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• Auction House:
  Mossgreen
• Sale Name:
  Fine Australian & International Art
• Sale Date:
  29 Aug 2016 ~ 6.30pm - Part 1 (Lots 1 - 78)
  30 Aug 2016 ~ 2.30pm - Part 2 (Lots 79 - 328)
• Lot #:
  53
• Lot Description:
  § Arthur Boyd
  (1920-1999)
  Off to Work c. 1985
  oil on canvas
  151 x 144 cm
  signed lower right: Arthur Boyd; titled verso: OFF TO / WORK ; bears Australian Galleries label verso
• Provenance:
  The Estate of Yvonne Boyd; Important Australian & International Art, Mossgreen Auctions, Melbourne, 24/06/2014, lot no. 63; Private collection, Melbourne
• Exhibited:
  Australian Galleries, Melbourne, 15 - 30 July 1985, cat. no. 7
• Notes:
  Throughout Arthur Boyd's work there is a recurring theme of conflict and the existence of primordial forces of nature which when unleashed threaten the very concept of civilization and humanity. This Boydian apocalyptic view of the world is seen in many guises throughout his work by the merging of beast with man. Central to Boyd's creative approach was his persistence in using elements from earlier paintings in later works even when the theme has shifted. Such is the case in Off to Work, which was painted c. 1985, but recalls aspects of Boyd's work from the 1940s, especially in terms of presenting a vision of a world in turmoil. As Barry Pearce has noted, " he developed the terrifying idea that civilization could be a mere skin covering a bestial presence within and that the primordial forces of nature which threatened to pull us back into pre-consciousness were too strong for comfort". Boyd has provided this painting with a prosaic, perhaps ironic title for a powerfully themed work. It presents the image of a king-like figure wearing not a gold crown but a victor's laurel, seated on a wooden throne that seems to rise up like a volcano within him. The throne and the seated figure hark back to Boyd's early works of the mid forties such as The King (The Deluge) 1944 (Collection: National Gallery of Australia) and The Mockers 1945 (Collection: Art Gallery of New South Wales), painted in response to the moral chaos and social disintegration of the Second World War. Forty years later when Off to Work was painted, Boyd might well have been reflecting on the state of the world at a time when there was civil discontent and conflict in the Middle East, global warming, and the disastrous Ethiopian famine crisis in Africa. Boyd's monster sprouting from the belly of the king, metaphorically could thus represent the chaos and tension in the world at large. The image of a tree emerging from a body was first seen in Boyd's The Cemetery II, 1944 (Collection: National Gallery of Australia) where a tree grows out of a prone figure, and then again in Boyd's Nebuchadnezzar series of the 1960s, where the tree sprouts from the body of Nebuchadnezzar - the Biblical king who was banished into the wilderness to live with the beasts as punishment for his hubris and self-aggrandisement. This theme of delusion and descent into madness was central to Boyd's continuing preoccupation with the theme of political and social injustice. In Off to Work the king is armed with a set of paintbrushes - the tools by which an artist can wage a peaceful battle for societal change, giving a new twist to the expression 'the pen is mightier than the sword'. Here too, Boyd with his associative way of thinking utilises an element seen previously in earlier works, notably in the self-referential 1970's series of the struggle of the artist, as in Chained figure and bent tree 1972-3 (Collection: National Gallery of Australia), where the artist is depicted painting in extremis in the landscape. Off to Work thus provides a visual compendium to many of the elements and themes that Arthur Boyd saw as central to his grand allegorical interrogation of humanity's continuing conflict between the forces of good and evil. In this, Boyd's work has a continuing valency and meaning. As Ursula Hoff noted, 'Boyd's thoughts tend towards a transcendental despair inspired by the times in which we live.' 2 Frances Lindsay AM 1 Barry Pearce, 'Postscript thoughts on a retrospective', Arthur Boyd 1985-1994, Australian Galleries, Melbourne and Sydney, 1994, p.8 2 Ursula Hoff, The Art of Arthur Boyd, Andr Deutsch Ltd., London, 1986, p.86 § Indicates that Resale Royalty of 5% will be applied to the hammer price of this work.
• Estimate:
  A$30,000 - 50,000
• 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.