Russell Drysdale • Going to The Pictures, 1941

RUSSELL DRYSDALE • GOING TO THE PICTURES, 1941

Twenty Classics of Australian Art Auction • Melbourne • 11 November 2020

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RUSSELL DRYSDALE (1912 – 1981)

Going to the pictures, 1941 Lot 12

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Twenty Classics of Australian Ar t

12 RUSSELL DRYSDALE (1912 – 1981)

GOING TO THE PICTURES, 1941 oil on canvas 46.0 x 55.0 cm signed lower right: Russell Drysdale inscribed with title on stretcher verso: GOING TO THE PICTURES/ Russell Drysdale 1941 ESTIMATE: $2,500,000 – 3,500,000

PROVENANCE Macquarie Galleries or Society of Artists, Sydney Clive Turnbull, Melbourne, acquired from either of the above c.1942 Private collection, Melbourne, a gift from the above in 1962 EXHIBITED Exhibition of Paintings by Russell Drysdale, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 11 – 30 March 1942, cat. 8 (label attached verso) Society of Artists Annual Exhibition 1942, Education Department’s Art Gallery, Sydney, 2 – 24 September 1942, cat. 102 Russell Drysdale Retrospective 1937-1960, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 5 October – 6 November 1960, cat. 21 (label fragment attached verso) Russell Drysdale: A Retrospective Exhibition, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 22 April – 3 June 1961, cat. 14 Russell Drysdale. 3rd Adelaide Festival of Arts, John Martin’s Auditorium, Adelaide, 4 – 21 March 1964, cat. 58 Russell Drysdale: Paintings 1940 – 72, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, 14 June – 21 July 1985, cat. 6 Russell Drysdale, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne, 13 March – 16 April 1987, cat. 17 Russell Drysdale: 1912 – 81: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 19 December 1997 – 9 March 1998; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 27 March – 10 May 1998; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 18 May – 28 June 1998; Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, 20 July – 30 August 1998; Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, 23 September – 15 November 1998, cat. 7 (label attached verso) On loan to the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2009 – 2016

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LITERATURE Dreamer, D., ‘Art – and some pictures that mystify’ Truth, Sydney, 6 September 1942, p.26 Society of Artists Book 1942, Ure Smith, Sydney, 1942, pp. 38 (illus.), 68 ‘Russell Drysdale interprets Australia’, Australia National Journal, Sydney, 1 April 1942, p. 41 (illus.)

Duhig, V. J., ‘Drysdale in Queensland’, The Bulletin, Sydney, John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 3 May 1961, p. 40 Dutton, G., Russell Drysdale, Thames and Hudson, London, 1964, pl. 13 (illus.)

Haese, R., Rebels and Precursors: The Revolutionary Years of Australian Art, Allen Lane, Melbourne, 1981, pp. 260, 262 Klepac, L., Russell Drysdale, Bay Books, Sydney, 1983, pl. 36, p. 223 (illus.)

Sturgeon, G., The Painter’s Vision, Bay Books, Sydney, 1987, pp. 179, 182 (illus.)

Wilson, G., The Artists of Hill End, Beagle Press and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1995, p. 20 (illus.)

Smith, G., Russell Drysdale: 1912 – 81, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1997, pp. 46-47 (illus.)

Klepac, L., Russell Drysdale The Drawings, The Beagle Press, Sydney, 2012, pp. 158, 159 (illus.)

RELATED WORK Study for Going to the Pictures, 1941, pen and ink and pastel on paper, 23.0 x 29.5 cm, private collection, illus. in Klepac, L., Russell Drysdale the drawings, The Beagle Press, Sydney, 2012, p. 55 and cover

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Twenty Classics of Australian Ar t

RUSSELL DRYSDALE Bernard Smith once described Russell Drysdale as ‘a twentieth-century [Henry] Lawson of painting.’

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Identifying the poet’s ‘compulsion to tell the truth as he sees

district – the young Drysdale ‘liked Lindsay because he

it, his sense of the absurd, his humour, his craftsmanly

had had the same sort of life that I had led … He had been

respect for form, his humanity and … sentiment’ in the

a jackeroo (sic) and a station manager and we could talk

painter, he established a literary precedent for Drysdale’s

about horses and sheep.’5 Although Drysdale had always

imagery. When his now iconic depictions of country

imagined a life on the land, this attention from respected

Australia first appeared in the early 1940s however, there

artworld figures prompted him to consider a creative career

was no artistic precedent for the imagery of a harsh and

and a subsequent introduction to George Bell, the influential

unyielding landscape populated by stoic, resilient people.

modern artist and teacher, sealed his fate.

