Lot 23

Overall good condition, with some areas to take note of. Two distinctive 'drip' marks running down centre of the work. Two vertical parallel cracks in the paint are present, in the upper left area. Minor surface marks and losses are detected on the surface along with paint blemishes and imperfections.


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.

The Boyd Family Collection, England
Savill Galleries, Sydney (label verso)
Christies, Sydney, 26 August 2003, lot 33
Private collection
Deutscher~Menzies, Sydney, 16 June 2004, lot 149 (label verso)
Private collection, Melbourne

Arthur Boyd, The Spirit of Australia, Savill Galleries, Sydney, 17 October - 16 November 1996, cat. no. 21

Gunn, G., Arthur Boyd: Seven Persistent Images, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1985, p. 34

Related work:
Butterfly Hunter 1942, oil on canvas on board, 75 x 62cm, Collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Growing up between the wars on the eastern outskirts of Melbourne, Arthur Boyd was nurtured from a young age to pursue his life in the arts. Merric and Dorris, Boyd's parents, were both potters and artists who worked from their Murrumbeena residence, a place that became the cornerstone for Boyd's artistic development with many of his early landscapes depicting the surrounding property.
In 1941 Boyd was conscripted into the military to serve during WWII. His drawing skills allowed him to work in the cartography unit where he met another young cartographer, John Perceval. After becoming friends immediately and working together during the war, Boyd welcomed Perceval into his home, teaching him pottery and sharing their time in the infantry. It was during this time that Boyd's work shifted in theme, addressing the experiences of war and the painful aftermath it brought to life at home. Boyd went on to produce a series of highly emotional and expressionist works during the period of 1940-45.
In The Butterfly Hunter 1969, Arthur Boyd revisits his emotive 1943 work of the same name which currently resides in the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Set in an industrialised landscape of suburban South Melbourne, The Butterfly Hunter 1969 portrays a dark and harrowing spirit enveloping the desolate landscape in pursuit of its unsuspecting prey. Boyd does not reveal the specifics of this creature although we can see its vulgarity and menacing nature, its body seemingly born from the smoke invading the air. The butterfly, considered a pure and delicate being, is perhaps moments away from being taken. A dog on the right barks, alerting the viewer to the unheard noise and merciless act unfolding. Of deeper meaning, perhaps, is the second figure emerging from the volcanic-like chimney in the background - arms splayed although with a more human-like form. The figure is seemingly wedged within the chimney, and trapped by the upper edge of the canvas, in some respects considered to be a metaphor for human struggle. This gesturally expressive work is a timeless portrayal of a city living at the mercy of war. While completed decades apart, this 1969 version was produced while the Vietnam war was unfolding. Perhaps the timing compelled the artist to revisit the work, triggering an emotional time in his life where he himself experienced war firsthand.
In the 1940's Boyd had been a central force in the extraordinary cultural adventure becoming what we know as Australian Modernism. While he was a passionate advocator and a founding figure of the renowned art group The Antipodeans, this expressionistic period was integral to the development and process in which helped to establish himself as one of the most important and influential artists of the 20th century.
Lucy Foster, Art Specialist