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• Auction House:
  Bonhams Australia
• Sale Name:
  Important Australian Art
• Sale Date:
  22 Apr 2021 ~ 6.30pm (AEST)
• Lot #:
  32
• Lot Description:
  Bertram Mackennal
  (1863-1931)
  Salome, c.1895
  bronze with marble base
  height: 33.0cm (13in). (including base)
  signed, titled and inscribed to base: 'B MACKENNAL / LONDON / SALOME'
  RELATED WORKS: Other examples of this work are held in the collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, and the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth The legend of Salome comes from the Gospels of Matthew (14: 3–11) and Mark (6: 17–28). Both tell of Salome, daughter of Herodias (wife of Herod Antipas), whose dance so pleased her stepfather (who was also her uncle) that he promised her whatever she desired as a reward. At the bidding of her mother, who was fuelled by a vendetta, Salome requested the head of St John the Baptist on a dish. Bertram Mackennal's Salome statuette was created at the end of the 19th century, during a period of intense interest in this character. Many fin-de-siècle artists and writers were fascinated by the idea of the femme fatale: the smart and seductive woman capable of persuasion and emasculation. Mythical figures such as Circe and Lilith, sphinxes and sirens, as well as biblical characters like Delilah and Salome, were represented widely, and were particularly popular among pre-Raphaelite artists. As Mackennal was sculpting Salome, an infamous play of the same name, penned by Oscar Wilde, had been in circulation since 1891. Wilde expanded on the verses from the New Testament, accentuated the dance by which Salome seduces and manipulates her lust-crazed stepfather/uncle, and brought the character of Salome to the centre of the story. It is this Salome to which Mackennal is responding: nude and elongated, and holding a long sword behind her back – a symbol of her destructive power.
• Provenance:
  Capocchi, Melbourne; Private collection, Tasmania
• Notes:
  EXHIBITED: Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London, May 1897, cat. 2053 (another example) ; Bertram Mackennal, Sculpture from the Stawell Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, February 1901 (another example); Exhibition of Bronzes by Sir Bertram Mackennal K.C.V.O, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 7 – 20 October 1926, cat. 18 (another example); Memorial exhibition of statuettes by the Late Sir Bertram Mackennal, K.C.V.O, Fine Arts Society Gallery, Melbourne, May 1932 (another example); Commemorative Exhibition of Works by Late Members, Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 7 January – 11 March 1933 (another example) ; British Sculpture 1850-1914: A Loan Exhibition of Sculpture and Medals Sponsored by the Victorian Society, Fine Art Society PLC, London, 30 September – 30 October 1968 (another example); Winter Exhibition, Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne, 1975 (another example); SH Ervin Memorial Exhibition, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, 18 May – 17 December 1979 (another example); Renaissance References in Australian Art, University Gallery, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 13 August – 20 September 1985 (another example); Bertram Mackennal, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 17 August - 4 November 2007; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 30 November 2007 - 24 February 2008 (another example) LITERATURE: J. Washington, 'Bertram Mackennal', Renaissance References in Australian Art, University of Melbourne, 1985; Juliet Peers, 'Angles, Harlots and Nymphs: Some themes in Australian Allegorical sculpture', Art and Australia, Vol. 25, No. 2, Summer 1987, p. 214; Robin Tanter, Bertram Mackennal, A Career, Cremorne, 2004, p. 159-161; Deborah Edwards, Bertram Mackennal: The Fifth Balnaves Foundation Sculpture Project, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2007, pp. 5, 115 (illus., another example); Michael Barden, 'Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal, KCVO (1863-1931): Australian Sculptor, Medal and Stamp Designer', Australian Journal of Philately, Melbourne, September 2008, pp. 15-18 (illus., another example)
• Estimate:
  A$18,000 - 25,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.