Lot 18

Unframed, excellent gallery condition and free from any damage or deterioration



The opinions expressed in the condition reports are a guide only and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Prospective buyers are encouraged to inspect articles for sale at our pre-sale viewing where Leonard Joel staff are available for advice.
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.

There is such an expressive quality to this work by Leo Cussen. Here we see the pastel pushed around on the paper, fingerprints in the dense application and a fine layer of chalk dust covering the black paper, as if the work has just been completed with heart and vigour. And indeed it would have been in the moment of making. The figure reaches toward the viewer in this piece as if calling out for attention, and those who knew Cussen may consider his character imbued in the surface. Leo Cussen exhibited widely both nationally and internationally during his lifetime, showing at Australian Galleries, Latrobe Regional Gallery, The Museum of Everything and National Gallery of Australia. His work is also held in numerous public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Victoria and National Gallery of Australia.