Russell Drysdale's paintings of the late 1940s have a pivotal significance in the history of Australian modernist art. These iconic images – such as The drover's wife (1945, National Gallery of Australia), The rabbiters (1947, National Gallery of Victoria), Sofala (1947, Art Gallery of New South Wales) and The cricketers (1948, private collection) – integrate the post-impressionism of George Bell'…

Provenance

Purchased by Mr Rupert A. Henderson, Sydney, through the Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, in November 1945, for £47.5.0; To his daughter, Margaret Jarrett, Sydney; The Estate of the Late Margaret Louise Jarrett, Sydney; Bonhams & Goodman, Fine Art, Melbourne, 6 May 2009, lot 40; Private collection, Sydney

Exhibitions

Russell Drysdale, The Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 21 November - 3 December 1945, no. 5, (45 gns).

Literature

Joseph Burke, The Paintings of Russel Drysdale, Ure Smith, Sydney, 1950, p. 50, 'Eroded Landscape'