Australian Artworks in current stockroom

(alphabetically by artist surname)

Pennant Hills

David Aspden (1935 - 2005)

Pennant Hills1976

acrylic on canvas

157 x 300 cm

Provenance

Private Collection, Sydney

Essay

David Aspden is considered one of Australia’s foremost ‘colour-field’ abstraction painters. Gaining prominence in the 1960s he continued painting up until his death in 2005. Inspired by colour, music and landscape, this monumental painting is one of the finest examples of the artist’s mastery at conveying the relationships between these themes.

The composition is a visual melody that gently shifts as the eye focuses on the changing areas of colour. Similar to the Jazz music he loved, the lyrical approach to his painting is emphasised in Pennant Hills by the energetic gestural marks that dance across the canvas. Aspden worked cleverly with the harmony and collision of colours, conveyed in the subject work with softs hues of cool mauves and purples juxtaposed with warm tones of pinks and reds.

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Untitled

Category: Australian Large Scale Works Modern Painting

David Aspden (1935 - 2005)

Untitled

acrylic on canvas

152 x 122cm

Provenance

Private Collection, Melbourne;

Mossgreen, Sunday 11 October 2015, Lot 284;

Private collection, Sydney

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Prime Minister Gough Whitlam Pours Soil Into Hand Of Traditional Land Owner (Gurindji) Vincent Lingiari (Wattle Creek), Northern Territory

Category: Aboriginal Australian Large Scale Works

Prime Minister Gough Whitlam Pours Soil Into Hand Of Traditional Land Owner (Gurindji) Vincent Lingiari (Wattle Creek), Northern Territory

Mervyn Bishop (1945)

Prime Minister Gough Whitlam Pours Soil Into Hand Of Traditional Land Owner (Gurindji) Vincent Lingiari (Wattle Creek), Northern Territory1975

digital c-type photograph

signed, dated and titled in ink below and verso

120 x 120cm

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Hillside with rocks, Shoalhaven

Category: Australian Painting Traditional

Arthur Boyd (1920 - 1999)

Hillside with rocks, Shoalhaven

oil on board

signed lower right Arthur Boyd

89 x 58cm

$175,000

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Rush Hour Kings Cross

Category: Australian Photography

Max Dupain (1911-1992)

Rush Hour Kings Cross1938

silver gelatin photo

21.5 x 16.5cm

Provenance

Josef Lebovic Gallery

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Mother and Sons

Category: Australian Painting Traditional

George Lambert (1873- 1930)

Mother and Sons1909

oil on canvas

signed lower left 'G.W. Lambert 1909'

61 x 51cm

Provenance

Sir James McGregor, Sydney;

Sir Charles Lloyd Jones and Lady Lloyd Jones, Sydney;

The Lloyd Jones Collection, James R. Lawson, Sydney, 9 April 1981, lot 706;

Mr Cecil Green, Sydney;

The Estate of the Late Mrs Marjory Green, Sydney;

Important Australian Art, Sotheby’s Australia, Melbourne, 17/05/2011, Lot No. 82;

Private collection, Sydney

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Ellerslie Racecourse, Auckland

Category: Australian Contemporary Painting

Noel McKenna (b. 1956)

Ellerslie Racecourse, Auckland2014

oil on plywood

Provenance

Darren Knight Gallery

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Owl

Category: Australian Mixed Media Sculpture

Noel McKenna (b. 1956)

Owl2002

oil on ceramic tile

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Prez

Category: Australian Sculpture

Clement Meadmore (1929 - 2005)

Prez1992

bronze

stamped 'Meadmore,' numbered 1/6 and dated

102 x 82 x 82cm

1/6

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Black Chair with Eyes in Cutouts

Category: Australian Modern Works on Paper

Sidney Nolan (1917-1992)

Black Chair with Eyes in Cutoutsc. 1956

mixed media on paper

signed "Black chair with cutouts (eyes in)."

