia, all
network of personal connections. In 1960, Blackman
involvement with the visual and spiritual culture of his
state galleries and at the Victoria and Albert Museum
won the Helena Rubenstein Scholarship and travelled
people. He paints the turkey, emu, cockatoo dreamings
in London. He received a Masters in Fine Arts from
to England. The National Gallery of Victoria held a
of his mother’s and father’s country and the land
Monash University in 2005 and is currently studying
major retrospective exhibition of his work in 1993 and
where he lives. In recent years, his style has become
for his PhD. In 2006, Stephen participated in
in 2006 they presented an exhibition of his Alice in
more minimal but often painted with a startling palette
exhibitions in the USA, Germany and Australia, and
Wonderland series.
of contrasting, strident colours. A major solo exhibition
work in A Secret History of Blue and White is
and monograph was organised by the Museum of
currently touring Vietnam and Asia.
Literature/Further reading
Contemporary Art in Sydney in 2006 and he was
Felicity St John Moore, Charles Blackman:
Literature/Further reading
commissioned by the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris to
Schoolgirls and Angels, National Gallery of Victoria,
Craft from scratch: 8 Triennale (Australia and
produce works for their inauguration.
Melbourne, 1993
Germany), Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt,
Thomas Shapcott, The Art of Charles Blackman,
Literature/Further reading
2000
Andre Deutsch Limited, London, 1989
Paddy Bedford, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney,
Stephen Rainbird, Selected Australian Works,
2006
Queensland University of Technology Art Collection,
Paddy Bedford: Walking the Line, Kununurra, 2003
1995
Blood on the Spinifex, Ian Potter Museum of Art,
Grace Cochrane, The Crafts Movement in Australia: A
Melbourne, 2002
History, NSW University Press, Sydney, 1992
67
3
In the gloaming c.1953
BERNARD BOLES (1912–2001)
Typical of Boles’ work of the 1940s, Seaside Sunday is
oil on canvas on board
confidently painted in ink and gouache in fresh, jewel-like
Painter, sculptor, organiser, letter-writer, critic and non-
49 x 74.5cm
colours. Its two biomorphic figures, reminiscent
conformist to the core, Bernard Boles is best known as
signed lower right: Blackman
of sailors on a promenade, are set in a shallow space
a pioneer of surrealist art in Australia.
that suggests a theatrical set. In his catalogue notes
Provenance
Boles studied art at Melbourne Technical College and
to Aspects of the Unreal – Australian Surrealism 1930s-
Barbara Blackman
by 1936 critics Adrian Lawlor and Arnold Shore had
1950s (Geelong Art Gallery, 1983), WJ Pascoe suggests
Private collection, Sydney (acquired from above in
commented on the surreal themes in his work. He left
that Boles’ 1940s beach scenes were a surreal reply to
c.1980)
for London at the end of the war to continue his
Sydney Charm School painting of the mid-1940s, with the
The late-1940s and very start of the 1950s was a time
studies. In the UK he organised lecture tours and an
‘nuances of ballet décor…echo(ing) the Russian ballet
of expansion and learning for Charles Blackman. He
exhibition of Henry Moore sculpture that toured all
whom Boles had sketched at their rehearsals in 1938’ .
travelled between Melbourne and Brisbane meeting a
Australian states. Returning to Melbourne in 1949, he
Its companion piece, Going for a swim 1945, is in the
number of poets and artists, including Barbara
staged his first solo exhibition on board the tourist boat
Agapitos/Wilson Collection of Australian Surrealism. In
Patterson, a young poet and his future wife. He was
Fairyland, which he moored next to Princes Bridge.
1955 Boles revisited the subject to produce a monumental
influenced by a wide variety of literary and artistic
He returned to London shortly after and remained for
version in oils, which was shown in his second survey
sources including Sidney Nolan and Arthur Rimbaud.
sixteen years. Back in Australia, in 1964, he became
exhibition at Niagara Galleries in 1983.
This period of intense engagement gave way to his first
art critic for the radical weekly Nation Review, where
Boles is an unduly neglected Australian surrealist, and
mature body of paintings around 1952. They were
his reviews were iconoclastic and often controversial.
Seaside Sunday is a significant work in his oeuvre with
dark, psychological and surreal.
Literature/Further reading
a distinguished exhibition history.
In the gloaming c.1953 portrays a beachscape, but its
Bruce James, Australian Surrealism: The
colours are far from the radiant imagery of golden sand
Agapitos/Wilson Collection, Beagle Press, Sydney,
PETER BOOTH (born 1940)
(Represented by Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne;
and bronzed skin. This painting is small, dark and
2003
Rex Irwin Gallery, Sydney)
intense. The figures that populate the work are
Pam Gullifer, Aspects of the Unreal: Australian
asymmetric shadows, their identity unknown. The
Surrealism 1930s – 1950s, Geelong Art Gallery,
Born in Sheffield, England, Booth began his art studies
beach is a sandy peach colour, providing an intense
Geelong, 1983
at Sheffield College of Art in 1956. After emigrating to
contrast to the dark blues of the shadow. This
Survey Exhibition 1950–1980, exhibition catalogue,
Australia, he studied at the National Gallery School
colouration is both one of romance and of danger. An
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne, 1983
between 1962 and 1965. Between 1966 and 1986,
eery combination.
Booth taught at Prahran Technical College, the National
33 Seaside Sunday 1945
Gallery School and the Victorian College of the Arts.
The colour used in this painting is almost identical to
gouache and watercolour on paper
Along with Rosalie Gascoigne, he was the Australian
that of Blackman’s Schoolgirls series. The stylised
36.5 x 48cm
representative at the Venice Biennale in 1981. An
shadow figures on the beach are also related closely to
signed lower left: BOLES
important major survey exhibition of Booth’s work was
the schoolgirl motif. This work almost certainly
Exhibited
curated by Jason Smith for the National Gallery of
provided the stylistic and technical nucleus for the
Bernard Boles, a solo exhibition arranged by the artist
Victoria in 2003.
Schoolgirls series and much of his art that followed.
on board Fairyland, a tourist boat moored by Princes
Shapcott writes that, ‘these haunted, inward,
Literature/Further reading
Bridge, Melbourne, 1949
dangerously clumsy and stylised inventions became a
Jason Smith, Peter Booth: Human/nature, National
Bernard Boles, Surreal & Metaphysical Paintings
source of power and reference that was to be pivotal in
Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 2003
1936–1946, Niagara Galleries Melbourne, 16 Apr – 5
the young artist’s career.’
Peter Booth: Works on Paper 1963–1985, University
(pp.9–10)
May 1982, cat.19
Gallery, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 1985
In the gloaming is, in many ways, a companion piece
Australian Surrealist Paintings, Charles Nodrum
Gary Catalano, Australia: Venice Biennale 1982 –
to Razzle Dazzle by Moonlight c.1953 (pl. 21
Gallery, Melbourne, 5 Oct – 8 Nov 1991, cat.4
Works by Peter Booth and Rosalie Gascoigne, Visual
Shapcott). It appears that the location is similar, if not
Provenance
Arts Board, Australia Council, Sydney, 1982
the same.
Corporate collection, Sydney
C20, Sydney
Private collection, Melbourne
68
4
Painting no.1 1984
long and distinguished period of exhibiting. His work
This painting was first exhibited in a group exhibition at
oil on canvas
features in numerous public collections, he has been
David McKee Gallery in New York, and was later
183 x 305cm
the recipient of many awards including the John
included in Boston’s solo exhibition at Verity Street
inscribed verso: BOOTH 1984 U.V
McCaughey Memorial Art Prize in 1991 and the
Gallery in Melbourne. It was one of three large
Mornington Peninsula Works on Paper Award in 2004.
paintings from a series, which also included a number
Provenance
of related works on paper.
Private collection, Melbourne
Literature/Further reading
Roger Taylor, ‘Engaging the world’, Asian Art News,
Exhibited
JOHN BRACK (1920–1999)
March 2001
Pinacotheca, Melbourne, 1985 cat.1
Laura Murray Cree and Neville Drury, Australian
John Brack produced some of the most recognisable
During the first half of the 1970s, Peter Booth had
Painting Now, Craftsman House, Sydney, 2000
images of Australian art. The iconic 5 o’clock Collins
gained a reputation as an important abstract painter.
Gary Catalano, ‘A culture like nature: an interview with
St. is certainly a centrepiece of the National Gallery of
His minimal canvases were giant doorway-like
Paul Boston’, Art Monthly Australia, no.62, 1993
Victoria’s Australian collection. Brack both studied and
rectangles of impenetrable black. Towards the end of
taught at the National Gallery School and was Head of
49 Blue painting I 1987
the 1970s, his dark, textured, abstract surfaces gave
Art at Melbourne Grammar School. A large number of
oil on canvas
way to a shock of colour and eventually strange
retrospective exhibitions and survey shows of his work
197.5 x 167cm
symbolic figures and landscapes. As if frustrated by
have been mounted including the National Gallery of
inscribed verso: Paul Boston/ 1987/ Blue Painting/ I
the psychological potential for his minimal abstraction,
Victoria (1971, 1987), RMIT Gallery (1971), Monash
Booth allowed an apocalyptic world to emerge.
Provenance
University of Art (1981) and the National Gallery of
Tony Oliver at Verity Street Gallery, Melbourne
Australia (1999). His work is included in all state
This painting was completed in 1984, some six or
Private collection, Melbourne
gallery collections, regional galleries and the National
seven years after Booth’s break into figuration. It is in
Gallery of Australia.
many respects a classic landscape painting. It can be
Exhibited
divided into a fore, middle and back ground. But
Group Show, David McKee Gallery, New York, 1988
Literature/Further reading
instead of shrubs, trees and ragged mountains, Booth
Tony Oliver at Verity Street Gallery, Melbourne, 1989
Robert Lindsay, The Nude in the Art of John Brack,
presents us with a wild and threatening vision. Large
The Sublime Imperative, Australian Centre for
McClelland Gallery+Sculpture Park, Melbourne, 2006
pointed shapes jump at the viewer, their violent bodies
Contemporary Art, Melbourne, 1991
Ted Gott, A Question of Balance: John Brack
the only thing to populate the abandoned flat lands of
1974–1994, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne,
Paul Boston’s paintings are intuitive meditations on
the middle ground. In the distance, mountains are
2000
being. His paintings are initially guided by subjectivity
silhouetted with dramatic yellow and red outlining,
Sasha Grishin, The Art of John Brack, vols I & II,
and feeling. The painterly concerns of line, colour,
colours that dominate the picture. The whole image, the
Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1990
texture and shape are decided with this process. But
landscape presented, is completely engulfed by flames.
Robert Lindsay, John Brack: A Retrospective
his paintings are also philosophical abstractions. They
Exhibition, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 1987
This painting is of similar subject and dimensions as
are discussions or propositions about the esoteric
Painting, 1984 in the collection of the National Gallery
realms of the possibility of experiencing and living in
27 Seated nude 1970
of Victory, Melbourne and Painting, 1984 in the
the world.
conté crayon on paper
collection of the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum,
71 x 50cm
Blue painting I presents a combination of abstract and
New York. This painting is a major work from a pivotal
signed lower right: John Brack 70
figurative elements. Building-like and cloud-like forms
time in the development of Booth’s oeuvre.
jostle with an arrow, sphere, curve and square. Areas
Provenance
of shadow give way to concrete lines. There is a
The Estate of John Brack
PAUL BOSTON (born 1952)
confusion of depth and space in the picture. There is
The nude is a perennial subject in western art. Drawing
Studying at Preston Institute of Technology in the late-
an ambiguity about what connects with what. This is in
the nude is where drafting skills, like the models
1960s, Boston set his own path by travelling through
fact a conceptual diagram. It illustrates the way
themselves, are laid bare. Brack had a particular way of
Asia in the mid-1970s. During this period he developed
elements of our world – the things we live with and
presenting his nudes which were contrary to the
an ongoing interest in Eastern mysticism. When he
through – might have an unknowable link. The painting
sensuous, exotic tradition of opulent furnishings and
returned to Melbourne in 1980 he began producing
presents a world of real ambiguity. It concentrates the
draped poses. In stark, domestic settings, his nudes
paintings and reliefs that had a distinct style, a unique
viewer on the ungraspable and elusive elements of our
were awkwardly positioned against everyday furniture.
vision in the Australian art world. His first solo
life.
exhibition at Reconnaissance Gallery in 1983 began a
69
Millar discusses Brack’s approach:
Championships in Melbourne and subscribing to The
exhibition at Monash Museum of Art, Every Morning I
…in the matter-of-fact suburbanism of the Brack
Australasian Dancing Times. Brack used photographs
Wake Up on the Wrong Side of Capitalism. Her work is
domestic surroundings it occurred to the painter
from newspapers and magazines as source
included in major public collections throughout
that here once more was chance to score several
documentation remaining suprisingly faithful to the
Australia and overseas.
visual points at once. Any notion of making these
image in both subject and composition. All of the
Literature/Further reading
girls into an erotic symbol or vision of sexual
details in the paintings were researched thoroughly to
Max Delany, Lizzy Newman, Amanda Rowell, Judith
loveliness was out of the question. Brack would
ensure that the dancers were represented with the
Pascale, Angela Brennan: Every Morning I Wake Up on
explore the nakedness instead of the nudeness. (p.70)
greatest authenticity.
the Wrong Side of Capitalism, exhibition catalogue,
Seated nude was created in 1970, probably at the
Ballroom dancing is a reality far removed from the
Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, 2006
same time as a group of other conté crayon works
monotonous grind of daily life of the workers in
Amanda Rowell, ‘Angela Brennan: Text Paintings’, Heat,
which were studies for later oil paintings. The model in
5 o’clock Collins Street. In the ballroom, the world is
No.10, New Series, Sydney, 2005
this work is undoubtably the same model as for Mauve
not drab or dreary, but glamorous and fantastic. The task
Ashley Crawford, ‘Angela Brennan: peas cooked the
nude, 1970. The 1970 nudes, both the drawings and
at hand may not be a mundane office job, but the forced
Roman way’, The Sunday Age, 4 April 2004
the oils, were somehow softer, more subtle than those
smiles, excrutiating poses and superficial pleasantness
Donald Williams, In Our Own Image: The Story of
of previous series. There is still a complete absence of
are just as soul-destroying. The characters are captured
Australian Art, Fourth Edition, McGraw Hill, Sydney,
eroticism and the model is placed sitting alone in an
at a moment frozen in time where their anguish and
2001
almost empty room. The rug is a strong compositional
personal tragedies are stripped away and all that is left is
Laura Murray-Cree and Nevill Drury, Australian Painting
device, the diagonal placement seeming to dictate the
the artifice.
