Lot 18

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The Collection of Barbara Blackman AO, New South Wales
The Collection of St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 1995

Charles Blackman was one of the most recognised Australian figurative artists of the 20th century. His works revolved around narrative, often in series and based on ideas absorbed through music, literature, and his own experiences. In 1959, Blackman along with seven of his artistic counterparts dedicated themselves to the Antipodean manifesto in support of figuration. Twelve months later, he received the Helena Rubenstein Travelling Scholarship and moved to London for six years with Barbara. From London, they were able to travel throughout Europe where Charles explored a new and heightened style of figuration. His paintings produced during these London years are more contained, with the emotional intent imbued through darkened palettes and a deeper symbolism.

Not long after settling in London, Charles and Barbara took a trip to Italy where he was able to sight the works of De Chirico in person - an artist who had profoundly influenced the isolating architecture of his 'Schoolgirls' series. During their time in Italy, they visited the small Tuscan city of Siena.

"Charles and I went together to Siena for our first time early in 1962 in winter. It was a wonderful experience, that extraordinary cathedral in its licorice allsort marble, its sense of elevation in earthly and heavenly sense, the great square at Siena, the small and powerful Duccio museum and everywhere the guitar music of Sigovia seeming to hover in the air. The angel and the new born seem somehow to appropriate Charles' memory image of our moment there." (Letter from Barbara Blackman to St. Vincent's Art Curator, dated 30 August 1995)

The Duomo di Siena has an exterior and interior constructed of white and black marble in alternating stripes in a Gothic style. Black and white are the symbolic colours of Siena tracing back to the city's founders, Senius and Aschius, who rode black and white horses when fleeing Rome. Charles' adaptation of the stripes in this painting bring us to the unmistakable location of Siena. In true Blackman fashion, we begin to dissect the symbolic clues that Charles selects for this work - the baby, the angel, and floating ghost-like figures, all with eyes closed and surrounding the formality of the Duomo. Barbara herself has an interesting interpretation of Charles' deeper meaning to this work:

"[the Duomo] contained the statue, dated about 1400, of 'a woman Pope' captioned as 'Johannes VIII Femina ex Anglia' translating as 'John 8 - Woman form England'. The story is that she was a brilliant scholar who posed as a man and was elected pope. Her real identity was only discovered when she gave birth to a child in a narrow street near the church of San Clemente, close to the Colosseum in modern Rome, while riding in procession from St. Peters to the Lateran Palace." (Letter from Barbara Blackman to St. Vincent's Art Curator, dated 2 October 1995)

In the late 14th Century, a long series of busts of past Popes was made for the Duomo di Siena, which included one of a female pope, now more commonly known as Pope Joan. In 1601, Pope Clement VIII declared the legend of the female pope to be untrue and the bust was either destroyed or recarved. Perhaps her invisibility within the male dominated space of papal authority combined with her inherent power and femininity inspired Charles and drew parallels to his beloved Barbara, now experiencing the full effects of her blindness. Through Barbara, Charles developed a richer understanding of literature and found that he absorbed imagery more deeply through the written word.

Blackman's paintings are commanding yet also deeply imbued with poetic sensibility. The narratives he ingrains within each brushstroke not only relay his rejection of abstraction but also the narrative of the human condition.

Olivia Fuller | Head of Art

© Charles Blackman/Copyright Agency 2022