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• Auction House:
  Bonhams Australia
• Sale Name:
  Important Australian Art
• Sale Date:
  24 Aug 2021 ~ 6pm (AEST)
• Lot #:
  48
• Lot Description:
  Ben Quilty
  (born 1973)
  Flinders Street, 2002
  oil on canvas
  140.0 x 120.0cm (55 1/8 x 47 1/4in).
  signed and inscribed on label verso: 'Ben Quilty / Untitled 140 x 120'
• Provenance:
  Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne; Private collection, Melbourne
• Exhibited:
  The Metro 5 Art Prize, Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne, February 2003
• References:
  Mark Skulley, 'Prize winner learns gentle art of media handling', The Australian Financial Review, Melbourne, 6 February 2003, p. 7; John Mangan, 'A family affair wins $40,000 for young Melbourne Artist', The Age, Melbourne, 6 February 2003; Jeff Makin, 'Youthful Triumph', The Herald Sun, Melbourne, 10 February 2003, p. 72
• Notes:
  'Quilty's paintings encompass more than subject matter to include the application of the paint itself. He employs broad gestural strokes, trowelled on to block out the broad masses. The chunky brushstrokes tell of energy and activity, marking a trail of aesthetic decisions determining colour and form, while acting as a building block for constructing likeness. Quilty's exuberant paintwork is held in check by contour and tone, which describe salient features of each subject. The very physicality of the impasto paint plays a significant role in the recognition of the painting as an object and, simultaneously, as a constructed image. Quilty's paintings play out an alternating focus from image to painterly topography. He negotiates representation from the resistant, sensual materiality of the paint medium and the conventional desire for a recognizable image.'1. Flinders Street was painted in 2002 the same year he won the prestigious Brett Whiteley travelling scholarship for his painting Elwood Park. The present work was the unofficial runner up in the inaugural Metro 5 Art Prize in 2003 which was set up as barometer for Australian painters aged under 35. The following year, Quilty would go on to win the same prize in 2004 with a painting of his 1972 Holden Torana further strengthening his reputation within the contemporary art scene. 1. Michael Desmond, Pride and Patriotism, March , 2007, Grantpirrie, Sydney (exh. cat.)
• Estimate:
  A$65,000 - 85,000
• 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.