Now, Craftsman House, Sydney, 2000
direction of the sitter.
Stuart Koop, ‘The failure of modernism and the painting
Grishin explains:
of Angela Brennan’, Art and Australia, vol.34, no.2,
A survey of Brack’s nudes at McClelland Gallery +
This was the most extensive and ambitious series
1996
Sculpture Park is current until 25 March 2007.
of work he had attempted up to that date and was
intended as the culmination to a number of
57 Naming the sensation (blue) 2001
29 An amateur couple 1969
concerns that had preoccupied him for almost
oil on linen
watercolour, pen and ink on paper
twenty years. By using the theme of professional
183 x 153cm
43 x 59.5cm
ballroom dancing as a visual parable that could be
signed lower left: Angela Brennan 2000
signed lower left: John Brack 69
interpreted to stand for life itself and the whole
inscribed verso: Angela Brennan/ 2000/ oil/linen
Provenance
tragedy of the human condition Brack consciously
Provenance
Private collection, Queensland
placed himself in the tradition of painters such as
Private collection, Melbourne
Private collection, Melbourne
Goya and Münch, who also used the theme of
Naming the sensation (blue) takes up much more
Exhibited
dance as an allegory for the dance of life.
space than the dimensions given, as it explodes forth
Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney, April 1970
This watercolour is one of only seven in the entire
from the canvas into at least a third dimension. The
Desborough Galleries, Perth, Jan – Feb 1974
series. It has been widely reproduced and is regarded
modernist grid is metaphorically blown away, and we
John Brack: A Retrospective Exhibition, National
as one of the best in the series.
can see a supernova of new life forming before us.
Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1987
Fluorescent colours dart and weave across the surface,
ANGELA BRENNAN (born 1960)
References
searching for somewhere or someone to settle upon.
Robert Lindsay, John Brack: A Retrospective
Born in Ballarat, Victoria, Brennan studied painting at
As we struggle to find words to name the sensation we
Exhibition, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 1987
RMIT between 1979 and 1981. In 1988 she expanded
experience in this work - exuberance, excitement,
pl.169
her studies by pursuing philosophy at the University of
urgency, spontaneity, anxiety, aggression, love, life –
Sasha Grishin, The Art of John Brack, volume II, Oxford
Melbourne, completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in
Brennan has chosen a colour to express all these
University Press, Australia, 1990, pl.127
1992. Brennan continues to add to her repertoire of
thoughts. Her name for the sensation is blue.
styles, which include minimal, floating, organic forms;
Brack’s poignant ballroom dancing series was begun in
Wittgenstein’s theory of private language,
complex layered grids; text paintings; portraits; interiors
1968. Thirty-two works later, in 1969, the series was
comprehensible only to it’s originator, could well be
and landscapes. Her work was included in the
complete and exhibited at Rudy Komon Gallery in
proven in this painting.
exhibition Good Vibrations: The Legacy of Op Art in
Sydney in 1970. Brack had researched the subject
Australia, at Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
since 1967, even attending the World Ballroom Dancing
and in 2006 she was the subject of a major survey
70
GUNTER CHRISTMANN (born 1936)
Provenance
WILLIAM DELAFIELD COOK (born 1936)
Collection of the artist
Gunter Christmann's career has spanned more than
(Represented by Rex Irwin Fine Art, Sydney)
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
three decades since he arrived in Sydney, from Berlin,
Dividing his time between Australia and the United
in 1959. He has produced an extensive body of work,
Exhibited
Kingdom, William Delafield Cook is widely recognised
creating paintings that traverse stylistic boundaries.
Central Street Gallery, Sydney, 1966
for his almost photographic paintings, mainly of
Initially associated with the Central Street Gallery in
Gunter Christmann, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne, 1992
landscapes. He studied painting at RMIT in Melbourne
Sydney in the 1960s, he has continued to produce
cat.2
betweem 1953 and 1955. Soon after he travelled to
abstract paintings alongside more representational
London. He had intended to stay for one one year, but
Reference
pieces. Christmann was included in the groundbreaking
he eventually settled permanently in the United
Bernard Smith, Australian Painting 1788–1970, Oxford
exhibition The Field at the National Gallery of Victoria in
Kingdom. His work moved from an interest in
University Press p.437 (illus.)
1968 and the XI Bienal of Sao Paulo in 1971. Since
abstraction towards his mature realist style, influenced
Gunter Christmann, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne 1992
then, his work has been included in a number of
by photographers such as William Henry Fox Talbot.
(illus.)
important Australian exhibitions such as Perspecta ’81
Still actively painting and exhibiting in Australia and
at the Art Gallery of New South Wales; Vox Pop at the
Central Street Gallery was opened in 1965 in Sydney. It
Europe, his work is included in the collections of the
National Gallery of Victorian in 1983; and the Joan and
was a hub for new directions in abstract art. Although
National Gallery of Australia, all state galleries, a
Peter Clemenger Triennal Exhibition of Contemporary
short lived, closing in 1970, many of its artists went on
number of regional galleries, the Govett-Brewster Art
Australian Art, by invitation, held at the National Gallery
to have long and varied careers. Many of the artists
Gallery in New Zealand and numerous private and
of Victoria in 1996. He has participated in notable solo
represented in The Field exhibition at the National
corporate collections in Australia and overseas.
and group exhibitions in London, Berlin, Paris and San
Gallery of Victoria in 1968 were drawn from those
A survey exhibition of his work was held at the Art
Francisco. His work is significantly represented in the
exhibiting at Central Street Gallery. It represented the
Gallery of New South Wales in 1987. Cook now lives
National Gallery of Australia collection, with Christmann
avant-garde of Sydney abstraction in the later 1960s.
and works in London.
being regarded as one of the true geniuses of
Diagonal Composition, 1966 was exhibited in Gunter
References/Further reading
Australian painting, by former NGA Director, James
Christmann’s first solo exhibition held at the Central
Deborah Hart, William Delafield Cook, Craftsman
Mollison. His work is included in European public
Street Gallery in 1966. It reveals an interest in a more
House in association with G+B Arts International,
collections in Germany, Netherlands and the former
optical and European style of abstraction than the
Sydney, 1998
Yugoslavia. He is represented in all major state and
classic colour-field style paintings produced by other
William Delafield Cook: Selected works 1958–1987,
regional gallery collections of Australia and numerous
artists represented at the gallery. In the introduction to
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne,
private and corporate collections in Australia and
his 1992 exhibition, Christmann comments on the
1987
overseas.
distinctive influences found in this work:
William Delafield Cook: Mid-career Survey, Art Gallery
Literature/Further reading
The European tradition of geometric abstraction as
of New South Wales, Sydney, 1987
Christopher Heathcote, Bernard Smith and Terry Smith,
in Mondrian, Bill, Vantangerloo etc. these were the
13 Dam 2006
Australian Painting 1788–2000, Oxford University
influences that put me on track. The American
acrylic on linen
Press, Melbourne, 2001
influences as with Mark Tobey and Mark Rothko
76 x 183cm
Joan and Peter Clemenger Triennial Exhibition of
came only after 1970. In 1966 I saw my work as
signed and dated lower right: W Delafield Cook 06
Contemporary Australian Art, National Gallery of
GEOMETRIC ABSTRACTION, in the European
Victoria, Melbourne, 1996
tradition.
Provenance
Australian Perspecta, Art Gallery of New South Wales,
The artist
The emphasis that Christmann puts on the European
Sydney, 1981
source of influence is important, for so much of the
William Delafield Cook is often labelled a painter of
Elwyn Lynn, ‘Gunter Christmann’, Art & Australia,
Australian hard-edge and colour-field abstraction of the
photo-realist imagery, yet this description is
vol.10, no.3, 1973
period was exclusively influenced by American and
misleading. It alludes to a mechanical objectivity, an
28 Diagonal composition 1966
English precedents. Christmann’s knowledge and
unfeeling reproduction of what is seen. Delafield Cook’s
oil on hardboard
application of an European tradition makes this
paintings have a sensitivity that moves beyond a
122 x 122cm
paintings a rare and important example of an alternative
photographic understanding of our world. The
tradition of abstraction to the Greenbergian formalism
composition of his images, their weight and balance,
so notorious during this time.
are always harmonious. His painterly touch is so soft
and careful as to almost be invisible. His realism is not
71
that of the camera, but of a European sublime, a
15 Island woman III 1968
Lawrence Hope, they visited Dickerson in 1952 with
metaphysical realism associated with artists such as
monotype
fellow poet Jim Maguire. Reid was excited by what he
Ingres, Chardin and Casper David Frederick.
13 x 17.5cm
saw and asked that two paintings be sent to John and
signed lower left: Ray Crooke
Sunday Reed at Heide. This was the beginning of a
Dam is a large horizontal painting. The left and right
supportive association with John Reed who gave
margins of the work seem to have been stretched to
Provenance
Dickerson one person shows at the Gallery of
accommodate a wide pool of water. The dam, an
Private collection, Melbourne
Contemporary Art in 1956 and 1957 and the Museum
almost ubiquitous part of the rural Australian
Exhibited
of Modern Art of Australia in 1960.
landscape, has been painted in an iridescent, glowing
Ray Crooke, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
blue. The charcoal tones of the surrounding landscape
Renowned for his stark, expressive figure studies, his
19–29 October 1968, cat. 43
provide contrast for the aqua blue, making its effect
work is featured in all major state collections as well as
even stronger. The painting possesses a soothing
Reference
the collection of the National Gallery of Australia and
quality, but also speaks of a liveliness and vitality belied
Ray Crooke, exhibition catalogue, Australian Galleries,
major corporate and private collections.
by the delicacy of its execution.
Melbourne 1968
Literature/Further reading
Having honed his skills as an accomplished abstract
16 Island woman II 1968
Christopher Heathcote, A Quiet Revolution. The Rise of
painter in the 1960s, Delafield Cook’s work always has
monotype
Australian Art 1946–1968, The Text Publishing
an impressive rendering of texture and tone, the formal
13.5 x 19.5cm
Company, Melbourne, 1995
qualities possible in painting. This mesmerising work is
signed lower right: Ray Crooke
Christopher Heathcote, Bernard Smith and Terry Smith,
no exception.
Provenance
Australian Painting 1788–2000, Oxford University
Private collection, Melbourne
Press, Melbourne, 2001
RAY CROOKE (born 1922)
Jennifer Dickerson, Robert Dickerson. Against the Tide,
Exhibited
Ray Crooke’s studies began at Swinburne Technical
Pandanus Press, Brisbane, 1994
Ray Crooke, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
College in 1946, but were interrupted at the end of
Richard Haese, Rebels and Pre-cursors: The
19–29 October 1968, cat. 42
1948 due to service in the armed forces. Whilst in the
Revolutionary Years of Australian Art, Penguin Books,
armed forces, Crooke travelled through Western
Reference
Australia, 1981
Australia, Far North Queensland and Borneo. After this
Ray Crooke, exhibition catalogue, Australian Galleries,
John Hetherington, Australian Painters Forty Profiles,
period, Crooke spent two years on Thursday Island
Melbourne 1968
Specialty Press Ltd, Victoria, 1963
working for the Catholic church. It was here that he first
Leonard French, in Barrett Reid (ed.), Modern
ROBERT DICKERSON (born 1924)
painted his characteristic subject matter of saturated
Australian Art. A Melbourne Collection of Paintings and
tropical landscapes and the indigenous people of the
(Represented by Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne)
Drawings, Museum of Modern Art of Australia,
Pacific region. Crooke’s work, both in subject and
Bob Dickerson received no formal art training, instead
Melbourne, 1958
style, relates closely to Paul Gauguin. In 1969 he was
leaving school at 14 and working in factories as well as
7
Hospital 1950 verso Mother and child c.1952–1955
awarded the Archibald Prize for his painting of writer
spending several years, from 1940 to 1944, in the
enamel on compressed board
George Johnston. His work was the subject of a major
professional boxing ring. He took up painting in 1947
101.6 x 76.3cm
retrospective exhibition organised by Perc Tucker
and soon after exhibited with the Contemporary Art
signed lower right: DICKERSON
Regional Gallery in 1998 and a survey of his landscape
Society. He sold his first painting from the 1950 CAS
Provenance
paintings was curated by the Cairns Regional Art
show.
Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney
Gallery in 2005.
In February 1949 Dickerson married Innis Sailes. Times
Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney
Literature/Further reading
were hard and in 1950 he took a job filling gas bottles
Private collection, Melbourne
Sue Smith, North of Capricorn: The Art of Ray Crooke,
and loading them on trucks for the Blue Ray Gas
Exhibited
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, 1997
Company at Blackwattle Bay where the couple lived on
Possibly exhibited under the title Man sitting on a bed,
James Gleeson, Ray Crooke, Collins, Sydney, 1972
the premises in his caravan which was parked in one
Mack Gallery, Sydney, March 1953, cat.21
Bernard Smith, Australian Painting 1788–1970, Oxford
of the storage yards.
Possibly exhibited under the title, Before the operation,
University Press, Melbourne, 1971
From 1952–1955 the Dickersons lived in a rented
in Bob Dickerson, Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney, March
Rosemary Dobson, Focus on Ray Crooke, University of
house in Annandale, the artist using one of the
1962, cat.4
Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1971
children’s bedrooms as a studio on Sunday.
