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• Auction House:
  Mossgreen
• Sale Name:
  Fine Australian Art
• Sale Date:
  28 Oct 2014 ~ 6.30pm
• Lot #:
  25
• Lot Description:
  Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd
  (1920-1999)
  St Francis Being Beaten by His Father
  pastel
  47 x 62 cm
  signed 'Arthur Boyd' lower right; titled on Australian Galleries label verso
• Provenance:
  From The collection of the late Alan Boxer
• Exhibited:
  Australian Galleries, 1965, cat. no. 8; Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney, 1966, cat. no. 8
• References:
  Franz Philipp, Arthur Boyd, Thames and Hudson London, 1967, p.272, cat. no. 15.4
• Notes:
  Arthur Boyd never wore a belt and always believed that it would restrict his circulation. Even such a small personal detail says something about his essential difference from others. His Christian Science upbringing was fundamental and it instilled in him a strong work ethic and a deeply held self-belief that sustained him through very gruelling times and periods of serious poverty. Though he died a multi millionaire, was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1992 and voted Australian of the Year in 1995 he remained intensely private and humble all his life and found it almost impossible to discuss any aspect of his work. There was something deeply held within him - not held back, just deeply held. He was the antithesis of ambition. Boyd was born in 1920 at a property called Open Country at 8 Wahroonga Crescent in Murrumbeena, an outer suburb of Melbourne not far the present-day Chadstone Shopping Centre. The author visited the dilapidated and unkempt house as a teenager and the overall impression was one of dutiful application. There was artwork everywhere, everyone was busy in a type of distracted way and the living conditions were shockingly shambolic. However, the most extraordinary thing is that the Boyds were extremely gentle and kind and seemed to be driven by a deep single-minded Christian faith in their belief in a totally selfless commitment to an artistic life. Even then, in the early sixties, this was truly remarkable. This obviously remained a key motivational element in Arthur Boyd's private character for the rest of his life. It accounts for the Biblical nature of the present three pastel drawings and for the moral and ethical tenor of many of his paintings. Arthur Boyd was discharged from Australian Army service on 2 March 1944 and he married his wife Yvonne on 6 March 1945 at the Reverend Stanley Neighbour's manse in Oakleigh on a weekday, after work. No celebrations were held and no one was invited to the marriage event. The couple honeymooned at the distant and almost uninhabited Victorian seaside town of Apollo Bay, one hundred and fifty-four kilometres West of Melbourne. Even these few facts give some indication of the humility, intense shyness and privacy of the man. Boyd lived his life completely through his art. On his deathbed his last words to his sister Lucy were: ÒI have paint on my handsÓ. He had neither time nor patience for little else; as a result, very few Australian artists can claim a full sixty-two years of successful exhibitions. Arthur Boyd won his first art award at the age of thirteen at Murrumbeena State School in 1933 and he repeated his success in the following year. Boyd started selling paintings in 1937 and he held his first solo exhibition at Westminster Gallery in Little Collins Street in Melbourne. He took to going on painting trips along Melbourne's Yarra River with Wilfred McCulloch and Jo Sweatman. In 1939 Boyd viewed the infamous Herald Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art, where he much admired the work of the German artist Franz Marc. Marc's tempestuous brushwork and the earnest application of pigments, the expressionistic and haptic involvement are attributes that ingrained themselves in his mind's eye. One can see these elements at play in the present three works Figures under a Lamp, Kneeling Figure with Beast and St Francis Being Beaten by his Father. All three works show a swirling application of pastel with a fine awareness of its physical blurring qualities. This lends to the three works a hazy atmospheric ambience that seems to enhance their Biblical connections. Boyd was read passages from the Bible almost daily and in these works one can see how he made artistic use of moral stories, anecdotal tales and the lives of the saints. Literature: Bungey, D., Arthur Boyd, A Life, Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest, 2007; Hoff, U., The Art of Arthur Boyd, London, Andre Deutsch, 1986; Pearce, B., Arthur Boyd Retrospective, Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1993; Philipp, F., Arthur Boyd, London, Thames and Hudson, 1967; Smith, B., Australian Painting 1788-90, Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1991
• Estimate:
  A$15,000 - 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.