30.5 x 25.5cm

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Bridge

Category: Australian Painting

Sidney Nolan (1917-1992)

Bridge1977

oil on masonite

signed with initial lower right; signed, dated and inscribed with title on reverse

91 x 121cm

Provenance

Australian galleries, Melbourne;

Private collection, Melbourne, then by descent;

Private collection, Sydney

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Elephant

Category: Australian Works on Paper

Sidney Nolan (1917-1992)

Elephantc. 1963

mixed media on paper

signed lower left

52 x 63.5cm

Provenance

The Estate of Sidney Nolan, United Kingdom;
Private collection, Sydney

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Elephant, Africa

Category: Australian Works on Paper

Sidney Nolan (1917-1992)

Elephant, Africac. 1963

mixed media on paper

52 x 63.5cm

Provenance

Sir Sidney Nolan, United Kingdom, until 1992;

Lady Nolan, United Kingdom, until 2016;

The Estate of Lady Nolan, United Kingdom;

Bonhams Australia, Sir Sidney Nolan: Selected works from the Estate of Lady Nolan, 17 Nov 2021, Lot 150;

Private collection, Sydney

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Gallipoli Soldier II

Category: Australian Works on Paper

Sidney Nolan (1917-1992)

Gallipoli Soldier IIc. 1962

mixed media on paper

23.5 x 20cm

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Kelly Study

Category: Australian Painting

Sidney Nolan (1917-1992)

Kelly Study1962

oil on board

signed and dated verso: ‘16 Aug 62 / NOLAN’

122 x 122cm

$225,000

Provenance

Private collection, Australia;
Bridget McDonnell Gallery, Melbourne (label attached verso);
Private collection;
Sotheby’s, New York, 31 October 1984, lot 143;
Severn Family Foundation Collection;
Bonhams, Important Australian Art, 24 August 2021, lot 71;
Private collection, Sydney

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Mask

Category: Australian Modern Works on Paper

Sidney Nolan (1917-1992)

Mask1956

mixed media on paper

signed "27th.Aug.56.Italy. n." on reverse

30.5 x 25.5cm

Provenance

The collection of Ann Robin Banks;

thence by decent to a private collection, London

The artist Ann Robin Banks was a close friend of Cynthia Nolan and worked on the Eureka Stockade mural with Sidney Nolan. This mural was commissioned for the Reserve Bank of Australia in 1965 and is now housed at the Australian National University, Canberra.

The artist Sidney Nolan rented Ann Banks’ studio in Fulham and eventually purchased it when she moved to Scotland.

Essay

1955-56 marked a pivotal point in the trajectory of Nolan’s career. The artist travelled extensively not only to Gallipoli, Turkey, India and Cambodia but also spent nine months living on the Greek island of Hydra, reading Robert Graves on the pre-Hellenic Myths and introducing mythological iconography into his work. He also visited Italy finding inspiration in Etruscan art and the archaeological discoveries of Pompeii while simultaneously finding a great sense of familiarity in these foreign lands to native Australia. Having found strong influences on these travels Nolan went on to produce new bodies of work that reenergised his subjects.

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Mask and Horse

Category: Australian Works on Paper

Sidney Nolan (1917-1992)

Mask and Horse1956

mixed media on paper

signed "(Esso? sign posts) 20th.Aug.56.Italy. n." on reverse

30.5 x 25.5cm

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Robert Lowell Poem XXXIV (Near the Ocean, Vanity of Human Wishes, p.86, 1)

Category: Australian Modern Works on Paper

Sidney Nolan (1917-1992)

Robert Lowell Poem XXXIV (Near the Ocean, Vanity of Human Wishes, p.86, 1)

crayon on paper

signed "Nolan" lower right and inscribed " Lowell: Near the Ocean "Vanity of Human Wishes", p.86, 1" on reverse

67 x 52.5cm

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Train at St Kilda

Category: Australian Painting

Sidney Nolan (1917-1992)

Train at St Kilda1942

oil on canvas

37 x 48.5cm

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Window

Category: Australian Painting

Sidney Nolan (1917-1992)

Window1977

oil on board

signed with initial lower right; Signed, dated and inscribed with title on reverse

91 x 121cm

$48,000

Provenance

Private collection, Melbourne

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Frog Leaping, [made in collaboration with potter Lino Alvarez]

Category: Australian Sculpture

John Olsen (b. 1928)

Frog Leaping, [made in collaboration with potter Lino Alvarez]2021

hand painted ceramic

100 x 60 x 60 cm

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Flowers in a Jug

Category: Australian Women

Margaret Preston (1875 - 1963)

Flowers in a Jug1929

hand coloured wood cut

signed lower right

28 x 20.5cm

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The Music Room

Category: Australian Women

Thea Proctor (1879 - 1966)

The Music Room

watercolour on paper

46 x 57.5cm

Provenance

Macquarie Galleries, Sydney;

Dr Karen Helms, Christopher Day Gallery, Paddington;

The Estate of the Late Peter Morris, Sydney;

Private collection, Sydney

Exhibited

Autumn Exhibition 1989, Christopher Day Gallery, Paddington, Cat. No. 4

Essay

Born in Armidale, NSW in 1879, Thea Proctor was one of the best-known Australian women painters of her time. Studying in both Sydney and London, Proctor exhibited painted fans, inspired largely by the works of Charles Conder, at the 1907 Women’s Work exhibition in Venice. Upon her return to Australia she helped form The Contemporary Group with G.W. Lambert in order to encourage younger avant-garde painters. Her beautiful pictures underpinned Sydney Modernism throughout the 1920s, and in her later life she did a great deal to bring attention to the work of her cousin, John Peter Russell.