Robert Dickerson Retrospective, Holdsworth Gallery,
Introduced to the Brisbane poet Barrett Reid by painter
Sydney, 1983
72
Reference
find his palette more interesting in this period: subtle
Reference
John Reed ‘Statement on Bob Dickerson: Painter’,
greys, pale apricots, dirge greys... But if ever one
Ian Fairweather, exhibition catalogue, Philip Bacon
Ern Malley’s Journal, vol.2, no.2, November 1955,
should ever doubt Dickerson’s ability to create powerful
Galleries, Brisbane, p.19 cat. 69 (illus)
pp. 15–17 (illus.)
images, then one only has to recall such works as
Murray Bail, Ian Fairweather, Bay Books, 1981 cat.171,
Robert Dickerson Retrospective, exhibition catalogue,
…The Hospital Bed (1950).’
illus. fig.45, p.102
Holdsworth Gallery, Sydney, 1983, illus. p.4
Centaurus Lupus has myriad mythological and
Sandra McGrath, ‘Robert Dickerson Retrospective,
IAN FAIRWEATHER (1891–1974)
astronomical references. Centaurus and Lupus are two
Holdsworth Gallery’ The Australian, 10–11 September
Though born in Scotland, Ian Fairweather lead an
adjoining constellations in the southern hemisphere, both
1983
itinerant existence throughout Asia for much of his life.
named after aspects of Greek mythology. A Centaur is a
Jennifer Dickerson, Robert Dickerson. Against the tide,
He completed his formal art studies at The Hague
half-man half-horse creature and Lupus a wolf.
Pandanus Press, Brisbane, 1994, illus. p.22
Academy, Amsterdam and the Slade School of Art,
The Centaur features in the epic myths of Heracles,
Hospital is one of Dickerson’s earliest surviving
London, but a far greater influence on his art practice
specifically in the Fourth Labour of Heracles where the
paintings from the period 1947–1950 and was
was his observations of Chinese calligraphy.
chief Centaur Chiron is accidently poisoned and dies.
evocative of visits to his grandmother who was in an
He eventually settled on Bribie Island, near Brisbane, in
Ian Fairweather had a great interest in mythological
old age home at the time. It was painted while he was
1953 at the age of 62, leading an ascetic and reclusive
tales and folklore. A year later, in 1963, he painted the
living at the Gas Company. Mother and child, painted
life in conditions his infrequent visitors found appalling.
work Diogenes, named after an hermetic Greek mystic;
on the verso of Hospital, is possibly Innis with one of
Despite no running water or electricity, Fairweather
and his 1961 exhibition at Macquarie Galleries had also
their children. Their first daughter Robyn was born in
continued to produce powerful paintings and drawings
contained a number of works based on Greek
May 1950, the second daughter Sharyn in 1952 and
of extreme beauty and profound sensitivity. Australian
mythology. These myths provided Fairweather with a
their son Guy in 1954. As the child appears to be aged
indigenous culture was a certain influence on his own
core subject on which to produce complex, meditative
about three to five years, the painting on the verso may
art, and his paintings provided an important example
paintings.
have been completed later than Hospital. The marriage
for generations of Australian artists after him.
was dissolved in 1960.
He stands with Williams, Brack and Nolan as one of the
This painting was included in Fairweather’s 1962 solo
greatest Australian artists of the modern era.
exhibition at Macquarie Galleries in Sydney. This is
John Reed wrote the first critical essay on Dickerson in
highlighted by Murray Bail as one of Fairweather’s best,
1955 in Barrett Reid’s Ern Malley’s Journal, putting his
Literature/Further reading
and it included a large number of Fairweather’s most
faith in him after seeing only twenty paintings. He
Murray Bail, Fairweather, Art and Australia and
important works – ‘Painting after painting revealed
recognised that Dickerson was ‘carving his own
Craftsman House, Sydney, 1994
fresh levels of Fairweather’s powers’.
tradition and exposing immediately the very soul of his
Ian Fairweather: Paintings and Drawings 1927–1970,
creative being’, adding, ‘it is because of this that I feel
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne, 1985
30 Pagoda 1941
able to use the word “great” when referring to his art’.
Murray Bail, Ian Fairweather, Bay Books, Sydney, 1981
gouache and watercolour on paper
He saw a kinship with Tucker, Nolan and Boyd. No feint
Nourma Abbott-Smith, Ian Fairweather: Profile of a
39 x 35.5cm
praise for an untrained mid-thirty year old artist.
Painter, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1978
signed lower right: Ian Fairweather
Referring directly to Hospital, Reed described
Ian Fairweather, The Drunken Buddha, University of
titled on exhibition label verso
Dickerson’s creative vision:
Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1965
Provenance
By this I mean a vision which in his case penetrates
1
Centaurus Lupus 1962
Lina Bryans, gifted to Arthur Frater (the brother of artist
to the roots of the most unassuming of our
synthetic polymer paint and gouache on cardboard on
William Frater) at Darebin in February 1989, thence by
everyday acts and presents them in all their
hardboard
descent
elemental truth. A man’s casual placing of his hand
98 x 70.5cm
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
over his own foot, the crossing of one leg over
signed lower right with ideograph: IF
Private collection, Melbourne
another… The other thing is the amazing
inscribed: Centaurus Lupus, June, China
Exhibited
psychological import which so many of his
Provenance
Ian Fairweather: A Retrospective, Queensland Art
paintings carry. From the barest possible canvas,
Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane
Gallery 3 Jun – 4 July 1965 and touring, cat.80
with the merest outline of forms, projects the most
Private collection, Adelaide
Blue Chip III, Niagara Galleries, 2001, cat 42
disturbing sense of the portrayal of human feelings.
Exhibited
Reference
Reviewing the artist’s retrospective in 1983, Sandra
Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 1962 cat.16
Ian Fairweather: A Retrospective, Queensland Art
McGrath said: ‘His work from the 50s is still his best. I
Ian Fairweather, 16 May – 14 June 1984, Philip Bacon
Galleries, Brisbane cat.69
73
Gallery, cat.80
ROSALIE GASCOIGNE (1917–1999)
Joan and Peter Clemenger Triennial Exhibition of
Blue Chip III, exhibition catalogue, Niagara Galleries,
Contemporary Australian Art, National Gallery of
Now recognised as one of the most important
Melbourne, 2001, cat.42 (illus.)
Victoria, 23 Feb – 16 May 1993, cat.3
Australian artists of the twentieth century, Gascoigne
Rosalie Gascoigne: Material as Landscape, Art Gallery
During the 1930s, Ian Fairweather lived throughout
spent her first twenty-five years living in New Zealand
of New South Wales, 14 Nov 1997 – 11 Jan 1998
various parts of Asia and Australia. With the onset of
before moving to Australia and living on the outskirts of
the Second World War, Fairweather felt compelled to
Canberra. She first exhibited her work at the age of 57.
References
enlist for the British army. In 1939 and living outside
Her career spanned 25 years, during which time her
Conversions. Festival of Installation Works Exhibition #4,
Cairns he attempted to enlist. His efforts though, were
work was exhibited widely both in Australia and
Canberra Contemporary Art Space Inc, Canberra, 1992
frustrated. At the age of forty-eight and being a British
internationally. In 1978, four years after her first solo
Deborah Edwards, Rosalie Gascoigne: Material as
citizen, there was nowhere and no-one that could help
exhibition, she was the subject of a major survey
Landscape, The Art Gallery of New South Wales,
him join the army. So in May 1940 he left Australia for
exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. In 1982,
Sydney, 1997, p.14; pl.19, pp.42–43
Hong Kong. He travelled to Bangkok, then Singapore
alongside Peter Booth, she was chosen to represent
Vici Macdonald, Rosalie Gascoigne, Regaro, Sydney,
and finally in May 1941 he landed in Calcutta.
Australia at the Venice Biennale. Her works are held in
1998, pl.46, pp.84–85
many major public collections in Australia and New
It was here that Fairweather was able to produce a
The lake in question is Lake George, which lies
Zealand as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
beautiful series of gouache paintings. As Murray Bail
between Canberra’s northern hills. Gascoigne often
New York and numerous corporate and private
describes, ‘while World War II raged in all directions
spoke of her love of the area, particularly her favourite
collections.
Fairweather, in a “crowded studio full of Indians”,
view from Geary’s Gap ‘…where you can look down in
painted small gouaches of China […] all conspicuous
Literature/Further reading
the valley and see Lake George floating away.’ This
for their clarity and tranquillity.’
Rosalie Gascoigne: Plain Air, City Gallery Wellington/
beautiful assemblage essentialises Gascoigne’s
Victoria University Press, 2004
sublime minimal aesthetic. The paler, washed out
Pagoda, 1941 is a delicate painting of cloud-like trees
Mary Eagle (ed.), From the Studio of Rosalie
colours of pinks, greys and white perfectly evoke the
and buildings with distinctive Chinese architecture. The
Gascoigne, Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National
sensation of light reflected off still water. The viewer
palette is a combination of striking blue, ochre red, light
University, Canberra, 2000
can imagine travelling along the road as it winds
cream and the scattered grey of pencil outline. The
Rosalie Gascoigne, Regaro, Sydney, 1998
alongside the lake, observing the way the headlands
debt to Chinese calligraphy, one of the hallmarks of all
Gary Catalano, Australia: Venice Biennale 1982 –
and escarpments unexpectedly project into the shallow
Fairweather’s work, is clear. The fluid lines that
Works by Peter Booth and Rosalie Gascoigne, Visual
waters of this intermittent inland waterway. The seven
describe the landscape and buildings are done with
Arts Board, Australia Council, Sydney, 1982
panels differ in size, just as the lake itself changes size
great economy, a quality admired in Chinese
Deborah Edwards, Rosalie Gascoigne: Material As
depending on our viewpoint. There is a sense of
calligraphy.
Landscape, The Art Gallery of New South Wales,
passing time in the work, as if each panel represents
As with many of Fairweather’s stand out works, the
Sydney 1998
an ideal vista where we should pause and reflect upon
scene has been completed from memory. It had been
the beauty of nature, and the gaps between are the
11 Lake 1991
some six or seven years since Fairweather had lived in
journey itself. The work is hung from the top, an
sawn wooden soft drink crates on plywood
China. The time elapsed perhaps helping to distil the
artificial horizon line. In 1997, Gascoigne said, ‘You go
seven panels: 29.6 x 64.7, 55.6 x 70.5, 49.5 x 91.6,
characteristic features Fairweather wanted to portray in
over Geary’s Gap and there’s this water in the
53.7 x 60, 45.3 x 64.5, 32 x 81.9, 53.2 x 64.4cm;
his paintings.
landscape…I’m mad about that straight horizon the
56 x 654cm approx. overall
In 1943, after being discharged from the army and
water has. Sea does it too. It’s a jolt when I see it,
inscribed verso panel 1: Rosalie Gascoigne/ 1991
further travels, Fairweather returned to Melbourne. He
every time. You never stop being freshly jolted.’
Provenance
asked Lina Bryans, a fellow artist, friend and probably
This work is closely related to Suddenly the Lake, 1995
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
the most important collector of Fairweather’s work, to
a sequence of four separated panels, but more boldly
Private collection, Sydney
store his Calcutta gouaches. It was probably at this
coloured, which Gascoigne gifted to the National
Private collection, Melbourne
time that Bryans acquired Pagoda.
Gallery of Australia in 1996.
Exhibited
Rosalie Gascoigne, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery,
15 Apr – 2 May 1992, cat.4
Conversions. Festival of Installation Works Exhibition #4,
Canberra Contemporary Art Space Inc,
19 Jun – 11 Jul 1992, cat.7
74
26 Venus 1981
His father was Bernard Hall, the noted painter and long
Hall’s influences in this painting are remarkably varied.
wood and printed postcard
time director of the National Gallery of Victoria.
There is a discernable interest in vorticism, an English
58 x 34cm
variation on cubism, Picasso’s use of Cubist or
Literature/Further reading
abstracted forms to create a figurative expressionism
Provenance
Christopher Heathcote, Oswald Hall, Niagara Galleries
and social realism, which was an important
Private collection, Melbourne
and Waverley City Gallery, Melbourne, 1991
undercurrent in Australian art throughout the 1930s,
Bruce James, Australian Surrealism: The
Exhibited
40s and 50s.
Agapitos/Wilson Collection, The Beagle Press, Sydney,
Rosalie Gascoigne, Pinacotheca Gallery, Melbourne,
2003
29 April-16 May, 1981
H F WEAVER HAWKINS (1893–1977)
Surrealism: Revolution By Night, National Gallery of
Reference
Australia, Canberra, 1993
At the Battle of the Somme in 1916, Harold Weaver
Rosalie Gascoigne, Regaro, Sydney, 1998, illus. fig.21,
Susan McCulloch, The New McCulloch’s Encyclopedia
Hawkins was left for dead, but crawled back to camp
p.32
of Australian Art, Australian Art Editions in association
two days later. He never regained the use of his right
hand, and to help his partly crippled left hand, he was
This witty assemblage was exhibited in Gascoigne’s first
with the Miengunyah Press, Melbourne, 2006
encouraged to paint. Later he studied painting and
show at Pinacotheca, held shortly after her first visit to
35 End of the dance 1959
etching in London, coming under the influence of the
New York and marks the start of her ‘mature’ style.
oil on board
progressive Vorticist movement. In 1923 he married
Using what she called ‘poor man’s galleries’ – postcards
91 x 61cm
and spent a decade travelling and painting throughout
of iconic images – the popular is re-presented in a new
signed lower right: O Hall 59
Europe. He moved to Tahiti in 1933 and arrived in
form of real art. We are reminded of Boticelli’s The
Provenance
Sydney in March 1935.
birth of Venus, as the female torso from antiquity is
Private collection, Melbourne
presented to the world between the two halves of a
Hawkins was a rarity in Australia – a fully trained,
shell, albeit the Shell Company logo. But if this work
Exhibited
mature artist, classically inclined, who saw his art as
can invoke the same awe of perfection, and thence to
Oswald Hall, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne,
having a role in ‘fighting for the humanising values of
loss of innocence and inevitable decay, then it has the
25 Sep – 12 Oct 1991, cat.44
society’. But as he was out of step with the Sydney
same powerful effect as that of the renaissance master.
