GA029 - Australian and International Art

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44 63 CLIFTON PUGH (1924-1990) Aftermath of Fire 1965 oil on board triptych signed lower right: Clifton 121 x 90cm (each) PROVENANCE Acquired from the artist by Bortignon’s Kalamunda Gallery of Man, Perth Rudy Komon, Sydney (label verso) Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne (label verso) Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne EXHIBITED The Winter Collection, Bortignon’s Kalamunda Gallery of Man, Western Australia, 1982 The Art Gallery of Western Australia, March 1982 (loan label verso) $30,000–50,000
45 63 Clifton Pugh was both an artist and an environmental activist, his concern for the Australian bush was the foundation of his life and work. Clifton Pugh painted his environment with a frankness that was unlike his predecessors, observing ‘Australia isn’t soft, like Europe. It’s hard, dry, yet with a wonderfully delicate balance.’ 1 To be closer to the bush, Pugh acquired a tract of land in 1951 near Cottles Bridge, northeast of Melbourne. He built a modest mud-brick house and studio where much of his work would be created. The property, known as Dunmoochin, was the perfect union of artist commune and nature sanctuary. The triptych Aftermath of Fire, 1965, is a provocative and important work by the artist. Pugh’s painterly expertise abstracts the essence of the Australian bush at its most volatile state, revealing its destructive and formidable power. The earth smoulders with the heat of the fire, darkness and desolation consume the charred and blackened figures with attenuated limbs. As an environmentalist, fire is a fundamental subject of Pugh’s practice. Painting bushfires has been an Australian tradition, undeniably an inherent part of the landscape and national identity. As Judith Pugh wrote of his paintings on this subject, they represent an inevitable ‘death and domination of species over species and, by implication, over the delicate Australian bush. Violence was implied even when the paintings were not dealing with a moral issue.’ 2 Clifton Pugh was voracious and unwavering in his pursuit as an artist and conservationist. He donated land to the Trust for Nature in 1989 a year before his death. His ethos is as relevant today as it was over 50 years ago. Pugh’s artwork is held in state and national museum collections across the country as well as prominent private collections in Australia and internationally. With its illustrious provenance and exhibition history this triptych is a quintessential example of the artist's work. 1. John Hetherington, Australian painters forty profiles, F.W. Cheshire, Melbourne, 1963, p.233 2. Pugh, Judith. Unstill Life: Art, Politics and Living with Clifton Pugh, Allen & Unwin, 2008, p. 155.
Page 1 and 2: Australian & International Art Melb
Page 3 and 4: FRONT COVER: Lot 32 (Detail) BACK C
Page 5 and 6: 3 3. Absentee Bids Absentee Bidding
Page 7 and 8: 5 1
Page 9 and 10: 7 3 6 ARTHUR MERRIC BLOOMFIELD BOYD
Page 11 and 12: 9 12 12 MARGARET PRESTON (1875-1963
Page 13 and 14: 11 15 15 PERCEVAL (PERCY) LINDSAY (
Page 15 and 16: 13 18 18 HUGH SAWREY (1919-1999) Th
Page 17 and 18: 15 22 22 GUNTER CHRISTMANN (1936-20
Page 19 and 20: 17 24 24 PETER MOLLER (BORN 1948) M
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Page 25 and 26: 23 28 GRAEME ROCHE (1944-1995) Bass
Page 27 and 28: 25 30 30 MIRKA MORA (1928-2018) For
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Page 31 and 32: 29 37 MIRKA MORA (1928-2018) Boy ha
Page 33 and 34: 31 46 ELIZABETH DURACK (1915-2000)
Page 35 and 36: 33 © the Artist's Estate. All Righ
Page 37 and 38: 35 53 53 SALI HERMAN (1898-1993) Ou
Page 39 and 40: 37 56
Page 41 and 42: 39 58 58 GIROLAMO NERLI (1860-1926)
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Page 49 and 50: 47 66
Page 51 and 52: 49 70 70 CRISS CANNING (BORN 1947)
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Page 57 and 58: 55 78 78 DAVID BROMLEY (BORN 1960)
Page 59 and 60: 57 81
Page 61 and 62: 59 83 83 JACK DALE MENGENEN (1922-2
Page 63 and 64: 61 86 86 JACK BRITTEN (CIRCA 1921-2
Page 65 and 66: 63 89 ROVER (JULAMA) THOMAS (CIRCA
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Page 71 and 72: 69 97 97 MINNIE PWERLE (1922-2006)
Page 73 and 74: 71 103 103 GLORIA TAMERRE PETYARRE
Page 75 and 76: 73 106 106 KUMANTJE JAGAMARA (MICHA
Page 77 and 78: 75 110 RONNIE TJAMPITJINPA (BORN CI
Page 79 and 80: 77 116 116 KORDELYA ZHAN SUI CHI (C
Page 81 and 82: 79 121 121 JAN HENDRIK SCHELTEMA (1
Page 83 and 84: 81 126 126 ERNEST BUCKMASTER (1897-
Page 85 and 86: 83 132 132 SCHOOL OF WILLIAM PIGUEN
Page 87 and 88: 85 136 136 ALICE BALE (1875-1955) S
Page 89 and 90: 87 140 138 COLIN PALETHORPE (BORN 1
Page 91 and 92: 89 147 147 FREDERICK LEIST (1878-19
Page 93 and 94: 91 150
Page 95 and 96: 93 154 154 DONALD FRIEND (1914-1989
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95 157 157 DAVID BROMLEY (BORN 1960
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97 163 163 EOLO PAUL BOTTARO (BORN
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99 171 171 JEFFREY MAKIN (BORN 1943
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101 173 174
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103 179 178 HAO LI (CHINESE, BORN 1
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105 184 184 MICHAEL SHANNON (1927-1
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107 192 192 REGAN (HA HA) TAMANUI (
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109 198 198 HORACE BRODZKY (1885-19
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111 206 206 FRANCIS GIBBES (1815-19
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113 211 211 LLOYD REES (1895-1988)
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115 MATHER, JOHN 146 McCUBBIN, FRED
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117 H) RESERVES Unless otherwise in
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Lot 52
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GA029 - Australian and International Art

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