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Mask

Category: Australian Contemporary Large Scale Works Painting

Ben Quilty (b. 1973)

Mask2010

oil on linen

140 x 190cm

$150,000

Provenance

Private collection, Sydney

Essay

Ben Quilty recalls he conceived this painting as something of a mask – a Captain Cook mask the artist himself could put on to imagine the world through the eyes of the famous 18th century explorer. Having read extensively through Cook’s diaries, Quilty became fascinated by the man’s initial self belief, an attitude that doubtless contributed to him becoming one of maritime history’s most famous navigators, astronomers and sailors. With the passage of time however, Quilty observed violent changes in Cook’s behaviour toward both his crew and the native populations he encountered.

Cook’s bouts of extreme violence, Quilty along with others postulates, was due in large part to debilitating and personality changing gut conditions, the result of chronic disease. In analysing this change the artist states that ‘Mask’ looks at ‘…the good, the bad and the ugly’. The rorschach technique employed is perfect, providing a multiple image which delves into the human psyche, a reflection and investigation of James Cook the man, and his changing psychological states.

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Yellow Gibbon

Category: Australian Large Scale Works Modern Painting

David Rankin (b. 1946)

Yellow Gibbon1972

acrylic on canvas

Exhibited

David Rankin, Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne, 1972; Charles Nodrum Gallery, 2011; Private Collection,Melbourne

Essay

Note: the ‘Gibbon’ is Gibbon’s Beach, Bundeena, south of Port Hacking, where the artist stayed in the early 1970s.

David Rankin is a New York based Australian artist. Born in Plymouth, England in 1946, he emigrated to Australia in 1948. Interested in the merging of western, eastern and indigenous art, Rankin sees the role of Australian artists as one of authentically and truthfully absorbing those nearby cultures and spiritual beliefs, and integrating these elements into individual works. Throughout the past thirty years, Rankin has held over 100 one-person exhibitions worldwide; he is represented in many of the world’s leading collections and museums.

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Abstract

Category: Australian Painting

Stanislav Rapotec (1913- 1997)

Abstract1958

oil on board

signed lower right corner ‘Rapotec’

70 x 55cm

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Waterloo Bridge, London

Category: Australian Traditional Works on Paper

Lloyd Rees (1895-1988)

Waterloo Bridge, London1924

pencil on paper

Provenance

Masterpiece Fine Art Gallery, Hobart; Private Collection, Sydney; Mossgreen, Fine Australian and International Art, 21 November, 2016, Lot 129

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Still life with fruit, flowers and old glass bottle

Category: Australian

William Robinson (b. 1936)

Still life with fruit, flowers and old glass bottle2012

pastel

70 x 100cm

$78,000

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Flowers on a Table

Category: Australian Painting Women

Susan Rothwell ()

Flowers on a Table

oil on canvas

signed lower right

34.5 x 40cm

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Nude

Category: Australian Painting Women

Susan Rothwell ()

Nude

oil on canvas

signed lower right

40 x 34.5cm

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View of Sydney Harbour from Cockatoo Island

Category: Australian Painting

Susan Rothwell ()

View of Sydney Harbour from Cockatoo Island

oil on canvas

signed lower right

60 x 80cm

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The Billboards II

Category: Australian

Jeffrey Smart (1921 - 2013)

The Billboards II1969-70

oil on canvas

signed lower left, inscribed with title verso and labelled with loan sticker from the 2021-2022 Jeffrey Smart Centenary Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia

60 x 80cm

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The Yellow Line

Category: Australian

Jeffrey Smart (1921 - 2013)

The Yellow Line2007

oil on canvas

91 x 120cm

Provenance

Private Collection, Queensland

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A Distance Away – ‘Scattered Cloud’

Category: Australian Contemporary

Tim Storrier (b. 1949)

A Distance Away – ‘Scattered Cloud’

acrylic on canvas

signed verso

100 x 120cm

$125,000

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Equine Impedimenta (Tully’s Baggage)

