Lot 19

The work is overall in good condition.
Upon close inspection, a minor surface abrasion is present in the lower left corner, along with light scratch in the left-hand edge. These are considered very minor.
The inscriptions that are in chalk verso, have left faint indentations in the facade due to pressure at the time of writing. This is only visible very close. Work is in original frame, overall size: 93 x 101cm
(LEONARD JOEL CONTACTLESS DELIVERY $110 within 20km of Melbourne premises)


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Leonard Joel makes no guarantee of the originality of mechanical or applied components. Absence of reference to such modifications does not imply that a lot is free from modifications.

Private collection, Melbourne
Estate of the above

Evening Shoreline c.1968 is in many ways a reflection on Arthur Boyd's own childhood after returning to Australia. When Boyd was a young artist living with his grandfather at Rosebud in Port Phillip Bay he spent many days on the beach observing the marine wildlife and the luminous deep blue ocean. In particular, he was struck by the extraordinary forms of skates (large stingrays) that he saw washed up on the beach.
"I used to watch the fishermen throw their kite-shaped skates up on the shores…skates swim with a pink underside human-like face looking down into the water, and when these tender undersides were exposed on the sand, they seemed to symbolise absolute vulnerability" (Arthur Boyd)
In Evening Shoreline c.1968 Boyd has captured the stillness and beauty of Port Philip Bay. Upon first glance, the pure simplicity of the work strikes you - the serene waves, soothing blues, and vast expanse of sky and water. Unlike his more figurative works that cover the biblical, mythical and emotional, here the painting appears to be just a literal landscape. However, upon second sight we notice the pure brilliance in Arthur's execution of paint, the delicate stingray in the foreground, and rendering of the light with such confidence and restraint only a gifted and developed artist such as Boyd could deliver. We, the viewer, are absorbed into the serenity of the landscape, triggering all the senses. Perhaps this painting tells a story of what we see as well as what we don't see. Boyd invokes a shared memory of the uncomplicated life by the sea as a young child recalling an innocent past.

Olivia Fuller, Head of Art

Related Work:
Dog on a Beach with a Stingray 1968, oil on canvas, 91.9 x 99.6cm, in the Collection of the National Gallery of Australia

© Arthur Boyd/Copyright Agency, 2020