There are only a handful of artworks that have been as influential on the creation of a national psyche as Max Dupain’s photograph, Sunbaker, 1937. Its enduring power derives from the incorporation of twin social mythologies prevalent during the inter-war period: that of the ‘old sunburnt country’ and physical health as a symbol for the strength and potential of Modernity. Sunbaker would come to r…

Provenance

David Ell, Sydney, a gift from the artist in 1980 Christie’s, Sydney, 19 August 1993, lot 1670 Private collection, Melbourne Deutscher and Hackett, Important Australian and International Fine Art, 26 November 2024, Lot 26; Private collection, Sydney Related Works: Other examples of this photograph are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, and the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide This work is sold with the accompanying book, Newton, G., Max Dupain: Photographs 1928 – 80, The David Ell Press, Sydney, 1980

Exhibitions

Max Dupain: A Retrospective 1930 – 1975, The Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, 21 October – 29 November 1975; and touring (another example) The Thirties and Australia, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, 19 June – 13 July 1980, cat. 101 (another example) Max Dupain Retrospective 1930 – 1980, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 29 August – 28 September 1980, cat. 26 (another example) Ten Years On, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, January 1986 (another example) Celebrity Choice – Sam Neill, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 8 January – 8 February 1987 (another example) Four Photographers, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2 June – 19 August 1990 (another example) Fine and Mostly Sunny: Photographs from the Collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 28 September – 1 December 1991, cat. 22 (another example) Max Dupain – An Appreciation, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 11 – 30 August 1992 (another example) Soft Shadows and Sharp Lines: Australian Photography from Cazneaux to Dupain, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 30 September – 17 November 2002 (another example) On the Beach: with Whiteley and fellow Australian artists, The Brett Whiteley Studio, Sydney, 1 March – 29 June 2003 (another example) Modern Times, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, 1 August 2008 – 8 February 2009 (another example) Australia, The Royal Academy of Arts, London, 21 September – 8 December 2013 (another example) The Photograph and Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 21 March – 8 June 2015; then touring to Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 4 July – 11 October 2015 (another example) Under the sun: Reimagining Max Dupain's Sunbaker, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne, 6 May – 6 August 2017 (another example)

Literature

Newton, G., Max Dupain: Photographs 1928 – 80, The David Ell Press, Sydney, 1980, p. 64 (illus., another example) Max Dupain's Australia, Viking Press, Sydney, 1986, p. 104 (illus., another example) Ennis, H., Max Dupain: Photographs, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1991, p. 18 (illus., another example) White, J., Smee, S. and Cawood, M., Dupain's Beaches, Chapter and Verse, Sydney, 2000, p. 69 (illus., another example) Annear, J., The Photograph and Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2015, pp. 40, 50, 104 (illus., another example), 294