Oswald Hall, Waverley City Gallery, Melbourne,
Charm School and the abstract expressionism that
24 Oct – 1 Dec 1991, cat.44
followed it, local critics dismissed with his work. But
The frame is like a window through which we glimpse
some saw its strength. Reviewing the 1954 Archibald,
the art before the shutters are closed entirely as in the
References
Wynne and Sulman Prizes in Meanjin, Bernard Smith
later related works, Shell Board 1, 1983 and Shell
Christopher Heathcote, Oswald Hall, Niagara Galleries
wrote:
Board 2, 1984.
and Waverley City Gallery, Melbourne, 1991, cat.44
Hawkins is a natural mural painter, but his work has
(illus.)
OSWALD HALL (1917–1991)
never been fashionable for two good reasons: his
Focusing on a central female figure, this composition
paintings contain ideas, and he works out his
Oswald Hall studied at the National Gallery of Victoria
reveals Oswald Hall’s talents as a unique and
compositions in a firm linear style after the manner
School between 1934 and 1938, a period when
interesting expressionist painter. The woman appears to
of the quattrocento. Most contemporary artists in
European styles of modernism were being widely
have finished a dance routine and her face is clearly
Australia find thinking a painful experience, which
discussed and debated. Cementing his allegiance and
strained. The physical exertion combined with the
they prefer separated from the sensuous enjoyment
interest in modernism, Hall was a founding member
emotions of the dance have exhausted her to the point
of colour and shape…. As a result Hawkins is one
and later council member of the Contemporary Art
of angst. Her facial expression is a striking study, and
of the most neglected painters in Australia today.
Society in Melbourne. His work from the late-1930s
communicates great depth of emotion.
and during the 1940s reveals a wide range of interests
Another supporter was Daniel Thomas, who curated
Around the standing female lead are four abstracted
including abstraction, Surreal landscapes, social realist
the first museum exhibition of Hawkins’ work, Project
bodies. Their faces have been left bare, the attention
tableau and tribal figure studies with an obvious debt to
11, Weaver Hawkins, at the Art Gallery of NSW in
focused on the rhythm and angle created by their
Picasso. In the 1950s his work developed into an
1976. A full retrospective followed at the Ballarat Fine
variously posed heads, torsos and limbs. The unusual
expressionistic surrealism, combining many of his
Art Gallery, curated by Ron Radford, and a survey at
blue, green, yellow and red shades that outline the
earlier stylistic interests. His work has been widely
the SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney, in 1995 to coincide with
figures adds to the intensity of the picture, its unnatural
written about in the context of Australian surrealism
the publication of The Art and Life of Weaver Hawkins
hues signalling Hall’s keen interest in the various
and is featured in the collections of the National Gallery
by Eileen Chanin and Steven Miller.
movements of modern art.
of Australia, Heide Museum of Modern Art and the
Agapitos/Wilson Collection.
75
Literature/Further reading
the National Gallery of Australia, as well as the
22 Wandjina c.1970
Eileen Chanin and Steven Miller, The Art and Life of
Guggenheim Museum, New York, San Francisco Art
ochre and acrylic on canvas
Weaver Hawkins, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1995
Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, Vienna.
92 x 99.5cm
Daniel Thomas, Weaver Hawkins 1893–1977:
Literature/Further reading
Provenance
Memorial Retrospective Exhibition 1977–1979, Ballarat
Bill Henson, Mnemosyne, Scalo in association with the
Collection of Nellie Castan, Melbourne
Fine Art Gallery, Victoria, 1977
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Zurich, 2005
Wandjina is the name given to the spirit ancestors of
54 Life imprints 1963
Bill Henson, Lux et Nox, Scalo, Zurich, 2002
the Worrorra, Ngarinyin and Woonambal peoples of the
watercolour on paper
David Malouf and Peter Schjeldahl, Bill Henson
north-west Kimberley area. The Wandjina (Rainspirit)
55 x 75.5 cm
Photographs 1974–1984, Deutscher Fine Art,
image is one of the most powerful in indigenous art
signed and dated lower right: Raokin ‘63
Melbourne 1989
and dates back to the earliest rock paintings. It is said
Provenance
10 Untitled 1997–1998
that when a Wandjina finished his or her time on earth
Professor Bernard Smith, Melbourne
(CB/KMC 4 SH 62 N28A)
they would lay down and then become a painting on
Sotheby’s Fine Australian Paintings, Melbourne, 14
type C colour photograph
the rock-cave wall. The sacredness of the rock art
August 1989, lot 247 (as Abstract hands and spheres).
103.5 x 154cm image size
Wandjina is irrefutable and there is much mythology
Sir James and Lady Cruthers, Perth.
127 x 180cm paper size
surrounding the depiction of the rain spirit. Wandjina
edition 1 of 5
are nearly always painted from a frontal perspective
Hawkins worked extensively on paper in the 1960s.
inscribed verso: UNTITLED 1997/98 / B. Henson
with a large, head and prominent shoulders above an
The 1963 series Life Imprints used stencils sprayed
amorphic body. The distinctive U-shaped form which
with watercolour to mimic the cave paintings at
Exhibited
encircles the head represents the cumulonimbus
Lascaux and equally ancient Aboriginal art. In its use of
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 2000
clouds which they govern to bring rain. The face
hands and feet, it is both an affirmation of our shared
Reference
features two large eyes and beak-like nose but are
humanity, and an acknowledgement of the primacy of
Bill Henson, Mnemosyne, Scalo in association with the
almost always mouthless as some believe that if a
the creative act in human experience across the ages.
Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2005, p.455 (illus.)
Wandjina figure is painted with a mouth, then it will rain
An example from the series was included in the Project
Bill Henson: Lux et Nox, Scalo, Zurich, 2002, p.44 (illus.)
incessantly.
11 exhibition and is reproduced as plate 34 in the
Chanin Miller book. The current example was
LILY (MINDINDIL) KAREDADA (born c.1937)
This extremely rare and important painting of the
purchased by Bernard Smith in the 1960s and owned
Wandjina is one of the earliest canvases produced by
From the Woonambal language group, Lily Karedada’s
by him until the majority of his collection was sold in
the artist. It has been carefully preserved and is
country is in the far North Kimberley. Her family began
1989 to fund a scholarship for Aboriginal artists.
presented framed under glass. The natural ochre
producing paintings and objects in the early 1970s,
pigments were mixed with acrylic binder ensuring a
BILL HENSON (born 1955)
with her husband Louis, his brother Jack, and her
relatively stable surface. Typical of Lily Karedada’s
(Represented by Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney and Tolarno Galleries,
sister-in-law Rosie all having established names as
depiction of the Wandjina is the beautiful veil of dotting
Melbourne)
artists. Lily exhibited Wandjina paintings at the first
(rain) in the body and ‘halo’ of the spirit figure,
The 2005 retrospective exhibition curated by Judy
exhibition of works from the Kalumburu community in
surrounded by animals and objects from daily life.
Annear for the Art Gallery of New South Wales
Perth in 1977 and has continued to produce these
Turtle, goanna, birds and snakes appear with
cemented Henson’s reputation as one of Australia’s
powerful images on bark and canvas. Lily’s bush
coolamon, digging sticks and boomerang. Lily
most accomplished and significant photographers.
name, Mindindil, means bubbles. Her father named her
Karedada is recognised as one of the true master
Self-taught, Henson has produced a huge body of work
for the bubbles coming out of the spring water on a hill.
painters of the Wandjina and has gained an
that embraces human psychology as the key subject.
That Lily paints the Wandjina, the bringer of water to
international reputation for her powerful and beautiful
His early works from the mid-1970s were often very
the land, is indeed appropriate.
paintings.
small, intimate photographs. During the 1980s he
Literature/Further reading
began to print his work at a larger scale, channelling
Susan McCulloch, Contemporary Aboriginal Art,
the drama of Delacroix or Gericault. In 1995 he was
Revised Edition, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2001
Australia’s representative at the Venice Biennale, in
Jennifer Isaacs, Spirit Country: Contemporary
2002 a large scale monograph Bill Henson: Lux et Nox
Australian Aboriginal Art, Hardie Grant Books, Sydney,
was published by Scalo, Zurich and in 2005 a major
1999
book was published to coincide with his retrospective
Judith Ryan, Images of Power: Aboriginal Art of the
exhibition. His work is held by all state collections and
Kimberley, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne,
1993
76
DAVID KEELING (born 1951)
The shadow of discord left by the Franklin Dam
43 No. 677 1987
protests and other environmental battles coloured much
bronze, artist proof from edition of 6
David Keeling was born in Launceston, Tasmania in
of the debate about development in the 1980s and well
101 x 73 x 30.5cm
1951. He attended the Swinburne Film and Television
into the 1990s.
signed: RK NO677 ’87 AP
School, Melbourne in 1970, the Tasmanian School of
inscribed bottom: M8 x 1.25
Art in 1973 and the Alexander Mackie School of Art,
David Keeling’s painting Plant 1986–1988 is a relatively
Sydney in 1981. Keeling has served as Chairman and
philosophical intervention into this debate. A small pile
Provenance
Board Member of Contemporary Art Services
of rocks sits in the foreground of the picture while a
The Estate of Robert Klippel
Tasmania, and Artbank, Sydney. He currently lives and
stark geometric factory occupies the middle. These
Reference
works in Tasmania, where his concern for the
objects are placed on a barren plane, in front of tree-
Deborah Edwards, CD-ROM Catalogue Raisonée of
environment influences much of his oeuvre. A major
felled hills. The contrast of the curves of the hills and
Sculptures, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney,
monograph on his work is expected in August 2007.
the rocks to the right angles of the factory emphasise
2002
the difference between the look and feel of the natural
Literature/Further reading
world versus human designed and built constructions.
Related work
Laura Murray Cree and Neville Drury, Australian
A similar work, No. 651, 1987 is in the collection of the
Painting Now, Craftsman House, Sydney, 2000
Keeling has commented that these paintings were
National Gallery of Victoria.
Ian Mclean, ‘David Keeling’, Artlink, vol.19, no.2, June
related to an interest in the historical portrayal of
1999
development and the industrial revolution and cites
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c.1910–1996)
Jonathan Holmes and Edward Colless,
18th century painter, Joseph Wright of Derby’s
Language group: Anmatyerre
Redescubrimento Rediscovery: Australian artists in
optimistic portrayal of a factory in a landscape as a
During her brief but outstanding career as an artist,
Europe 1982–1992, University of Tasmania, Hobart,
particular influence. Keeling’s work is in many ways a
Emily Kame Kngwarreye became recognised as one of
1992
counter claim. It reveals that the promise of
the most important contemporary painters.
development, when left to its own devises and allowed
44 Plant 1986–1988
Kngwarreye’s legacy has been immense. Along with
to run unchecked, can often be a curse.
oil on linen
fellow artists such as Rover Thomas and Clifford
43.5 x 61cm
ROBERT KLIPPEL (1920–2001)
Possum, Kngwarreye gained a great deal of
signed lower right: D. Keeling 86–88
international exposure and is represented in important
Widely recognised as Australia’s greatest sculptor,
Provenance
public and private collections throughout the world. She
Robert Klippel was born in Sydney in 1920. After
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
began making art as part of the Utopia Women’s Batik
studies at the East Sydney Technical College, he spent
Private collection, Sydney
Group in the 1970s and then at the suggestion of the
time in London and Paris exhibiting at the Nina Bausset
late Rodney Gooch moved to acrylic painting in 1988.
Exhibited
Gallery in Paris and made contact with the founder of
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne, 14 Sep – 1 Oct 1988
the Surrealist movement André Breton. After a period of
Literature/Further reading
cat.5
teaching in the United States, where he also continued
Jennifer Isaacs, Terry Smith, Judith Ryan, Donald Holt,
to exhibit his sculpture, he returned to Sydney. He was
Janet Holt, Emily Kame Kngwarreye Paintings,
Reference
the subject of a major monograph by James Gleeson in
Craftsman House, Sydney, 1998
Gary Catalano, ‘The painter as the child of history’, The
1983 and a full-scale retrospective exhibition was held
Margot Neale, Emily Kame Kngwarreye: Alkahere
Age, 29 Sep 1988
at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2002.
Paintings from Utopia, Queensland Art Gallery/
In the mid-1980s, after a period of time living in
Macmillan, Melbourne, 1998
Literature/Further reading
Sydney, David Keeling took a job in rural Tasmania
Fluent: Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Yvonne Koolmatrie,
Deborah Edwards, Robert Klippel, Art Gallery of New
about an hours drive from Hobart. Driving in and out of
Judy Watson, 47th Venice Biennale, 15 Jun – 9 Nov
South Wales, Sydney, 2002
Hobart on his way to and from work, he was
1997, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1997
Deborah Edwards, Robert Klippel: Large Wood
constantly reminded of the suburban expansion taking
Stories: Eine Reise zu den großen Dingen, Sprengel
Sculptures and Collages, Art Gallery of New South
place, and the battle between nature and culture it
Museum, Hanover,1995
Wales, Sydney, 1995
presented.
James Gleeson, Robert Klippel, Bay Books, Sydney,
The 1980s, particularly in Tasmania, was a period of
1983
heightened consciousness towards the conflict
between developmental and environmental concerns.
77
38 My anooralya story 1991
RICHARD LARTER (born 1929)
The conversation of the woman on the phone, (a
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
heroine of romantic comic books), is made up of
Richard Larter emigrated to Australia from the UK in
90.5 x 61cm
the bits and pieces of popular culture, the clichés,
1962. In 1965 he held his first solo exhibition at
inscribed verso: 91J60/ Emily Kngwarreye
the song titles, and meaningless communication
Watters Gallery, Sydney, introducing his particular
that are part of our cultural environment.
Provenance
brand of pop to the Australian scene. His work
Delmore Gallery, Alice Springs
embraced abstraction, pornography and politics, giving
The repeated image of the rather bored looking lady,
Private Collection, Northern Territory
vibrant expression to the mood of the time.
her head resting on her hand, thinking of…, is in
Private Collection, Canberra
fact a portrait of the artist’s wife.
