Gary Shead’s The Visitors (Lot 519) is one of a series of paintings from the D H Lawrences series painted in the early 90s and will be offered in Lawson’s Fine Art Sale in Sydney on 21 March 2024. Based on Lawrence’s novel Kangaroo and inspired by Lawrences’ stay in the township of Thirroul along the the southern coast of NSW, the paintings are semi-autobiographical. The work was purchased from Kenthurst Galleries in the early 2000s and has remained within a private collection since.
The romantic Island depictions by Ray Crooke continue to charm collectors as well as His dark interior scenes which are offset by bright colours such as Seated Islanders (Lot 517 ) are well coveted and often command significant, though stable, sale results.
Blackjack (Lot 516 ) is a major work from Pro Hart’s Miner Series. These often dark but humorous compositions tell the narratives of Broken Hill miners and thorugh his unique painting style offers one of many interpretations of what it means to be “quintessentially Australian”.
Clifton Pugh’s Wild Dog, 1961 (Lot 508 ) and Lin Onus’ Sherbrooke Falls, 1974 (Lot 530 ) are works that demonstate each of the artist’s prevailing interest in portraying the The Land and in doing so encourage viewers to reflect on the unique aspects of the Australian landscape.
In the same vein, the small but expressive painting of the Shoalhaven River (Lot 518 ) by Arthur Boyd reveal the immeditate beauty of the Bundanon landscape. Purchased in the 1970s and later gifted to the public in 1993, Boyd was proflic in painting scenes of the region and often painted from memory. Yet despite his works of Bundanon scenes being prolific, their popularity remains high with collectors.
Along with the publics revised interest in Australian female modernists painters, Jean Appleton has received increasing acknowledgement for her contribution to modern painting. Appleton travelled and studied before returning to Australia a highly-trained artist. Her peers were William Dobell, Donald Friend, Grace Cossington-Smith and Nora Heysen. Compositions of the 50s and 60s such as Still Life by the Sea, 1964 (Lot 505 ) are highly sought after among a dedicated niche market for paintings of this period.