Category: Australian Contemporary Sculpture Traditional

Tim Storrier (b. 1949)

Equine Impedimenta (Tully’s Baggage)2019

bronze

H:36 x W22 x L49cm, base length 31.5cm

edition of 50

Essay

Equine Impedimenta (Tully’s Baggage) is an exquisite sculpture of a horse with an assortment of artist’s paraphernalia strapped to its mount. Inspired by the artist’s fascination with horses and the history of our human relationship with them Tim Storrier states, “Horses are beautiful creatures. Their partnership with us is ancient and although not without coercion it has been a wonderfully productive relationship” (Bowral, 2020). Having done numerous studies, drawings and paintings of horses and having collaborated with a master sculptor, Liao Shengxiang, Storrier was inspired to create these bronze maquettes that stand as tributes to these beautiful creatures.

Biography
1949 Born, Sydney
1967–69 Studied at the National Art School, Sydney
2020 Currently lives and works in Bowral, NSW
Awards and Commissions
2017 Awarded Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, Sydney
2017 Awarded a Fellowship of the National Art School, Sydney
2014 The Packing Room Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2012 Awarded the Archibald Prize Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
for The Histrionic Wayfarer (after Bosch)
1994 Awarded the AM in the Australia Day Honours for services to
contemporary Australian art
1990 BHP Commission for International Iron and Steel Institute Conference
1984 Awarded the Sulman Prize
1978 Awarded R. M. Ansett Hamilton Art Award
1968 Awarded the Sulman Prize
1967 Awarded Sakura Colour Products Prize

Collections
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Australia,
Canberra; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Art Gallery of New South
Wales, Sydney; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; Art Gallery of Western
Australia, Perth; Australian National University, Canberra; Deakin University,
Geelong; City of Hamilton Art Gallery, Victoria; Western Australian Institute
of Technology, Perth; Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, NSW; New England
Regional Art Museum, NSW; City of Rockhampton Art Gallery, Queensland;
Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin; Wollongong
City Gallery, NSW; Bar Association of New South Wales, Sydney; The
Australian Print Collection, Wagga Wagga; Regional Art Gallery, NSW

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(Cream) Montmartre

Category: Australian Mixed Media Modern

Brett Whiteley (1939-1992)

(Cream) Montmartre1989

paper collage

54.5 x 75cm

Provenance

Australian Galleries, Melbourne label attached verso (no.9451);
The collection of Arkie Whiteley;
The Estate of the late Christopher Kuhn, Canada

Essay

Brett Whiteley created this work in Paris in 1989. It was his second visit to the city and resulted in his celebrated Paris series of gouaches and drawings. Here is a quote from Whiteley relating to this period of his work;

“I first went to Paris at age 20, but was so obsessed with modernism and abstraction to paint it. Now with fresh eyes, I could respond figuratively and lyrically to the one ravishing subject – Paris and her cultural heroes. I love the stoniness and creaminess, that wonderful soiled magnolia feeling. Paris is so sensual, beautiful, flirtatious, mischievous, arrogant, orderly, civilised. They call Paris a whore because she seduces you on every corner, and every street I turned, I could see another picture.”

This work has a wonderful provenance having been in the collection of Whiteley’s daughter Arkie.

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Lake in Bali (Lake Kintamani)

Category: Australian Modern

Brett Whiteley (1939-1992)

Lake in Bali (Lake Kintamani)c. 1

Ink on paper

56 x 75.5 cm

Provenance

Estate of the artist, Sydney. Thence by descent; Frannie Hopkirk, New South Wales, the artist’s sister; Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 1997; Deutscher and Hackett, Australian + International Fine Art and Aboriginal Art, Sydney, 30/11/2016, Lot No. 81; Private collection, Sydney

Essay

‘The purpose of drawing is to make freshness permanent to trigger astonishment.”
Brett Whiteley ,1985

This serene work by Whiteley was created in the early 1980s. The tonality and layering of the inks demonstrate aptly the artist’s growing interest in calligraphic brush stroke techniques. Whiteley was fascinated with both eastern philosophies and painting techniques during this period of his oeuvre. Stylistically, Brett Whiteley’s Lake in Bali (Lake Kintamani) references traditional Chinese painting. In Chinese tradition mountains buzz with the energy of qi, draw rain clouds to the rice fields and provide shelter to the Immortals. Compositionally, this ‘one-corner’ picture gently leads the gaze away from the corner of the frame.