Arthur Boyd

(1920-1999)

Bi-plane, Riverbank, Evening Star and Pink Sky, 1976

Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Australian Galleries, Melbourne (label attached verso)
Sir Sidney Nolan, United Kingdom
Lady Mary Nolan, United Kingdom
The Estate of Lady Nolan, United Kingdom

EXHIBITED
Australian Galleries 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne, 29 June - 13 July 1976, cat. 4, as Riverbank, Aeroplane and Evening Star

LITERATURE
Janet McKenzie, Arthur Boyd at Bundanon, Academy Editions, London, 1994, pg. 37 (illus.)

We gratefully acknowledge the kind assistance of Caroline Purves, Australian Galleries, in cataloguing this work.

Having spent over a decade in the green landscapes of England, Arthur Boyd returned to Australia in 1971 to take up the position of Creative Arts Fellow at the Australia National University, Canberra. Towards the end of the year, Arthur and his wife, Yvonne, were invited by art dealer Frank McDonald to visit his property on the Shoalhaven River, Bundanon, on the south coast near Nowra. The invitation would be a catalyst, re-connecting Boyd to the Australian landscape and profoundly influencing his practice for the remainder of his life. In an interview with Janet McKenzie, Boyd recalled of his first visit to the Shoalhaven area as 'We drove down from Canberra. It was an endless drive off the main road and we at last arrived very late. We stayed and it was absolutely searing hot. I went painting down by the river and it was so hot the paint ran into the sand. The first work was a very rudimentary sketch which is now at the National Gallery. After we had been there I thought the place was absolutely marvellous. When we were leaving I asked Frank McDonald if he ever came across another part of the river, or in the area, anything like Bundanon, would he let us know.'1. After returning to England in 1972, Arthur received word that the neighbouring property, Riversdale, adjacent to the Shoalhaven River was up for sale. Having been so enchanted by this region the Boyd's swiftly acquired the property sight unseen. The river and its local surroundings would provide a rich backdrop to many of his later masterpieces.

Whilst Boyd set about painting his new environment amidst the Shoalhaven he 'came across a poem written by his maternal grandmother, Evelyn Gough, The epic of Bert Hinkler: The homing bird of Bundaberg. Published in 1928, the poem celebrated the pioneering solo flight of Bert Hinkler from Britain to Australia. It caused a sensation at the time and Boyd recalled the excitement that swept through the nation and into their lives at Open Country'.2 The connection Boyd felt with his grandmother and with Hinkler's story inspired Boyd to paint the present small scaled, yet precisely detailed delicate work.

Alex Clark

1. the artist in conversation with Janet McKenzie, July 1993
2. nationalgallery.gov.au/exhibition/boyd