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nora Heysen
Self portrait
1938
this self-portrait reflects the optimism that
fuelled nora heysen in her early career, as
she attained popularity and critical success.
in it, she paints herself as a modern woman,
committed to her art and painting in a
light-filled modern idiom; gone are the early
influences of italian renaissance art and
classicism.
soon after painting this work, heysen
moved away from adelaide and the long
shadow cast by her father, the famous artist
hans heysen (1877–1968). she quickly
established herself in sydney as a notable
portrait painter and the same yearwon
the archibald prize — the first woman
and youngest artist to be awarded the
archibald.
nora heysen’s self-portraits are striking
images of independence and determination.
this painting is one of her finest and was
considered by the artist to be emblematic of
her achievements.
this work was acquired with funds from
philip bacon,
am
, through the Queensland
art galley Foundation.
Nora Heysen
/ Australia 1911–2003 /
Selfportrait
1938 / Oil on canvas
laid on board / 39.5 x 29.5cm (sight) / Purchased 2011 with funds from
Philip Bacon,
am
, through the Queensland Art Galley Foundation /
© Lou Klepac
ethel Carrick Fox
On the beach
c.1909
ethel carrick and her husband, the artist
e phillips Fox, spent the summer of 1909
at the beach resort towns of trouville and
deauville in the north of France, where
carrick produced a number of delightful
paintings of prosperous holiday-makers,
who crowd the promenade and seashore
in full dress, replete with picture hats and
straw boaters.
characteristically for carrick Fox, the
foreground is left bare, with lilac shadows.
the action is focused on the middle ground,
where a woman in white is captured in a
few quick flourishes of paint, blending in to
the white sand, accompanied by a dapper
male companion. carrick would often depict
her subjects in the act of observing what
was happening around them, and in the
centre of the painting a crowd huddles in
front of a red-and-white striped beach tent,
the contents of which remain a mystery.
this work was a gift of the margaret olley,
ac
,
art trust through the Queensland art
gallery Foundation.
Ethel Carrick Fox / England/Australia 1872–1952 /
On thebeach
c.1909 / Oil on canvas / 36 x 42cm / Gift of the Margaret Olley,
ac
,
Art Trust through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2011
unidentified artists
Fighting clubs
c.1900
this group of fighting clubs from the
rockhampton district, made in the late
colonial period, is truly outstanding, both
for its beauty and its rarity: the intact
survival of such a large collection of these
exceptional objects is extremely rare.
the diverse shapes of the carved and
incised heads, seen in these ten clubs, is
particularly notable, as opposed to the
more common bulbous-headed fighting
clubs. the neck of each artefact has been
carefully scraped with a sharp shell to
create striations along the club, which gives
an unexpected elegance to these powerful
objects used in wartime.
this group of clubs were acquired through
the andrew and lilian pedersen trust.
Unidentified artists
/
Fightingclubs
c.1900 / Carved wood with natural
pigments and synthetic polymer paints / 10 clubs: 69 x 10cm (each,
approx.) / Purchased 2011. Andrew and Lilian Pedersen Trust
