Lot 25

The Estate of Jim Alexander

After the war ended, Hawthorne and many others lost their jobs as the demand for making weapons decreased and opportunities were given to returning soldiers. Unemployed, she shifted her primary focus to creating paintings and watercolours. Her series, "Factory Folk," depicted the people who worked in the factory at the Littleton Hostel in Lithgow in the mid 1940s. Later, these artworks were exhibited at the Studio of Realist Art in Sydney from 18 February to 2 March 1946. It is possible this work featured amongst the exhibited examples.

Each painting in this series was signed as "Brendorah", a combination of "Bren" from the Bren gun she worked on during the war and a phonetic form of her first name as "dorah". These paintings portray ordinary workers, whom she referred to as "operatives", caught up in the routine of making munitions. Hawthorne created a catalogue for the exhibition, using a linocut design of the Bren gun for the front cover. The catalogue includes descriptions of each worker that capture the details of factory life, living conditions, characteristics of workers, and the role of machines.

With a keen eye for observation, Hawthorne's works offer amusing reflections on the factory that had been her home and the people who had become like family to her during the years of war.

Hannah Ryan
Art Specialist