A significant figure in Australian art for some forty
This important canvas by Kngwarreye was painted at a
years, he won the Clemenger Triennial Award for
Richard Larter’s late wife Pat was often the model in
time when she was producing a body of exceptional
Contemporary Australian Art in 1996. His work is
many of his paintings. Pat was an artist and important
dot paintings. This yam story has a limited palette of
included in all major public, private and corporate
co-collaborator with Richard on video, photographs and
great sophistication. A shifing mass of yellow, white,
collections in Australia. Undeniably one of Australia’s
paintings. In this work she looks emptily into the
grey and dark green dots overlay an unusual earthy,
most innovative and provocative artists, Larter’s
distance, and her thought bubble, saying ‘Am I ever
purple ground. The effect is mesmerising. The subtle
influence continues to inspire young artists today.
bored my little spunkies!’, reflects the boredom
changes in density and clarity of the various coloured
Living and working near Canberra, he is still actively
expressed by her face. The title New Zealand landscape
dots create light and shade to give the work a structure
painting and exhibits annually.
perhaps a cheeky comment on Pat’s experience of
which overlays the barely discernable network of yam
accompanying her husband for his professional
Literature/Further reading
roots tracked first on the canvas.
engagement in Auckland.
Kelly Gellatly, Stripperama, Heide Museum of Modern
Art, Melbourne, 2002
The collage-like technique of a number of smaller self-
56 Untitled 1995
Terence Maloon, Richard Larter: A Survey, University of
contained images sitting side by side on the one
(105-995)
Queensland, Brisbane, 1985
canvas is characteristic of this period of Larter’s work.
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Robert Lindsay, Aspects: Aspects of Australian Art, Art
It sits comfortably as an example of classic Pop, a
93.5 x 70cm
Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1976
style of which Larter is probably the best known
inscribed verso: 105-995/EMILY KNGWARREYE/SEPT
proponent in Australian art. This work relates closely to
95/ (R. GOOCH ALICE SPRINGS 29.9.95)/ signed Marc
39 New Zealand landscape 1974
the major paintings Silent Words Spray Fresh Job 1974
Gooch
oil on canvas
in the collection of James Mollison and Black Friday in
129.5 x 96.5cm
Provenance
Penrith 1975–76 in the collection of Sir James and
signed lower right: R.Larter 5.74
Rodney Gooch
Lady Cruthers.
William Mora Gallery, Melbourne
Provenance
Ian Hicks Collection
Watters Gallery, Sydney
TIM MAGUIRE (born 1958)
Private collection, Melbourne
Deutscher-Menzies, 28 Nov 2001, lot 23 (erroneously
(Represented by Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne and Martin Browne Fine
Art, Sydney)
titled: Am I ever bored)
These wild, expressive body paint designs were
Private collection, Melbourne
Over the last decade Tim Maguire has become one of
completed late in Emily’s oeuvre. Bold stripes had
Australia’s leading contemporary artists, celebrated for
actually been a recurring motif in her work since the
Exhibited
his monumental paintings of flowers and fruit. Less
beginning when she decorated the edges of her
Aspects: Aspects of Australian Art, Art Gallery of New
well known are his early landscapes, which forged his
canvases with many small stripes, though it was not
South Wales, Sydney, and touring, 1976, cat.68
reputation and secured his place in the history of
until she began to produce body design paintings that
Reference
Australian landscape painting.
the significance of this was realised. Observers of
Robert Lindsay, Aspects: Aspects of Australian Art, Art
contemporary art may see master expressionists like
Maguire studied in Sydney in the early-1980s, followed
Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1976 cat.68 (illus.)
Tuckson reflected in her work, but the marks are drawn
by two years at the State Academy of Art, Dusseldorf.
from those applied to the body for ceremonies. The
This work was was included in the Art Gallery of New
On his return to Sydney, he and fellow artists including
spontenaiety of the paintings comes from the
South Wales’ touring exhibition Aspects: Aspects of
Adrienne Gaha, Narelle Jubelin and Paul Saint
confidence of intimate knowledge about what is being
Australian Art. In the catalogue, the curator Robert
established the artist-run space, First Draft. From this
painted. The mark-making is forceful and complete,
Lindsay comments on the history of this painting:
group came the earliest attempts to re-examine the
there is no hesitancy, but a strong joyful line which
New Zealand Landscape was painted in 1974,
local landscape tradition, especially colonial art, that
links this painting to the artist and to the land.
while Larter was a visiting Senior Lecturer in
were to become the foundations of the movement later
A related group of body paint design paintings were
Painting at Auckland University.
known as Post-colonialism.
selected to be shown at the Venice Biennale in 1997.
78
Maguire has exhibited throughout Australia and
New York Times by Vivien Raynor:
Notes
overseas, with his work being highly sought after by
…The monolithic posts or rocks that are the
This work relates closely to the major painting Figure
collectors. In 2003 the Bendigo Art Gallery held a
subject of the other paintings also protrude from
Group c.1951–1957 held in the collection of the Art
survey show of his Colour Separation paintings. He
water. It’s all very strange, but then, he is painting
Gallery of New South Wales.
has lived and work in France and United Kingdom since
not the real world but some private territory where
A certificate of authenticity from Artamon Galleries,
1992.
there is daylight, twilight and maybe moonlight, but
signed by John Henshaw, is attached verso.
no weather and no living beings. These are
Literature/Further reading
MILLINGIMBI (ARTIST UNKNOWN)
melancholy and often quite beautiful images….
Dr Shaune Lakin, Painting Under Duress: Tim
Maguire’s Colour Separations, 1998–2003, Bendigo
A long tradition of art-making exists on Millingimbi, a
Maguire continued to explore the theme of landscape,
Art Gallery, 2003
small island off the coast of Central Arnhem Land.
winning the 1993 Moët & Chandon Fellowship for a
A Methodist mission was established on the island in
painting of light falling between two tanks. With its
2
Fin de siecle 1986
1923 and during the 1950s the missionaries
brooding atmosphere and hint of menace, Fin de siecle
(also known as And a hard place, Dark field)
encouraged the making of bark paintings and artefacts
remains a concise expression of his painterly concerns
oil on canvas
for sale. By the early-1960s a number of significant
in this period.
127 x 66cm canvas
artists painted there including Djawa, Bininyiwui,
151 x 89.5cm overall size including frame
GODFREY MILLER (1893–1964)
Lipundja, Buranday, Dawidi and many others. This was
signed lower left: T Maguire ‘86
Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Godfrey Miller studied
a particularly dynamic period in Yolgnu art.
Provenance
at the Slade School of Art, London in the 1930s. He
Early aboriginal sculptures are of enormous interest
Phillip Dash Gallery, New York (gallery label verso)
travelled through the United Kingdom, Greece, The
today, particularly works of such quality and
Sir James and Lady Cruthers, Perth
Philippines and Japan before returning to settle in
craftsmanship as these outstanding bird carvings.
Australia. His delicate paintings, built up with thin dabs
Exhibited
Similar works are held in all significant collections of
of oil paint, are key images of twentieth century
Et in Arcadia Ego, Philip Dash Gallery, New York,
indigenous art.
Australian art. His status as one of the most important
14 May – 21 Jun 1987 (reproduced on the exhibition
Literature/Further reading
Australian modern painters was confirmed when the
invitation as Dark field).
Susan McCulloch, Contemporary Aboriginal Art, Allen
Art Gallery of New South Wales mounted a major
Maguire’s mid-1980s landscapes featured rudimentary
& Unwin, revised edition, Sydney, 2001
retrospective exhibition in 1996.
structures abandoned in a featureless outback –
Jennifer Isaacs, Spirit Country: Contemporary
Literature/Further reading
barbeques, water tanks, gates, columns and so on,
Australian Aboriginal Art, Hardie Grant Books, Sydney,
Deborah Edwards, Godfrey Miller 1893–1964, The Art
often depicted floating in water, like relics of a white
1999
Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1996
society long gone. At a deeper level they punned on
Judith Ryan, Spirit in Land Bark: Paintings from
Godfrey Miller: Survey Exhibition of Drawings, Niagara
ideas of ‘interior’, representing the existential dilemma
Arnhem Land, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne,
Galleries, Melbourne, 1982
of the single white soul, unable to find a home or
1990
John Henshaw, Godfrey Miller, Darlinghurst Galleries,
resting place.
31 Jungle fowl 1959
Sydney, 1965
Maguire’s first New York exhibition was held at Philip
natural earth pigments on carved softwood
John Henshaw, 40 Drawings by Godfrey Miller,
Dash Gallery in 1987. Et in Arcadia Ego comprised still
height: 29cm
Edwards & Shaw, Sydney, 1962
life paintings of fruit, and a series of rocks and
Provenance
21 Figure series sketch c.1951–1957
monoliths, all in water under dramatic skies.
The Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, USA
oil on canvas on board
They were presented in grandoise gilded frames
Private collection, Melbourne
61 x 36cm
originally used by artists of the Hudson River School
such as Thomas Cole, Frederick Church and John
32 Wild goose totem 1961
Provenance
Kensett. Maguire responded strongly to the romantic
natural earth pigments on carved softwood
Artamon Galleries, Sydney
and sublime works of these painters, who were the
height: 43cm
Private collection, Melbourne
American equivalent of John Glover and Eugene von
Provenance
Exhibited
Guerard.
The Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, USA
Artamon Gallery, September 1981 cat.27 (gallery label
The exhibition catalogue featured an essay by John
Private collection, Melbourne
verso)
McDonald, and the show itself was reviewed in The
79
SAMUEL NAMUNJDJA (born 1965)
SIDNEY NOLAN (1917–1992)
he added body and translucency by broadly brushing
colour over the ink lines with quick drying Ripolin
Nolan is an iconic figure of Australian painting. His Ned
Samuel Namunjdja began painting in the late-1980s. He
enamel house paint. The under drawing was unable to
Kelly series has gone beyond art historical import and
is part of the Kuninjku language group and belongs to
be altered once the enamel dried, the dribbled and
seeped into the consciousness of the Australian public.
the Yirridjdja moiety. He was born in Arnhem Land in
drawn black ink permanently encapsulated between the
Closely associated with patrons John and Sunday
the Northern Territory in 1965 and has lived in
glass and enamel. He sometimes remembered to initial
Reed, Nolan was a key figure amongst the writers and
Mankorlod, Oenpelli and Maningrida. He paints with
the sheets with his trademark back-to-front ‘N’ or ‘n’,
artists associated with the Angry Penguins and Heide.
natural ochre on bark, rag paper and poles. He comes
adding a date or abbreviated month, but many works
His first major survey exhibition came in 1967 at the
from an artist family and his father, Peter Marralwanga,
from the series were unsigned and undated.
Art Gallery of New South Wales. He was the subject of
taught him how to paint the stories of his clan.
a retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of
Unlike the earlier paintings made at Heide which were
Samuel’s knowledge of animals such as bonbon (diver
Victoria in 1987 and his images of central Australia
painted on ‘found’ glass, Nolan ordered new glass
duck) and yibba (frog), and spirit figures such as Mimi
formed the basis for another important exhibition at the
sheets from a glazier, each sheet generally the same
and Ngalyod (rainbow serpent) are apparent in the
National Gallery of Victoria in 2004. Heide Museum of
size: 25.5 x 30.5 cm or 10 x 12 inches in imperial
paintings. He also paints Gungura, the spiralling wind
Modern Art recently conducted an exhibition focusing
measurements. A few larger panels were painted on
associated with several sites on his clan estate. The
on his later Ned Kelly series. His work is included in
convex glass. All were intended for exhibition and each
detailed brush work builds a story of the histories and
major public collections throughout Australia and
was framed in a wide convex shaped moulding made
spirituality of Arnhem Land. His work has been
overseas, including The Tate Gallery, London and the
from a warm coloured maple or silky oak. His Eureka
included in numerous exhibitions, including the
Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Stockade exhibition held at The Macquarie Galleries in
important Crossing County: The Alchemy of Western
July 1949 was comprised solely of glass paintings, all
In the period 1948–1951, Sidney Nolan painted over
Arnhem Land Art held at the Art Gallery of New South
but two of the sixty six images the same size and all
130 ink and enamel paintings on glass, 100 of which
Wales in 2004, and Living Together is Easy, an
uniformly framed.
were exhibited in four exhibitions in Sydney and
exhibition held at the National Gallery of Victoria and
London from June 1949 until February 1951. The
After his first exhibition in London at the Redfern
Art Tower Mito, Japan. In 2006, Namunjdja won the
motivation for this unusual technique and prodigious
Gallery in 1951 (which included 20 glass paintings)
23rd National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
output can perhaps be found in Nolan’s peripatetic
Nolan appears to have ceased making glass paintings
Award for bark painting.
work experience during the Depression in Melbourne. In
for his exhibitions. The largest quantity shown in recent
Literature/Further reading
1932 he worked for a firm manufacturing signs on
years were 39 glass paintings from 1948–1951
Transitions: 17 Years of the National Aboriginal and
glass and learnt the process of applying enamel paints
exhibited at the Joseph Brown Gallery in 1979. All had
Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art
and tinfoil to the back of glass. Now highly collectable,
been forgotten by the Nolans after being stored along
Gallery of Northern Teritory, Darwin, 2000
such signs were popular with publicans to advertise
with paintings, drawings and documents in a
Hetti Perkins, Crossing Country: The Alchemy of
wine and beer on plain or mirrored glass.
weatherboard shed at Cynthia Nolan’s Wahroonga
Western Arhem Land Art, Art Gallery of New South
home from 1954 until 1978. They were retrieved by
Nolan revisited the glass painting technique when living
Wales, Sydney, 2004
Nolan following Cynthia Nolan’s death in November
at Heide in 1941 with John and Sunday Reed. Using
42 Gungura (Wind dreaming) 2006
1976.
an old window frame, he painted hands, heads and
(3533-06)
flowers on each of the six glass panes to make Girl &
Literature/Further reading
ochre pigments with PVC fixative on stringybark
Flowers for his muse, Sunday Reed (Collection: Heide
Geoffrey Smith, Sidney Nolan: Desert and Drought,
150.5 x 48cm
Museum of Modern Art).
