Private collection, Sydney

Label reads “This print was made by the photographer on premium grade fibre-based paper, twice fixed, selenium-toned, extensively washed then matted and mounted on acid-free materials for archival permanence. Signed: Jeff Carter. Glenrock Farm, Foxground 2534.” Held in NGA, AGNSW.

This silver gelatin photograph, considered to be one of Jeff Carter’s iconic images, is unusual as his later issues are digital prints

Private collection, Sydney

The art of Cressida Campbell is grounded in meticulous observation. An exceptional skill for capturing colour and texture, in exquisite and carefully considered compositions, lies at the heart of her work. “It is the distillation of the commonplace into timeless and life-sustaining compositions that is the character of her work.” 1

Tools of Trade is a rare and original hand-painted woodblock. The title speaks quite literally to its subject matter; these are the tools of the artist’s trade, arranged in a dynamic composition on a shadow board. Each has a vital use in Campbell’s intricate practice, an individual character and a time-worn patina. “Having resolved a design, it is then drawn with care and linear clarity on a sheet of plywood and the lines lightly carved. Almost like a cloisonné technique, water-based paints, often in several coats, are applied to the defined segments and the composition takes shape and acquires strong and colourful definition. Freshened with a spray of water, a single impression is taken and the result is a unique mirror image of the original painted woodblock.” 2

Born in 1960, Campbell studied at East Sydney Technical School, now the National Art School, and also the Yoshida Hanga Academy in Tokyo. Her works are held in the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the State Library of NSW, the British Museum and numerous Australian state and regional galleries.

In the words of art critic John McDonald: “What lifts her work beyond the plane of everyday observation are the transformations she enacts with colour, texture and composition. It is quite simply, the secret of individual creativity: that strange mixture of inner compulsion, therapy and free play of the imagination that brings the work of art into the world.” 3

1 Edmund Capon, The Woodblock Paintings of Cressida Campbell, p. 7, op sit

2 Edmund Capon, p. 9, op sit

3 John McDonald, p. 17, op sit

The model for this photograph was Olive Cotton, Dupain’s first wife. Ref:
Sally McInerney, Cotton’s daughter.

Jim Davidson, Melbourne; 

Private collection, Melbourne; 

Deutscher and Hackett, Part 2: Important Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 2014, Lot 174;

Private collection, Sydney

Watters Gallery, Sydney

The Collection of Frank Watters, Sydney (Watters Gallery 14/25/002 on verso)

Tony Tuckson Figurative Paintings, Watters Gallery, 30 September – 18 October, 2014, Cat no. 2

Tuckson undertook his final year of study in 1949 at East Sydney Technical College under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme for exservicemen. The figurative works from this period, through to the mid- 1950s, are among Tuckson’s most accomplished – they are raw, painterly and powerful. Each is masterfully constructed. While the influences of Picasso, Modigliani and Klee are apparent, the artist cited his two most inspiring mentors at the time to be Grace Crowley and Ralph Balson. Both these artists taught him briefly with their weekly classes in abstraction at East Sydney.