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Lot Essay
Related work: Station Blacks, Cape York, 1953, oil on canvas, 61.3 x 72.6 cm, Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria
His solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries in London in 1950 established Russell Drysdale's reputation as a significant Australian artist and achieved international acclaim for his paintings of a harsh outback landscape peopled by stoic 'characters'. Following his return to Australian in 1951 Drysdale visited Cape York Peninsula where he found himself fascinated by the Aboriginal population. An enthusiastic photographer for much of his career, his photographs of Aboriginal people show him gathering information for future paintings and his fascination with the relationship these people had with an apparently hostile landscape.
In 1953 Drysdale exhibited the results of his trip to Cape York in a solo exhibition at the Macquarie Galleries in Sydney. Among the first significant paintings of Aboriginal people since the nineteenth century, when Aboriginal people were seen and depicted as either noble savages or curious survivors of the stone age and European massacres, Drysdale's paintings showed a different people. Predominantly of groups of Aboriginal people standing looking out at the viewer, as they might have done when photographed by the artist, these are people of dignity who have an ancient relationship to the land. There is no attempt to interact with the photographer, artist or viewer. They are just standing there.
Group of Aborigines shows six people as if posed for a photograph they will never see. They are disinterested in the process. It is not part of their lives, but they oblige, probably because the photographer is a nice man. In the studio Drysdale has dramatised the subject by depicting the Aboriginal people in a featureless landscape painted in hot ochres which contrast with a surreal green sky.
Heightening the dramatic potential of his subject, Drysdale has made it impossible to see any eyes or facial expression by depicting each figure shaded by big brimmed hats. There is no possibility of engagement with the viewer. However, despite the inappropriate European clothing, probably supplied by missions or stations, the men and women stand in possession of the land and their dignity.
The exhibition was a critical success and all the paintings sold. The largest Mullaloonah tank 1953 was purchased for the Art Gallery of South Australia. The National Gallery of Victoria had earlier selected Station Blacks, Cape York 1953 the first of the works to be exhibited from the Society of Artists, Sydney and which closely relates to Group of Aborigines. These paintings were among the first significant contemporary images of Aboriginal people to enter Australian art collections.
We are grateful to John McPhee for providing this catalogue entry.
His solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries in London in 1950 established Russell Drysdale's reputation as a significant Australian artist and achieved international acclaim for his paintings of a harsh outback landscape peopled by stoic 'characters'. Following his return to Australian in 1951 Drysdale visited Cape York Peninsula where he found himself fascinated by the Aboriginal population. An enthusiastic photographer for much of his career, his photographs of Aboriginal people show him gathering information for future paintings and his fascination with the relationship these people had with an apparently hostile landscape.
In 1953 Drysdale exhibited the results of his trip to Cape York in a solo exhibition at the Macquarie Galleries in Sydney. Among the first significant paintings of Aboriginal people since the nineteenth century, when Aboriginal people were seen and depicted as either noble savages or curious survivors of the stone age and European massacres, Drysdale's paintings showed a different people. Predominantly of groups of Aboriginal people standing looking out at the viewer, as they might have done when photographed by the artist, these are people of dignity who have an ancient relationship to the land. There is no attempt to interact with the photographer, artist or viewer. They are just standing there.
Group of Aborigines shows six people as if posed for a photograph they will never see. They are disinterested in the process. It is not part of their lives, but they oblige, probably because the photographer is a nice man. In the studio Drysdale has dramatised the subject by depicting the Aboriginal people in a featureless landscape painted in hot ochres which contrast with a surreal green sky.
Heightening the dramatic potential of his subject, Drysdale has made it impossible to see any eyes or facial expression by depicting each figure shaded by big brimmed hats. There is no possibility of engagement with the viewer. However, despite the inappropriate European clothing, probably supplied by missions or stations, the men and women stand in possession of the land and their dignity.
The exhibition was a critical success and all the paintings sold. The largest Mullaloonah tank 1953 was purchased for the Art Gallery of South Australia. The National Gallery of Victoria had earlier selected Station Blacks, Cape York 1953 the first of the works to be exhibited from the Society of Artists, Sydney and which closely relates to Group of Aborigines. These paintings were among the first significant contemporary images of Aboriginal people to enter Australian art collections.
We are grateful to John McPhee for providing this catalogue entry.