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• Auction House:
  Bonhams Australia
• Sale Name:
  Important Australian Art
• Sale Date:
  04 Apr 2023 ~ 6pm (AEST)
• Lot #:
  38
• Lot Description:
  Sali Herman
  (1898-1993)
  Railway Station, 1947
  oil on canvas on board
  51.5 x 62.0cm (20 1/4 x 24 7/16in).
  signed and dated lower left: 'S. Herman '47'
• Provenance:
  Mr and Mrs Douglas Carnegie, New South Wales; Christie's, Sydney, 5 October 1971, lot 353; Private collection, Melbourne ; thence by descent; Private collection, Melbourne
• Exhibited:
  possibly, Sali Herman, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 23 July - 4 August 1947, cat. 25, as Country Station; Sali Herman, Argus Gallery, Melbourne, 19 September - 6 October 1961, cat. 20; Paintings from the Collection of Mr and Mrs Douglas Carnegie, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 27 October - 30 November 1966, cat. 37
• References:
  Daniel Thomas, Sali Herman, Australian Art Monographs, Melbourne, 1962, p. 14, pl. 20 (illus.)
• Notes:
  Sali Herman first enlisted in the army in 1941. He wanted nothing more than to fight on the front line. However, like fellow artists William Dobell and Frank Hinder, he was assigned to the First Camouflage Section later becoming sergeant with the 3rd Royal Australian Engineers Training Battalion in Kapooka, near Wagga. By 1945 he was officially appointed a war artist and travelled up and down the east coast between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane joining the many troops who were being ferried across the country before they either embarked for foreign shores, returned to base camp or were lucky enough to return home. As captain during his art commission he spent five months travelling through the Pacific recording scenes in Lae, Torokina, Bouganville and Rabaul many of which are housed in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. Herman's successful tenure as official war artist was fruitful, winning numerous prestigious prizes including the Wynne Prize three times and the Sulman Prize twice, first in 1946 for his painting Natives Carrying Wounded Soldiers from his time in New Guinea. A keen observer of his surroundings he was able to translate the essences of scenes onto canvas, often re-working paintings from drawings, some years later. The location of Railway Station, resembles Binalong Station, along the Main Southern Railway line which was the major railway connecting Sydney and Albury on the Victorian border. Soldiers, Sailors and Airman often found themselves on the cold windswept platforms late at night waiting to change trains. Fellow artist Russell Drysdale also documented the scenes four years prior during the height of the war with a series of bleak drawings and paintings such as The Station Yard, 1943, in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Herman however painted with a sense of optimism, completed one and a half years following the end of the war, the present work demonstrates his skill in evoking emotion and atmosphere. Back Home painted in January 1946, in the collection of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, shares a similar subject, celebrating the returning soldier embracing loved ones. Alex Clark
• Estimate:
  A$50,000 - 70,000
• 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.