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Representing a decisive break from the romantic pastoral imagery of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,

Drysdale enrolled at the Shore–Bell School in Melbourne in

Drysdale’s vision focussed on the rural experience, infusing

1935 after extended travel in England and Europe. Having

elements of Surrealism and Expressionism into his realistic

seen the work of the Impressionists and modern artists there

approach, and – like Lawson’s verse – making a profound

for the first time, he was fuelled with the desire to paint,

contribution to the development of Australia’s national

later saying, ‘I … got to like these things tremendously and I

identity.

wanted to do it … quite suddenly they had a meaning which they never had in books.’6 He absorbed Bell’s teaching, which

The path that led Drysdale to a career as an artist was more

emphasised the importance of imagination and encouraged

coincidence than the result of careful planning. Recovering

individual expression, as well as developing a sound

from eye surgery in 1932, he passed the time by draw-

technical knowledge of the materials and processes of his

ing. Impressed by what he saw, Drysdale’s doctor, Julian

craft. Bell also instilled in his students the importance of

Smith – ‘that strange and brilliant mixture of surgeon, artist

drawing, believing that its practice ‘is as essential to an artist

and photographer’3 – showed his work to Daryl Lindsay. A

as practising scales to a pianist.’7

successful painter, member of the famed artistic dynasty, and later director of the National Gallery of Victoria, Lindsay

Drysdale’s first solo exhibition was held at Riddell Galleries,

recalled that Drysdale’s work ‘showed a curious sensitivity

Melbourne in 1938. Including The Rabbiter and his Family,

and a sharp observation’ . Born into a family with extensive

1938 (National Gallery of Australia) and Monday Morning,

farming interests – including Boxwood Park in the Riverina

1938 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), the

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Self Portrait, Selbourne Road Studio, Toorak, 1939 Photographer: Russell Drysdale Collection: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (Gift of Lady Drysdale, 1982)

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Twenty Classics of Australian Ar t

RUSSELL DRYSDALE Moody’s Pub, 1941 oil on plywood 50.9 × 61.4 cm Collection: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne © Estate of Russell Drysdale

critical response was overwhelmingly positive. Honing in

channelled his energies into painting. Drawing on his recent

on the authenticity and humanity of Drysdale’s depictions –

experience of the country, memories of childhood and deep

borne in part from his firsthand experience of rural Australia

connection to rural life, he produced a series of images

and respect for those who lived and worked there – Basil

that represented a major breakthrough in his career. His

Burdett wrote, ‘what really impresses one is that there is

creative momentum was buoyed in 1941 when, in the first

nothing merely cerebral in all this. There is a genial quality

institutional recognition of his talent, Monday Morning was

about these pictures which the purely intellectual experi-

acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

menter never achieves’8. The Sun News-Pictorial reported

Included in The Art of Australia 1788-1941, an exhibition

that ‘Mr Drysdale is a young man who is about to leave for

which toured the United States and Canada, the painting

abroad to complete his studies in London and Paris, and,

had been borrowed from the collection of Maie Casey – a

judging by this show no student has ever left Australia with such promise of a brilliant future before him.’9

friend and fellow Bell student, and wife of Richard Casey, who at that time was Australia’s first ambassador to the

Impending World War cut Drysdale’s time overseas short and

United States. She agreed to sell it knowing that being part

he returned to Australia with his wife and young daughter

of such an important international collection would be more

in April 1939, managing a sheep property in Albury before

beneficial to Drysdale than having the painting hanging on

settling in Sydney the following year. Frustrated by his

her wall.11 Similar acknowledgement of Drysdale’s work at

rejection from the army due to ‘defective eyesight’, Drysdale

home would follow soon after.

