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Auction archive: Lot number 22

♡ JOY HESTER (1920-1960) Man with Beard

Women Artists
19 Oct 2021
Estimate
A$20,000 - A$30,000
ca. US$14,939 - US$22,409
Price realised:
n. a.
Auction archive: Lot number 22

♡ JOY HESTER (1920-1960) Man with Beard

Women Artists
19 Oct 2021
Estimate
A$20,000 - A$30,000
ca. US$14,939 - US$22,409
Price realised:
n. a.
Beschreibung:

JOY HESTER (1920-1960) Man with Beard 1955 ink on paper signed and dated lower left: Joy Hester/ 1955 75.5 x 50.5cm PROVENANCE: Private collection, Melbourne Thence by descent OTHER NOTES: In 1955, Joy Hester was invited by Georges and Mirka Mora to show at Mirka Cafe, 183 Exhibition Street, the French-style eatery the Moras had opened the previous year in Melbourne's theatre district. After arriving from Paris in 1951, the Moras, who lived nearby at 9 Collins Street, were transforming the culture of their new home with sophistication, conviviality and considerable Gallic charm. Hester and Gray Smith, her partner, were good friends and had babysat their young sons, Philippe and William, on a weekly basis at their home in Upwey in the Dandenong Ranges while the Moras ran the cafe. 1955 was a busy, productive year for Hester. She increased the scale of her brush and ink works and, for the first time, regularly signed and dated them, marking a new level of professionalism. The Mirka Cafe show was the second of only three solo exhibitions during Hester's lifetime. (1) As there was no catalogue, the inclusion of Man with Beard cannot be confirmed. That year Hester also contributed to two Contemporary Art Society group exhibitions and The Herald Outdoor Art Show. However, Head of a Woman in Hat (1955, National Gallery of Victoria), which was in the Mirka Cafe show, has the same dimensions. Also for the first time, Hester won (faint) praise from the critics. Alan McCulloch described her solo show as 'striking in its originality, somewhat bizarre in general feeling and resembling in effect - if we exclude the Expressionist element - the negative print in photography'. (2) Arnold Shore noted the 'looming intensity' of the wash drawings whose 'emotional nature' was accentuated by 'an individual interpretation of character'. (3) Though Hester was living in the township of Upwey, the impact of the Australian bush and of country people had informed her vision since moving to rural Hurstbridge in 1948. She was enamoured of the land and its people, avidly reading Australian history and poetry. Nature also provided a healing retreat as Hester recovered from Hodgkin's disease. Who is Man with Beard? Could he be a 19th century bushranger? The few remaining photographs of Ned Kelly prove it's not him. There's a passing resemblance to Francis McCallum (1822-1857), known as Captain Melville, though he sported a moustache. Hester occasionally drew portraits and rarely concentrated on landscape. She was concerned with issues more evanescent and symbolic: the human face as repository for issues of identity where nothing is fixed, all is in transition. Man with Beard is a striking image: a strong, sensitive face with eyes that are piercing yet blank, and a sensuous mouth. He seems to look at us yet looks past us, his beard like dark water, dissolving his face. He is an apparition, a ghostly visitation from the colonial past. Dr Janine Burke, Honorary Senior Fellow, University of Melbourne. 1. Hester's other solo exhibitions were at Melbourne Bookclub Gallery, 225 Collins Street, Melbourne, 6-17 February, 1950 and Gallery of Contemporary Art, Tavistock Place, Melbourne 9-23 April 1957. 2. Alan McCulloch, The Herald, 27 July 1955, p.20. 3. Arnold Shore The Argus, 27 July 1955, p.8. Estimate $20,000-30,000 Absentee bid Telephone bid Bid on Multiple Lots Bid Live Online Request a condition report

Auction archive: Lot number 22
Auction:
Datum:
19 Oct 2021
Auction house:
Leonard Joel
333 Malvern Road
South Yarra, 3141 Melbourne, Victoria
Australia
info@leonardjoel.com.au
+61 (0)3 9826 4333
+61 (0)3 9826 4544
Beschreibung:

JOY HESTER (1920-1960) Man with Beard 1955 ink on paper signed and dated lower left: Joy Hester/ 1955 75.5 x 50.5cm PROVENANCE: Private collection, Melbourne Thence by descent OTHER NOTES: In 1955, Joy Hester was invited by Georges and Mirka Mora to show at Mirka Cafe, 183 Exhibition Street, the French-style eatery the Moras had opened the previous year in Melbourne's theatre district. After arriving from Paris in 1951, the Moras, who lived nearby at 9 Collins Street, were transforming the culture of their new home with sophistication, conviviality and considerable Gallic charm. Hester and Gray Smith, her partner, were good friends and had babysat their young sons, Philippe and William, on a weekly basis at their home in Upwey in the Dandenong Ranges while the Moras ran the cafe. 1955 was a busy, productive year for Hester. She increased the scale of her brush and ink works and, for the first time, regularly signed and dated them, marking a new level of professionalism. The Mirka Cafe show was the second of only three solo exhibitions during Hester's lifetime. (1) As there was no catalogue, the inclusion of Man with Beard cannot be confirmed. That year Hester also contributed to two Contemporary Art Society group exhibitions and The Herald Outdoor Art Show. However, Head of a Woman in Hat (1955, National Gallery of Victoria), which was in the Mirka Cafe show, has the same dimensions. Also for the first time, Hester won (faint) praise from the critics. Alan McCulloch described her solo show as 'striking in its originality, somewhat bizarre in general feeling and resembling in effect - if we exclude the Expressionist element - the negative print in photography'. (2) Arnold Shore noted the 'looming intensity' of the wash drawings whose 'emotional nature' was accentuated by 'an individual interpretation of character'. (3) Though Hester was living in the township of Upwey, the impact of the Australian bush and of country people had informed her vision since moving to rural Hurstbridge in 1948. She was enamoured of the land and its people, avidly reading Australian history and poetry. Nature also provided a healing retreat as Hester recovered from Hodgkin's disease. Who is Man with Beard? Could he be a 19th century bushranger? The few remaining photographs of Ned Kelly prove it's not him. There's a passing resemblance to Francis McCallum (1822-1857), known as Captain Melville, though he sported a moustache. Hester occasionally drew portraits and rarely concentrated on landscape. She was concerned with issues more evanescent and symbolic: the human face as repository for issues of identity where nothing is fixed, all is in transition. Man with Beard is a striking image: a strong, sensitive face with eyes that are piercing yet blank, and a sensuous mouth. He seems to look at us yet looks past us, his beard like dark water, dissolving his face. He is an apparition, a ghostly visitation from the colonial past. Dr Janine Burke, Honorary Senior Fellow, University of Melbourne. 1. Hester's other solo exhibitions were at Melbourne Bookclub Gallery, 225 Collins Street, Melbourne, 6-17 February, 1950 and Gallery of Contemporary Art, Tavistock Place, Melbourne 9-23 April 1957. 2. Alan McCulloch, The Herald, 27 July 1955, p.20. 3. Arnold Shore The Argus, 27 July 1955, p.8. Estimate $20,000-30,000 Absentee bid Telephone bid Bid on Multiple Lots Bid Live Online Request a condition report

Auction archive: Lot number 22
Auction:
Datum:
19 Oct 2021
Auction house:
Leonard Joel
333 Malvern Road
South Yarra, 3141 Melbourne, Victoria
Australia
info@leonardjoel.com.au
+61 (0)3 9826 4333
+61 (0)3 9826 4544
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