Lot 34

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Rosalind Humphries Galleries, Melbourne (label verso)
The Collection of Alan Grant, Melbourne
Thence by descent
Private collection, Melbourne

Athenaeum Hall, Melbourne, September 1924
Homage to Clarice Beckett (1887 – 1935): Idylls of Melbourne and Beaumaris, Rosalind Humphries Galleries, Melbourne, 12 November – 1 December 1972, cat. no. 62

The Herald, 1 September 1924, p.17
"...the three impressions of bridges, in which Miss Beckett's blurred technique fits itself to the atmosphere. These have a certain quality that is apposite to the time of day and lighting of her subjects."

We are grateful to Rosalind Hollinrake for
her assistance with cataloguing this painting

Clarice Beckett was perhaps the most important yet underappreciated woman artist during the 1920s and 1930s. Max Meldrum's theories assisted Beckett in the understanding of soft-focus realism and the importance of handling paint in the execution of light, tone and colour. Capturing Melbourne's landscape and its most atmospheric nuances, Beckett's works appear effortless, depicting foggy streets, misty mornings and hazy sunsets.

Before joining the school of Tonalism, Beckett graduated from the National Gallery School. Unlike many of her other female counterparts, travelling abroad to further her studies in Europe was not an option. Instead, she chose to remain in Melbourne unmarried and cared for her parents as their primary caregiver. While prioritising her home duties, Beckett's painting time was limited to the early hours of the morning and evenings when she was not required in the home. (1)

The little time Beckett had to paint was cherished and did not arrest her development as an artist. Honing consistency, Clarice managed a large output of works over a small period of time. Her focus was established early on, as she so commented at the 1924 Twenty Melbourne Painters Society's annual exhibition - "To give a sincere and truthful representation of a portion of the beauty to nature, and to show the charm of light and shade, which I try to set forth in correct tones so as to give as nearly a possible an exact illusion of reality." (2)

Beckett's execution was far removed from the conventional methods of painting during this time, Clarice took to her surface with a flat, rounded brush, with a thinned paint rendered to the surface for a flawless finish. Regularly depicting the freshness of early mornings, cold drizzly days, twilight, rainy reflections, and boats at dusk, it was the essence of the scene she sought for, a purist approach none the less. On the doorstep of the city, lays a footbridge over the Yarra bend in Abbotsford and it was this location that Beckett chose for Studley Park Footbridge c.1924. Nestled in the misty stillness, Beckett uses soft renderings of grey to create the early morning fog and glassy reflections. A stillness sets upon this work, the bridge itself almost appears part of nature. Permitting only the most vital details, purposeful placement was key. Emerging from the skyline, the spires appear from the nearby Abbotsford Convent.

Although Clarice Beckett received very little attention as an artist during her lifetime, she was without question one of the most unique artists of the 1920s and 1930s. Only since her rediscovery in the 1970s by Rosalind Hollinrake has she now been formally recognised and celebrated as one of the most important female artists and Tonalist innovators to capture Melbourne at a time of growth, making her an invaluable part of Australian art history.

Lucy Foster | Fine Art Specialist

(1) Hollinrake, R., Clarice Beckett: The Artist and Her Circle, The MacMillan Company of Australia, Melbourne 1979 p.15
(2) Burke, J., Australian Women Artists 1840-1940, Greenhouse Publications, Melbourne 1980, p. 56