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RUSSELL DRYSDALE Sunday evening, 1941 oil on asbestos cement sheet 60.0 x 76.0 cm Collection: Art Gallery of New South Wales Purchased 1942 © Estate of Russell Drysdale

Towards the end of 1941 plans were made for a solo exhibi-

(University of Sydney), and The Crow Trap, 1941 (Newcastle

tion scheduled to take place at Sydney’s Macquarie Galleries

Region Art Gallery), have continued to be acquired for impor-

in March the following year. Including nine drawings and

tant public collections.

thirteen paintings, the exhibition was opened by Sydney Ure Smith, the influential publisher of Art in Australia and

Going to the Pictures, 1941 was purchased soon after the

keen supporter of young artists. Sunday Evening, 1941 was

exhibition by Clive Turnbull, journalist, author, poet and critic.

purchased by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the largest

A highly respected writer, he worked on the Argus newspaper

and – priced at 45 guineas – most expensive work in the

before joining the Melbourne Herald in 1932. Appointed to

exhibition. Moody’s Pub, 1941, was acquired by the National

the role of art critic in 1942, his keen interest and knowledge

Gallery of Victoria. Both paintings are now regarded as key

about contemporary art was such that the newspaper’s chief,

works in the history of modern Australian art. The Sydney

Sir Keith Murdoch, consulted Turnbull regarding his own art

Morning Herald reviewer hailed Drysdale as a ‘young painter

purchases.13 Turnbull’s selection of this painting suggests

who possesses exceptional talents’, noting that he was

a fine sense of humour as well as a very good eye. Despite

‘preoccupied … with instilling a definite Australian character

the rigours of life in such a setting, where dusty earth and a

– country rather than city – into his work.’ As a mark of the

vast bleached sky dominate the view, the family is dressed

significance of the works in this landmark exhibition, others

for their outing in their Sunday best. Spindly trees echo the

including Man Feeding his Dogs, 1941 (Queensland Art

exaggerated form of the father’s limbs, while the dog in the

Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art), Man Reading a Paper, 1941

foreground, contorting to scratch its neck, mirrors the

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Twenty Classics of Australian Ar t

‘Showing the true face of ambivalent Australia’, The Age, Melbourne, 31 December, 1997, p. C7

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RUSSELL DRYSDALE Man feeding his dogs, 1941 oil on canvas 51.2 x 61.4 cm Gift of C.F. Viner-Hall, 1961 Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art © QAGOMA

awkward angularity of the playing boys. Water is clearly scarce, and Drysdale’s focus on the galvanised iron tank raised on its timber stand and the watering can – which has presumably just been used to fill the car’s radiator – emphasises its importance.

While there is humour here, and Drysdale’s characteristically expressive handling of paint, there is also great empathy. Reflecting aspects of both what Drysdale saw and what he felt 14, these images are also what Geoffrey Dutton insightfully deemed ‘spiritual records’ of Australia.15 Russell Drysdale was not a prolific artist – in a career that spanned more than forty years he produced fewer than five hundred paintings. Going to the Pictures has remained in the Turnbull family since the early 1940s, but as a major example of Drysdale’s painting, it has been included in every major exhibition dedicated to his oeuvre since that time – most notably the retrospectives mounted at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1960 and at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1997 – and represents

1. Smith, B., Australian Painting 1788-1970, Oxford University

Press, Melbourne, second edition, 1971, p. 247 2. Ibid.

3. Klepac, L., Russell Drysdale, Murdoch

Books, Millers Point, 2009, p. 15 4. Ibid.

5. Drysdale interviewed by Geoffrey Dutton, quoted in

Mary Eagle and Jan Minchin, The George Bell School:

Students, Friends, Influences, Deutscher Art Publications,

Melbourne, and Resolution Press, Sydney, 1981, p. 91 6. Klepac, op. cit., p. 21 7. Drysdale quoted in JF Nagle, ‘Preface’, Russell Drysdale, Richmond Hill Press, Melbourne, 1979 8. Klepac, op. cit., pp. 53-54 9. Ibid., p. 53 10. See Klepac, ibid., pp. 66-69 11. Ibid., p. 78 12. ‘Promising Young Painter’, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 March 1942, p. 7 13. Ryan, P., ‘Turnbull, Stanley Clive (1906-1975)’, Australian Dictionary

of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University,

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/turnbull-stanley-clive-11893/text21301,

published first in hardcopy 2002, accessed 28 August 2020 14. Dutton, G., The Innovators, Macmillan, South Melbourne, 1986, p. 87 15. Klepac, op. cit., p. 42

KIRSTY GRANT

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