Lot 19

Josef Lebovic Gallery, Sydney
Private collection, Melbourne

The Enduring Glance: 20th Century Australian Photography from the Corrigan Collection, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria, 22 June - 28 July 2002, cat. no. 22 (another example)
Soft Shadows and Sharp Lines: Australian photography from Cazneaux to Dupain, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 30 September - 17 November 2002 (another example, illus., in exhibition catalogue, p.140).
Soul of a City: Modernism and Sydney Photography 1930 to 1950, Delmar Gallery, Sydney, 17 May - 15 June 2014 (another example)

The Home, February 1936 (illus., another example, as 'Photographic Study')
Dupain, M., Max Dupain, Print Room Press, Sydney, 1991, pl.79 (illus., another example)
McFarlane, R., Black + White - The Masters, Sydney, 1999, p. 200 (illus., another example)
White, J., Dupain's Australians, Chapter & Verse, Sydney, 2003, p. 57 (illus., another example)

Other examples of this print are held in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane; and Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.

RELATED WORK:
Max Dupain, Jean with Wire Mesh (Eyes Open) c.1935, silver gelatin photograph, 50.8 x 40.6cm, the Collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

Max Dupain was widely regarded as the pioneer of modernism in Australian photography, which marked the departure from the sentimental style of soft-focused, nostalgic imagery and moved towards an embrace of an aesthetic typified by light contrasts, sharp focus, angles, and new compositions. The photograph, Jean with Wire Mesh, depicts Jean Lorraine, a cherished model and close confidant of both Dupain and his first wife Olive Cotton, assuming a captivating pose in front of the lens.

Shot from an elevated angle, she appears ensconced in introspection, her upper body mostly obscured by the mesh that envelops her. Her forehead, hair, and upper arm, however, are exposed to uninterrupted light, so that movement appears to sweep upwards and out of the frame. The mesh, rendered disorderly by the effects of light, delicately veils her curves while simultaneously highlighting them, resulting in a composition that exudes both sensuality and opulence.

Hannah Ryan
Prints & Multiples Specialist