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2003
Provenance
T.G. Rosenthal, Sidney Nolan, Thames and Hudson,
The Ballarat Fine Art Gallery’s collection of Eureka
Maningrida Arts and Culture, Northern Territory (label
London, 2002
Stockade transfer drawings may have been a launching
verso)
Jane Clark, Sidney – Landscapes and Legends,
point for the paintings on glass on the same theme. In
International Cultural Corporation of Australia Limited,
1948 Nolan commenced making his Eureka Stockade
Sydney, 1987
glass series by drawing directly on the back of the
Elwyn Lynn, ‘Introduction’, Sidney Nolan. 102 Works
glass as if it were a sheet of paper, firstly in India ink
from the First Fifteen Years (1939–53), Joseph Brown
and pen. Transfer drawings or monotypes also require
Gallery, Melbourne, 1979
a back-to-front way of working. To distinguish the line
Elwyn Lynn and Sidney Nolan, Sidney Nolan –
drawings on glass from the transfer drawings on paper,
Australia, Bay Books, Sydney and London, 1979
80
Daniel Thomas, ‘Documentation’, in Hal Missingham,
48 Untitled (Township) c.1948–1950
Literature/Further reading
Sidney Nolan Retrospective Exhibition. Paintings from
ink and enamel on glass
Bernard Smith, Australian Painting 1788–1970, Oxford
1937 to 1967, Art Gallery of New South Wales,
25.5 x 30.5cm
University Press, Melbourne, 1970
Sydney, 1967
signed lower right: ‘n’
Surrealism: Revolution by Night, National Gallery of
Colin MacInnes and Kenneth Clark, Nolan, Thames and
Australia, Canberra 1993
Provenance
Hudson, 1961
Bruce James, Australian Surrealism: The
Possibly The Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 1950
Agapitos/Wilson Collection, The Beagle Press, Sydney,
47 Untitled (Antique theme) 1950
Australian Galleries, Melbourne (gallery labels verso)
2003
ink and enamel on glass
Sotheby’s, Melbourne, 28 April 1997, lot 462
30.5 x 25.5cm
Private collection, Melbourne
12 Cows and moons 1954
signed lower left: n/50.
oil on board
Exhibited
20 x 33.3cm
Provenance
Possibly Exhibition of Paintings: Sydney Nolan, The
signed lower right: Carl Plate ‘54
Possibly The Redfern Gallery, London, 1951
Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 28 Jun – 10 Jul, 1950,
inscribed verso (under frame): Niagara 3913A/ G12
Australian Galleries, Melbourne (gallery labels verso)
cat.12. (Nolan exhibited 28 paintings: 6 x Notes for
54?/ CP88031 Cows And Moons
Sotheby’s, Melbourne 27 November 1995, lot 298
Bourke and Wills Series; 20 x Paintings on Glass and 2
Private collection, Melbourne
x Paintings on Board and Paper.)
Provenance
The Estate of Carl Plate
Exhibited
Untitled (Township) is undated, but would appear to
Possibly Sidney Nolan; Sylvia Gosse; Vera Cuningham;
The subject of inquiry pursued by surrealism often
date from 1948 when Nolan painted his Queensland
French Paintings, The Redfern Gallery, London, 11 Jan
overlapped with that of the occult. There was a shared
Outback paintings. It is reminiscent of his paintings of
– 3 Feb 1951, cat. 28–33, or 38–39. (Nolan’s
interest in the mystic revelations of an unseen-
hotels with decorative verandas, such as Agricultural
exhibition was held in “Room One” and comprised
unknown. Followers of the occult believed in the mystic
Hotel, Royal Hotel, and Going to work Rising Sun
twenty four Paintings of Central Australia and fifteen
powers of distant objects; stars, moons, or the more
Hotel. (Illustrated in Rosenthal, Sidney Nolan, 2002,
Glass paintings. Six glass paintings were titled Antique
mundane of trees and leaves. Surrealism invested
pp.136–139)
Theme, I-VI and two titled Notes on an Antique Theme,
these mystic realms with a similar power, but
I and II.)
emphasised their connection to the unconscious. It
CARL PLATE (1909–1977)
was only through their relation to the unseeable
After arriving in England in September 1950 with his
Carl Plate studied under Raynor Hoff at the East
workings of our mind that these objects exerted their
wife Cynthia and her daughter Jinx, the Nolans lodged
Sydney Technical College between 1930 and 1934. In
true mystic force.
with Cynthia’s sister, Margaret Reed in Cambridge
the late-1930s he travelled through Europe, America
during the winter of 1950–51. Untitled (Antique
In Carl Plate’s cryptic painting Cows and moons, 1954
and Mexico, spending time at St Martin’s School and
Theme), an image of a mother and child as statuary –
this overlap of occult symbology and surrealist beliefs
the Central School of Arts and Crafts, both in London.
Cynthia and Jinx? – may have been made following a
has been performed. Two large horned cows rest in the
Plate produced some of the most accomplished
visit to Ely Cathedral near Cambridge. Alternatively, as it
fore- and mid-grounds of the picture, their solidified
modernist and surrealist inspired pictures in Sydney
appears to be a Roman inspired subject, the painting
shapes emphasising their symbolic potential. Above a
from the 1930s through to the early 1950s. His late
may have been made during Nolan’s thirteen week tour
shed are seven moons painted in blue, cream and
abstract expressionist canvases also make an
of Spain, Portugal, Italy and France from 9 December
white. The symbolic language employed by Plate is
important contribution to the history of Australian art.
1950 to March 1951. If Untitled (Antique Theme) was
impossibly esoteric. Instead of describing a specific
Plate was the proprietor of Notanda Gallery, a centre for
included in Nolan’s first exhibition in England at The
logic of the unconscious, the painting is meant to act
avant-garde ideas during the 1940s and 1950s in
Redfern Gallery in January 1951, it must have been
as a gestalt; an invitation into the fertile terrain of our
Sydney. His work is held in numerous public and
painted in England, as Geoffrey Smith has written that
own unconscious.
private collections throughout Australia and features
the show was ‘selected prior to his visit to Spain.’
prominently in The Agapitos/Wilson Collection of
This work has not previously been exhibited.
Nolan must have been pleased with this mother and
Australian Surrealism. In his seminal text Australian
child motif as two similar paintings of the same subject
Painting 1788–1970, Bernard Smith makes the
in a horizontal composition are known, each of which
comment that Carl Plate’s work, ‘[p]osesses a genuine
are almost identical with this vertical composition.
feeling for nature, at times a note of wit, and always a
sense of good taste.’ (p.316) He continued, saying that
Plate, ‘placed an emphasis upon the landscape of the
mind, “to expose a glint of the unknown”.’ (p.363)
81
MARGARET PRESTON (1875–1963)
References
JEFFREY SMART (born 1921)
(Represented by Australian Galleries, Melbourne and Sydney; Philip Bacon
Your Garden, 1954 (cover illustration)
On her first visit to the Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Galleries, Brisbane)
Elizabeth Butel, Margaret Preston: The Art of Constant
at the age of twelve, Margaret Preston set her sights on
Rearrangement, Penguin Books, Melbourne in
becoming an artist. A talented and ambitious young
Born in Adelaide, Smart studied at the South Australian
association with the Art Gallery of New South Wales,
woman, she soon began painting lessons and later
School of Art from 1937 to 1941. He travelled to
1985, illus. p. 68
enrolled at the National Gallery School in Victoria. Like
France and studied at the Académie Monmartre, Paris
Roger Butler, The Prints of Margaret Preston, Australian
many artists of the period, Preston completed her
under Fernand Léger. In the 1960s he moved to Italy
National Gallery Canberra, 1987 illus. cat.361, p.304
studies in Europe. Travel became a life-long passion for
and has continued to live and work there since. He has
Deborah Edwards, Margaret Preston, Art Gallery of
the artist and had a profound affect on her career.
maintained a strong connection to Australia through
New South Wales, Sydney, 2005 listed on CD-ROM
Ultimately, she used her experiences of different
regular solo exhibitions and is recognised as one of our
catalogue raisonée
cultures to evaluate her perceptions of Australian
most siginificant living figurative artists. A retrospective
identity. This manifested itself in her work and her
exhibition was organised by the Art Gallery of New
Notes
ongoing desire to develop a national Australian art
South Wales in 1999 and his work is held in major
This work was printed in an edition of three. The other
form. In 2005, she was the subject of a major
collections throughout Australia.
two impressions are held in the collection of the
retrospective exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South
National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of New
Literature/Further reading
Wales which also toured to the National Gallery of
South Wales.
Barry Pearce, Jeffrey Smart, The Beagle Press, Sydney,
Victoria. Preston’s works are held in all state and
2004
53 The snail 1949
regional galleries and important private and corporate
Jeffrey Smart, Edmond Capon and Germaine Greer,
colour stencil
collections in Australia and overseas.
Jeffrey Smart: Drawings and Studies 1942–2001,
29.5 x 20.5cm
Literature/Further reading
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, 2001
signed lower centre ‘M.P 49’
Deborah Edwards, Margaret Preston, Art Gallery of
Edmond Capon, Jeffrey Smart Retrospective, Art
Provenance
New South Wales, Sydney, 2005 including CD-ROM
Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1999
Grosvenor Galleries, Sydney
catalogue raisonée
John McDonald, Jeffrey Smart: Paintings of the 70s
Private collection, Sydney
Roger Butler, The Prints of Margaret Preston, National
and 80s, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1990
Private collection, Melbourne
Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1987
Peter Quartermaine, Jeffrey Smart, Gryphon Books,
Elizabeth Butel, Margaret Preston: The Art of Constant
Exhibited
Melbourne, 1983
Rearrangement, Penguin Books, Melbourne in
Grosvenor Galleries, Sydney, September 1949
37 San Cataldo II 1964
association with the Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Margaret Preston, Art Gallery of New South Wales,
oil on board
1985
Sydney, 1985
49.5 x 72.5cm
Ian North, The Art of Margaret Preston, Art Gallery of
References
signed lower right: JEFFREY SMART 64
South Australia, Adelaide, 1982
Deborah Edwards, Margaret Preston, Art Gallery of
titled verso: SAN CATALDO II
52 Native Flowers 1949
New South Wales, Sydney, 2005 listed on CD-ROM
Provenance
colour stencil
catalogue raisonée
Private collection, Brisbane
30 x 21.5cm
Roger Butler, The Prints of Margaret Preston, Australian
Exhibited
signed lower right: M.P 1949
National Gallery Canberra, 1987 illus. cat.360, p.303
Jeffrey Smart, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney 1965
Elizabeth Butel, Margaret Preston: The Art of Constant
Provenance
Galeria 88, Rome, 8–23 April 1965
Rearrangement, Penguin Books, Melbourne in
Grosvenor Galleries, Sydney
association with the Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Reference
Private collection, Sydney
1985, illus. p.70
Barry Pearce, Jeffrey Smart, The Beagle Press, Sydney,
Exhibited
Advertisement for Grosvenor exhibition in Catalogue,
2005, illus. p.73
Grosvenor Galleries, Sydney, September 1949
Society of Artists Annual Exhibition, 1949 (illus.)
Peter Quartermaine, Jeffrey Smart, Gryphon Books,
Margaret Preston, Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Melbourne, 1983, cat.460 (erroneously dated and
Notes
Sydney, 1985
catalogued)
Although originally thought to be an edition of three,
The Prints of Margaret Preston, National Gallery of
there are currently four known impressions of this
Smart’s art is resolutely realist, his technique classic.
Australia, 1987
image. They are located in the collection of the Art
There is the sense that his paintings might be ‘straight
Gallery of New South Wales and the National Gallery of
forward’ depictions of the world. But they are not.
Victoria, a private collection and the example seen here.
82
His careful realism is also accompanied by an
18 (The market garden) not dated
assembled with formulaic process. As with all Taylor’s
ambiguous, possibly unknown, narrative. The figures
watercolour and ink on paper
wire work, it is not so much about creating a shape,
which populate his artworks are frozen in time. We are
32.5 x 24cm
but finding a balance between form and density, the
given the smallest fragment, a moment of a larger
signed lower right: E W SYME
sense of mass versus the interior space. The artist
story that can only be filled with conjecture and the
has titled the work for the deep jewel-like green/blue of
Provenance
viewer’s imagination.
serpentine, and spikey cacti of South America. There is
Private collection, Melbourne
also perhaps an acknowlegement of the great
San Cataldo II was painted just one year after Smart’s
architecture and mathematical ingenuity of an ancient
move to Italy. It presents a sleepy scene set in San
NEIL TAYLOR (born 1945)
culture.
Cataldo, a small town on the island of Sicily. Painted in
Melbourne sculptor Neil Taylor has been practising for
a beautiful scumbling technique, the buildings are
more than forty years, refining his technique and
VIOLET TEAGUE (1872–1951)
typical of the raw Italian architecture Smart has so
conceptual framework with remarkable dedication and
In the early 1890s Violet Teague’s step-mother took
often utilised in his pictures.
consistency. Working from his studio he has undertaken
her and her siblings on a tour of Europe. At the end of
The 1960s was a highly productive period for Smart.
commissions for public and private collections, including
the trip, Teague stayed on in Brussels. She studied art
He had developed and started to resolve his mature
a major piece for the Heide Museum of Modern Art
at the Blanc Garin in Brussels and then at Herkomer’s
style of bold and quite brightly coloured realism. In
sculpture garden funded by the Victoria Commissions
School in Hertfordshire in England. Her return to
1962, just two years before he painted San Cataldo II,
Program in 1999. His work has been included in
Australia in 1896 found her in the midst of a lively
he produced his iconic and most famous painting
numerous group exhibitions in Australia and overseas and
artistic and academic circle then active in Edwardian
Cahill Expressway, now in the collection of the National
is included in the collections of the National Gallery of
Melbourne. Her highly accomplished portraiture,
Gallery of Victoria.
