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• Auction House:
  Bonhams Australia
• Sale Name:
  The Fred and Elinor Wrobel Collection | A Curated Salon
• Sale Date:
  23 Apr 2023 ~ 2pm (AEST)
• Lot #:
  32
• Lot Description:
  Nora Heysen
  (1911-2003)
  Self Portrait, 1936
  oil on linen
  63.0 x 50.5cm (24 13/16 x 19 7/8in).
  signed and dated lower right: 'NORA HEYSEN. 1936.'
  EXHIBITED: Nora Heysen: Retrospective, S.H. Ervin Gallery, National Trust, Sydney, 1989; Carrick Hill, Adelaide, 1989; Gardens, Flower Studies and Still Life Paintings by Australian Artists, 1890s - 1980s: From A Private Collection, Courtesy of Woolloomooloo Gallery, Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, New South Wales, 30 March – 30 April 1989; Faces in the Crowd: An Exhibition of Paintings from the Collection of Woolloomooloo Gallery, Sydney, Stanthorpe Art Gallery, Queensland, 2 - 28 November 1992, cat. 55, then touring; Tweed River Regional Art Gallery, New South Wales, 9 December 1992 - 3 January 1993; Australian Women Artists of the Twentieth Century from the collection of Elinor and Fred Wrobel, 8 March 1995, Penrith Regional Art Gallery, Sydney, cat. 56. RELATED WORKS: Self Portrait, 1932, oil on canvas, 76.0 x 61.0cm, in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Self Portrait, 1932, oil on canvas, 76.0 x 64.0cm, in the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Self Portrait, 1936, charcoal on paper, 35.0 x 25.0cm, in the collection of the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Victoria
• Provenance:
  The Fred and Elinor Wrobel Collection, Sydney
• References:
  Lou Klepac, Nora Heysen, The Beagle Press, Sydney, 1989, pl. 35, p. 35 (illus.); Catherine Speck (ed.), Heysen to Heysen: Selected Letters of Hans Heysen and Nora Heysen, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2011, n.p. (illus., and front cover)
• Notes:
  5 Dukes Lane, London. 12 January 1936. Dearest Mother and Daddy, Well I'm now 25, a great age. I'm a young woman now and feel that I have left girlhood far behind. This last year of living here by myself in London and making my own decisions and having my own responsibilities has made me grow up three years in one. You probably celebrated the day more than I did. I spent it painting a self-portrait. I'm painting it all in a higher key using no black or brown on my palette and only very little ochre... In the self-portrait I am doing myself in a blue smock against a wall and a part of my pink roses, the colour scheme is beautiful and I hope to make something good out of it... Goodnight all my wishes and love go with this, Norrie. Daughter of the celebrated landscape painter Hans Heysen, Nora was destined to become an artist. Having considerable success at an early age, by the time she was twenty in 1931, her work had been purchased by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Art Gallery of South Australia and the Queensland Art Gallery. In a bid to make her own name, she turned to painting portraits, still life and village scenes believing her father had a patent on the Australian landscape and gum trees. Nora Heysen painted several self-portraits, many of which were completed at crucial points in her professional and private life. Of particular significance, are a small group she painted during the thirties, one from 1932 which now hangs in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, was painted from her father's studio when he was away on a painting trip. Expressing 'her identity and ambition as a young artist channelled through her deeply penetrating gaze. Powerfully composed with precise, strong defined forms and earthy colours, the portrait recalls European masters of the early Renaissance, and was partially inspired by several Vermeer prints that hung on the studio wall'.1 In 1934, thanks to Hans' successful solo show in Perth, the Heysen's were fortunate to fund a nine month trip for the family to Europe. Travelling through Germany and Belgium, they encouraged Nora to stay in London and study at the Central School of Art. She remained in London for the next four years absorbing all that Europe had to offer. There, she had the good fortune to meet 'Orovida Pissarro, the daughter of Lucien. Orovida, who came to see her work, gave her some advice and took her to meet her father. To meet the painter son of the great impressionist, Camille Pissarro, one of her favourite artists, was very inspiring. So too was the privilege of seeing some of his works in his son's house. Lucien was also an important painter and through Nora's help the Art Gallery of South Australia purchased a fine landscape by him... Through the Pissarro's Nora established a direct contact with the great tradition of modern French painting. Orovida and Lucien told Nora that she should change her palette and suggested that she give up all the earth colours. Lucien also told her not to mix her colours too much and get light and atmosphere in her work.'2 She took their advice, and the results were startling. Whilst in London, Nora continued to write letters back home detailing her experiences and developments. In correspondence dated, 20th January 1936, 'This morning I painted on my self-portrait, it is almost complete and I think it is the best self-portrait I have painted. It is all very high key'. Followed by another dated, 30th January 1936 , 'I'm still working on my self portrait. After seeing the Pissarro's, I repainted the wall behind the head in broken colour and gave it much more vibration and light'. The present work is the most important self-portrait still in private hands. The artist's adoration for portraiture peaked when she was awarded the Archibald Prize in 1938, crowned as the first female winner, 'It is a great pity that Nora Heysen's talent for portraiture was not exploited more. Her retiring nature as well as the advent of the war curtailed what might have been a more substantial part of her oeuvre. Instead there is a disproportionately large number of self-portraits. The result not of arrogance or self-love, but of shyness and soul-searching.'3 1. Taken from the Art Gallery of New South Wales website; 2. Lou Klepac, Nora Heysen, The Beagle Press, Sydney, 1989, p. 11; 3. Ibid., p. 18. Alex Clark
• Estimate:
  A$80,000 - 120,000
• 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.