Victoria, the National Gallery of Australia and Tarrawarra
widely exhibited in Australia as well the Paris Salon on
Museum of Art. In 2005, Taylor exhibited in Chicago at
multiple occasions, sits comfortably alongside the
EVELINE SYME (1888–1961)
the curatorially challenging Suburban Gallery and was a
efforts of Bernard Hall, Emmanuel Phillips Fox and
Eveline Syme was born in Melbourne, moving to
finalist in the Macquarie Bank National Sculpture Prize
Rupert Bunny. Her printmaking work in the early-1900s
England in her twenties to study at Cambridge
and Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia and The
drew strongly from the lessons of Japanese art, an
University. After completing her degree, she pursued
Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award in 2005.
important influence on progressive art practices at the
her interest in art, moving to Paris in 1923 to ‘take
Literature/Further reading
time.
criticism’ from Maurice Denis. In 1929 she enrolled at
Neil Taylor, exhibition catalogue, Niagara Galleries,
Literature/Further reading
the Grosvenor School of Art in London, where she
Melbourne 2005
Jane Clark and Felicity Druce (eds), Violet Teague
studied linocutting under Claude Flight. She moved
Robert Nelson, ‘Working with metaphor’, The Age, 9
1872–1951, Beagle Press, Sydney 1999
back to Australia in the late-1930s and combined her
April 2003
Chris Deutscher and Roger Butler, A Survey of
art making interests with an involvement in women’s
Volume & Form, exhibition catalogue, Andres
Australian Relief Prints 1900/1950, Deutscher
education.
Contemporary Art, Singapore, 1999
Galleries, 1978
Literature/Further reading
Roger Taylor, ‘From the inside out’, World Sculpture
Roger Butler, Melbourne Woodcuts and Linocuts of the
Hendrik Kolenberg and Anne Ryan, Australian Prints:
News, 1999
1920s and 1930s, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, 1981
From the Gallery’s Collection, Art Gallery of New
50 Pre-Columbian matter 1998
41 Flirt tails and away! 1905
South Wales, Sydney, 1998
coated wire fabric
coloured woodcut
Stephen Coppel, Linocuts of the Machine Age: Claude
15.5 x 23.5 x 18cm
21 x 14.3cm
Flight and the Grosvenor School, Scholar Press in
signed lower right: V.T.
association with the National Gallery of Australia,
Provenance
London 1995
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Provenance
Felicity St John Moore, Classical Modernism: The
Private collection, Melbourne
Bridget McDonnell Gallery, Melbourne (gallery label
George Bell Circle, National Gallery of Victoria,
Exhibited
verso)
Melbourne 1992
Neil Taylor, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne,
Private collection, Melbourne
Roger Butler, Melbourne Woodcuts and Linocuts of the
14 Jul – 8 Aug 1998, cat. 12
Exhibited
1920s and 1930s, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Victoria,
As an exploration of the structural patterns which
A Survey of Australian Relief Prints 1900/1950,
1981
evolve from the joining of set forms, this hostile
Deutscher Galleries, 1978, cat.1
Chris Deutscher and Roger Butler, A Survey of
sculpture is remarkably successful. Each circular unit
Melbourne Woodcuts and Linocuts of the 1920s and
Australian Relief Prints 1900/1950, Deutscher Gallery,
is cut from a formed tube of coated wire, and then
1930s, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery and touring, 1981
Melbourne, 1978
83
References
Rover Thomas with Kim Akerman, Mary Mácha, Will
Caruana, pronounced ‘grill grill’) a corroboree or what
Chris Deutscher and Roger Butler, A Survey of Australian
Christensen and Wally Caruana, Roads Cross:
Kim Akerman calls a ‘narrative dance cycle’.
Relief Prints 1900/1950, Deutscher Galleries,
Paintings of Rover Thomas, National Gallery of
According to Will Christensen, Rover ‘found’ the Kurirr
Melbourne, 1978 illus. cat.1, p.8
Australia, Canberra, 1994
Kurirr soon after the devastation of Darwin by Cyclone
Roger Butler, Melbourne Woodcuts and Linocuts of the
Judith Ryan, Images of Power: Aboriginal Art of the
Tracy in 1975. ‘It came to him in his dreams over a
1920s and 1930s, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, 1981 (illus.)
Kimberley, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne,
period of time. As he shared the knowledge he had
1993
gained in this way, its significance was recognised.
This print was once a page from the illustrated
Wally Caruana, Australian Aboriginal Art, World of Art
Out of this sharing emerged the community celebration
children’s book Night Fall in the Ti Tree (page
Series, Thames and Hudson, London 1993
of the Kurirr Kurirr.’
31).Teague was commissioned to make images that
Bernard Lüthi, Aratjara: Art of the First Australians:
would accompany Geraldine Rede’s text. Teague’s
Mary Mácha remembers seeing the paintings of the
Traditional and Contemporary Works by Aboriginal and
lively woodblock prints utilize many compositional and
Kurirr Kurirr cycle painted by the artist Paddy Jaminji in
Torres Strait Islander Artists, Kunstsammlung
stylistic devices found in Japanese art. This influence,
1981, ‘the first person to whom Rover would have
Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusselforf, Germany, 1993
both fashionable and progressive at the time, is an
turned to make the boards’. She credits Jaminji with
Michael O’Ferrall, ‘Rover Thomas’ in Venice Biennale,
important precursor to many of the modernist styles of
founding a ‘school’ of painting at Warmun and Rover
Australia: Rover Thomas – Trevor Nickolls, Art Gallery
art. Roger Butler, a printmaking scholar and National
Thomas coming to her amongst a crowd and
of Western Australia, Perth, 1990
Gallery of Australia curator, comments that these
introducing himself to her with the statement: ‘Rover
illustrations are likely to be the first colour woodcuts
23 Narmaran: Serpent travelled from Turkey Creek to
Thomas. I want to paint.’ Mary Macha encouraged him
produced in Australia.
Alice Springs 1987
to paint by sending boards (and later, canvases) to
(RT5487)
Turkey Creek. The then store manager documented the
ROVER (JOOLAMA) THOMAS (c.1926–1998)
earth pigments and natural binders on plywood
paintings on small cards which he would send back
Language: Kukatja/Wangkajunga
60.8 x 90.7cm
with the works.
Rover Thomas began painting on a regular basis in
inscribed verso: in black marking pen lower left on
This information was recorded on typed cards and
1981. His first works were painted as ceremonial
diagonal, ‘RT5487’ and lower left on lower edge, ‘SRRRX’.
formed the basis of Macha’s careful documentation of
objects for the Kuirr Kuirr corroboree, Rover Thomas’
inscribed verso along top left edge: ‘Property of Mary
Rover Thomas’ oeuvre. These cards provide a reliable
own dreaming. His work has become synonymous
Mácha’. Subsequently the word ‘Ex.’ was inscribed
and accurate record of the provenance of each work.
with the art of the East Kimberley people and he has
before ‘Property of Mary Mácha’ and the current
Photocopies of Mary Mácha’s card No 214 and a
gained international recognition as one of Australia’s
owner’s name inscribed below. Stamped under the
photograph of Narmaran: Serpent travelled from Turkey
most important landscape painters.
inscriptions is an unidentifiable rubber stamp of
Creek to Alice Springs after completion leaning against
circular wood grain, perhaps a plywood
Along with Trevor Nickolls, he was the first Aboriginal
a wall, are available.
manufacturer’s trademark.
artist to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale in
Mary Mácha’s associate, geologist John Clarke, gives
1990. A retrospective of Thomas’ work curated by
Notes
an account of the chemistry employed by Thomas to
Wally Caruana, was held at the National Gallery of
Painted at Turkey Creek/ Frog Hollow in April 1987.
make his early paintings. This is instructive when
Australia in 1994. In 2003, a definitive touring
To preserve the delicate surface of the painting, the
considering the remarkable condition of Narmaran:
exhibition of Rover Thomas’ works from the Holmes à
work was framed and glazed by Louis Bradley, Picture
Serpent travelled from Turkey Creek to Alice Springs
Court Collection was shown at the National Gallery of
Framer in June 1998. The inscriptions were
1987.
Victoria and toured nationally. His works are in all
photographed for documentation purposes.
In addition to Rover’s use of naturally occurring
major state galleries, and prominent private and
Provenance
ochres and pigments he also made up paints that
corporate collections in Australia and overseas.
Mary Mácha, Western Australia (certification available)
were based on gums and resins from Eucalyptus
Thomas died in 1998, having become one of the most
Garry Anderson Gallery, Sydney
and Xanthorrea plants. These were melted in a
widely known and respected contemporary Aboriginal
Private collection, Melbourne
billy can over a fire and ‘cooked’ to produce a
artists.
shiny, black, viscous paint into which ground
A stockman in the cattle industry since a teenager in
Literature/Further reading
charcoal or other pigments were mixed. This paint
the 1930s, Rover Thomas began painting in 1981.
Belinda Carrigan (ed.) Rover Thomas: I Want to Paint,
featured in many of his earlier paintings and often
Discovered at Turkey Creek by Mary Mácha, then a
Heytesbury Pty Ltd, Perth, 2003
produced a rough textured surface which, on
field officer and manager for Aboriginal Arts and Crafts
The Eye of the Storm: Eight Contemporary Indigenous
occasions had a slightly shiny finish, especially
Pty Ltd in Western Australia, Rover Thomas had found
Artists, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1996
when the resin/pigment ratio was high.
inspiration in the Kurirr Kurirr, (according to Wally
(John Clarke, in Belinda Carrigan (ed.) Rover Thomas, 2000)
84
TIWI ISLANDS (ARTIST/S UNKNOWN)
recognised as some of the most elegant in
Various-sized concentric circular motifs are enclosed
contemporary Australian sculpture. Early poles of
within bands of grey and deep ochre yellow.
Located north of Darwin, the Tiwi Islands refer to
this quality are rarely available on the market, most
The composition of the painting is not symmetrical
Bathurst Island and Melville Island. The indigenous
having been curated into public collections.
and the imagery appears to bulge on the right. This
communities of these islands developed distinct
‘off-centredness’ gives the work great character and
cultural expressions; the burial ceremony associated
RONNIE TJAMPITJINPA (born c.1943)
movement. There is a sense of the elements shuffling
with the Pukamani poles is a prominent example.
Language group: Pintupi
left to accommodate the enormity of the story on the
European settlement came to the Tiwi Islands in 1825
canvas.
with Fort Dundas, a British military post. Researchers
Prior to his career as a painter, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa
including Hermann Klaatsch and Baldwin Spencer
lived throughout the Western Desert region of central
LONG TOM TJAPANANGKA (c.1930–2006)
spent time on the Tiwi Islands recording traditional
Australia. Growing up in a traditional lifestyle, he
customs. In 1969 the Tiwi Design Aboriginal
worked as a labourer and fencer. He moved to
Working as a stockman and police tracker for much of
Corporation was established, providing a formal outlet
Papunya when the community was established in the
his life, Long Tom began painting in 1993. Originally
for textile printing, pottery, material culture and limited
late-1960s and was one of the original group of artists
from the Kimberley, he settled at Haasts Bluff and
edition prints.
to start painting there around 1971. He lived in
began painting at the Ikuntji Women’s Centre. In 1999
Yuendumu, Papunya and then in the early-1980s
he won the prestigious Telstra National Aboriginal and
Literature/Further reading
moved to his traditional homeland of Kintore. His first
Torres Straight Islander Art Award. After completing
Margaret KC West, Declan: A Tiwi Artist, Australian
solo exhibition was at Gallery Gabriel Pizzi in 1989 and
his contribution to the 2000 Adelaide Biennale
City Properties, Perth, 1987
he has gone on to have an esteemed career in the
exhibition Beyond the Pale, Long Tom declared he
Margo Neale, Yiribana: An Introduction to the
visual arts exhibit widely throughout Australia. His
would stop painting. Despite much demand for his art,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collection, The
work has been included in group exhibitions nationally
he decided that his eyesight had deteriorated to the
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1994
and internationally and his work is held in the National
extent that he could no longer produce paintings to the
36 Pukamani poles c.1970s
Gallery of Australia, most state collections and in the
standard he would like. His work is included in all
natural ochres and binders on wood
collection of the Musée du Quai Branley, Paris.
important state collections as well as the National
heights: 180cm, 197cm, 133cm
Gallery of Australia. The cover of the Art Gallery of
Literature/Further reading
New South Wales publication, Tradition Today:
Provenance
Susan McCulloch, Contemporary Aboriginal Art: A
Indigenous Art in Australia, features a major Long Tom
Mary Mácha, Perth
Guide to the Rebirth of an Ancient Culture, revised
painting from their collection. Long Tom passed away
Private collection, Perth
edition, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2001
in 2006 after a long illness.
Hettie Perkins and Hanna Fink (eds), Papunya Tula:
Pukamani refers to the burial ceremony conducted by
Genesis and Genius, Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Literature/Further reading
the Tiwi Island people. These heavy wood posts,
Sydney, 2000
Hetti Perkins (ed), Tradition Today: Indigenous Art in
painted with ochre and natural gum binder, form a
Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney,
central part of the ceremony. Carved by middle-aged
51 Untitled (Tingari) 1999
2004
men of high status, the poles represent aspects and
(RT9906100)
Sylvia Kleinert and Margo Neale (eds), The Oxford
characteristics of the deceased. The different motifs
oil on canvas
Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture, Oxford
painted on the poles represent fingers, eyes, clan and
153 x 122cm
University Press, Melbourne, 2000
body scarification. In the ceremony, the poles are
inscribed verso: Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd /
Brenda L Croft, Beyond the Pale: Contemporary
placed around the burial site of the deceased.
RT9906100 / CMS306/1 / Ronnie Tjampitjinpa
Indigenous Art, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art
These three poles were originally purchased from the
Provenance
Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2000
official government marketing outlet in Perth in the
Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd (certification available)
Jennifer Isaacs, Spirit Country: Contemporary
late-1970s. They were purchased on behalf of a
Private collection, Melbourne
Australian Aboriginal Art, Hardie Grant Books, Sydney,
private collector by the art consultant and government
1999
This work is one of the paintings depicting designs
adviser Mary Mácha. A related set of Pukamani poles,
Marina Strocchi, Ikuntji Paintings from Haasts Bluff
used to celebrate the Tingari ceremonies at the swamp
commissioned by Tony Tuckson, are a centrepiece of
1992–1994, IAD Press, Northern Territory, 1995
site of Ngurrapalangu, west of the Kintore community.
the Aboriginal collection of the Art Gallery of New
The Tingara paintings are rarely given a full
South Wales.
interpretation, as they are concerned with ancient and
The simple forms of the Pukamani poles are
very secret men’s business in which only inititated
males can participate.
85
58 Ulampawarru, Walungurru, two perentjes 1995
Flinders University in 1979, and Flinders has a large
Literature/Further reading
(IK95LT321)
collection of his works. In 1985 he became chairman
Terence Maloon, Painting Forever: Tony Tuckson,
acrylic on linen
of Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, a position he held for
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2000
153 x 183cm
the next decade. He gave the opening address at the
Terence Maloon, Tony Tuckson: Themes and
inscribed verso: IK95LT321/ 152.2 x 182.5cm
Tandanya Cultural Institute’s 1990 exhibition East –
Variations, Heide Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne,
West: Land in Papunya Paintings, and in 1997
1989
Provenance
travelled to Paris with Joseph Jurra Tjapaltjarri to
Daniel Thomas, Renee Free, Geoffrey Legge, Tony
Ikuntji Womens Art Centre, NT
create a sand-painting at the exhibition Peintres
Tuckson, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1989
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Aborigenes d’Australie.
Daniel Thomas, Tony Tuckson 1921–1973, Art Gallery
Private collection, Melbourne
of New South Wales, Sydney, 1976
14 Five stories 1984
Exhibited
(TT841031)
24 (Untitled) c.1957–1958
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne, 1998
acrylic on canvas
gouache on paper
Aussie Express, Total Museum of Contemporary Art,
151.5 x 59cm
52 x 36cm
Korea, 1998
inscribed verso (Papunya Tula stock number):
Richness in Diversity, curated by the Australia
25 (Untitled) c.1956–1959
TT841031
Museum to tour South-East Asia 1998–1999
gouache on paper
Provenance:
52 x 35.5cm
This lyrical painting by Long Tom shows two perentjes
Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
or goanna against the background of Ulampuwarru
Provenance
Tim and Vivienne Johnson, Sydney
(Haasts Bluff Mountain) and Walungurru (Kintore
The Estate of Tony Tuckson
Sir James and Lady Cruthers, Perth
Range), the country around the Ikuntji Centre. Long
Watters Gallery, Sydney
Tom took a particular multi-planar view when painting
Tolson is known for both his innovation and his
R Crebbin, Sydney
his works. Mountains and sandhills can all be stacked
classically traditional style. Five stories is a traditional
Private Collection, Melbourne
on top of each other. His is a contemporary, minimal
painting of several of the stories of his father’s land.
Exhibited
style, with very little need for decorative dotting.
Characterised by simplicity of design, it is typical of
Tony Tuckson: Works on Paper 1959–1970,
Instead he uses expanses of wide solid colour to
his work after 1981, when he began living in his
28 Jun – 15 Jul 1978, Watters Gallery, Sydney
depict the different mountain ranges and geological
father’s country for the first time. When Papunya Tula
features, each of which recognisible with a distinct
encouraged their artists to scale up their work around
DICK WATKINS (born 1937)
and consistent form. Long Tom does not paint his
1990 to produce large minimal paintings, Tolson was
Dick Watkins is a pioneer of colour-field painting in
traditional dreamings, he says he is ‘not making story,
one of the first to respond. His Straightening the
Australia. Born in Sydney in 1937, Watkins occasionally
just making pictures’.
spears, Ilyingaungau, quickly became his signature
attended art classes at the Julian Ashton School and the
painting – at once a touchstone for contemporary
TURKEY TOLSON (c.1942–2001)
East Sydney Technical College between 1955 and 1958,
Aboriginal art and a model for younger Papunya
but is essentially self-taught. He was a key participant in
Turkey Tolson was one of the youngest of the original
artists intent on developing a personal style.
the National Gallery of Victoria’s landmark exhibition, The
group of Papunya painters. He was born at Haast’s
Field in 1968. Watkins held his first solo exhibition at the
TONY TUCKSON (1921–1973)
Bluff around 1942, and first worked as a stockman. In
Barry Stern Galleries in Sydney in 1963 and from 1966
1959, after his initiation, his family moved to the
Born in Egypt of British parents, Tony Tuckson moved
to 1969, exhibited with Central Street Gallery, which at
recently established settlement of Papunya. There
to England during his childhood years. Studying at
the time was one of the most progressive contemporary
Turkey Tolson observed the first paintings done by the
Hornsey School of Art in London from 1938 to 1939,
art spaces in Australia. In 1985 he represented Australia
old men for Geoff Bardon, and in August 1973 he
he came to Australia in 1939 as part of the RAF
at the XVIII Bienal de Sao Paulo in Brazil. In 1989 Wagga
approached Bardon with two small paintings. Bardon
Spitfire squadron. He studied at East Sydney Technical
Wagga Regional Art Gallery held a major retrospective
comments that ‘the paintings demonstrated a brilliant
College, where he was taught by Ralph Balson and
exhibtion of Watkins’ work. The National Gallery of
technique’ and reproduced one, Porcupine joke story,
Grace Crowley. In 1950 he joined the Art Gallery of
Australia mounted the exhibition Dick Watkins in Context,
in his book Papunya – A Place Made After the Story.
New South Wales as an attendent, and worked his
a show drawn from the gallery’s substantial holdings of
By the late-1970s Tolson had become a successful
way up to the position of Deputy Director, which he
his work, in 1993. Dick Watkins is represented in the
painter and an active figure within Papunya Tula. With
held until his death in 1973. He held only two solo
collections of many Australian state and regional
David Corby Tjapaltjarri, he was artist-in-residence at
exhibitions during his life-time, in 1970 and 1973,
galleries.
choosing to paint for the most part in privacy.
86
His work is also included in numerous corporate art
The year before The small war machine was painted,
Related work
collections, including the Loti and Victor Smorgon
the National Gallery of Australia held a survey
Dark sail 1967 oil on board, 62.5 x 91.5cm Collection
Collection and the Holmes à Court collection. Dick
exhibition of Watkins art, drawing largely on its own
of the National Gallery of Australia
Watkins lives and works in Sydney.
collection of his work. The small war machine was
Dark sail II was painted in London in 1970. Whisson
exhibited at Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne in 1995. As
Literature/Further reading
had joined his brother there between visits to Northern
the work chosen to illustrate the invitation, it was one
Carrie Lumby, ‘Dick Watkins: an artist’s artist’,
Africa. Painted at a time when Whisson was still
of the key paintings of the exhibition.
Australian Art Collector, iss. 31, January 2005
largely maintaining a structural composition in his
Barbara Dowse, Dick Watkins in Context: An Exhibition
work, the horizon line of the dark green, stormy ocean
KEN WHISSON (born 1927)
from the Collection of the National Gallery of Australia,
can clearly be seen against the pale sky. Pictorial
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1993
Born in Lilydale on the outskirts of Melbourne,
elements were however becoming less distinct, and
Ingrid Periz, ‘Dick Watkins: the eighties and after’, Art
Whisson studied at Swinburne Technical College
whilst the dark sail of the title dominates the painting,
and Australia, vol.31, no.2, 1993
before taking classes with Danilla Vassilief, a Russian-
there are more abstract slices of bright colour which in
born painter associated with the Heide circle. He
later works are identified as flags and ensigns. This
46 The small war machine 1994
moved to Perugia in Italy in 1977 and continues to live
work has remained in the collection of the artist up
acrylic on canvas
and work there, maintaining close links with Australia
until now, in itself a glorious mark of it’s worth having
167 x 213cm
through regular visits and annual solo exhibitions. A
survived the artist’s self-culling process for paintings
signed lower left: RW
distingushed senior painter, his work is represented in
he no longer considers significant. The importance of
inscribed verso and on stretcher: ‘THE SMALL WAR
all major Australian public collections as well as the
this work is highlighted by the related work, Dark sail
MACHINE’ / R Watkins / 13-7-94
British Museum, London and the Chartwell Collection,
1967, held in the collection of the National Gallery of
Provenance
New Zealand. Whisson’s exceptional contribuition to
Australia. Very few paintings from this era are still
Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne
Australian art was acknowledged in 1996 with the
available for collection.
Private collection, Melbourne
Visual Arts Board Emeritus Award. He is one of a rare
number known as an artists’ artist; one whom others
FRED WILLIAMS (1927–1982)
Exhibited
look to for inspiration and motivation. Whisson has
Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, February 1995, cat.3
Born in Melbourne in 1927, Williams studied at the
remained true to his beliefs, his politics and his own
National Gallery School and also attended classes with
Australia has a long and rich history of abstract
form of expression. He is a truly unique living treasure
the early modernist painter George Bell. In the 1950s
painting. Many of Australia’s finest artists have
in the world of art.
he spent time in London, before returning to Australia
practiced in this idiom. Their work has often been
Literature/Further reading
and beginning his long association with the Australian
overlooked due to the difficulty and seriousness of
Ken Whisson, Ken Whisson: Paintings and Drawings
landscape. Williams exhibited regularly with the Rudy
their intent. Despite his long and prestigious career,
1947–1999 with Writings and Talks by the Artist,
Komon Gallery in Sydney. His paintings of the You
Dick Watkins could be included in this category.
Niagara Publishing, Melbourne, 2001
Yangs, Fern Tree Gully and later the Pilbara have
First coming to prominence with quite radical and
Ken Whisson, Ken Whisson: Paintings 1957–1985,
featured in numerous books, catalogues and
early examples of hard edge painting, Watkins was an
Broken Hill City Art Gallery, New South Wales, 1986
exhibitions, including a solo exhibition at the Museum
important member of Sydney’s Central Street Gallery
of Modern Art, New York in 1977. In 2001, Rio Tinto
5
Dark sail II 1970
in the late 1960s. His work embraced progressive
Limited gifted Williams’ Pilbara Series to the National
oil on board
developments in abstraction, while retaining a keen
Gallery of Victoria where they were placed on
69 x 75.5cm
interest in the lessons of Picasso and cubism and
prominent display then toured to regional galleries.
inscribed verso: Ken Whisson/London 1970/“Dark Sail II”
Pollack and the abstract expressionists.
Literature/Further reading
Provenance
The small war machine engages Watkins abilities in
James Mollison, A Singular Vision: The Art of Fred
The artist
abstraction to channel the sense of danger and
Williams, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1989
aggression evoked by the title of the work. The central
Robert Lindsay and Irena Zdanowicz, Fred Williams:
black shape provides a dramatic contrast to the white
Works in the National Gallery of Victoria, National
ground of the painting. Streaks of red and the ochre-
Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1980
coloured circle, a type of ‘eye’ in the painting, only
Patrick McCaughey, Fred Williams, Bay Books,
add to the sense of threat. The abrupt and severe
Sydney, 1980
brush marks create an uncompromising image.
87
17 Landscape, Lysterfield 1968
This work relates closely to the gouache Lysterfield
gouache on Arches paper
pink and silver 1968 and Triptych landscape
56.7 x 76cm
1967–1968 held in the collection of the National Gallery
signed lower left
of Australia, both reproduced in Patrick McCaughey’s
monograph Fred Williams (pl.99 and pl.100).
Provenance
The Estate of Fred Williams
34 The audience c.1954
gouache on cardboard
Exhibited
29 x 21.5cm
This work has not previously been exhibited.
Provenance
Reference
Private collection, Melbourne
Patrick McCaughey, Fred Williams, Bay Books,
Sydney, 1980, p.194
William’s lived in London from 1951 to 1956 and
during this time he sketched compulsively, making a
In 1965 Fred Williams began painting full-time.
significant number of chalk studies, gouache paintings
Without the distractions of salaried work, Williams
and etchings. The number of landscapes produced
could focus his attention on the full development of
during this time is small, reflecting William’s
his art. It was around this time that Williams made
circumstance in the large industrial metropolis of inner
some of the most radical and distinctive landscapes of
city London. Removed from the Australian tradition of
his career.
landscape painting, and the immediate stimulus of the
Landscape, Lysterfield is a supreme sketch. Across
Australian bush, he turned his skill and attention to the
the top of the paper a streak of horizon has been
people and places around him.
smudged with a thin line of black. Filling the picture,
The Music Hall series presents an anomaly in
dabs and daubs of paint are littered across the image.
Williams’ wider oeuvre and takes as its primary
Red, blue, white, grey, mustard and black have been
subject the human figure and in the study of
used to evoke the landscape, their effect together –
personality and type. They have almost no counterpart
more than individually – giving a clue to the
in Williams’ art
atmosphere and colouration of the landscape.
In this gouache, the profiles of two figures in the
Lysterfield is an area at the foothills of the
audience has been rendered in fast strong brush
Dandenongs, a small mountain range on the outskirts
strokes. An older man in the foreground and a younger
of Melbourne. It was in 1965 that Williams first
woman behind him have been outlined with bold black
sketched this area, and at this time Lysterfield was
lines. The style of these works are surprisingly
still a truly rural area. The Lysterfield paintings
expressionistic, evoking mood with surprising verve.
embrace many of the diverse techniques and styles
The intimate scale of this work, and its speed of
found in his paintings from the 1960s. The early
execution speak of the artist’s need to complete the
Lysterfield paintings relate closely to the style of the
work while the memory and character of his subjects
Upwey and You Yangs paintings. The later paintings
were still fresh.
and gouaches, such as Landscape, Lysterfield make
use of the subtleties and evocative potential of a
reductive approach to landscape painting, and in this
clearly relate to the monumental Australian Landscape
series.
Catalogue researched and written by John Cruthers,
Gina Lee, Robert McKenzie, William Nuttall and Warwick Reeder.
88
