Ralph Balson
(Australia 12 Aug 1890–1964)
- Title
- Portrait of Grace Crowley
- Year
- 1939
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas on cardboard
- Dimensions
-
108.8 x 64.3cm board; 126.0 x 81.5 x 4.5cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.l. corner, red oil "R.BALSON 39". Signed and dated top c. verso, "R. Balson/ ... 1939 ...".
- Credit
- Bequest of Grace Crowley 1980
- Accession number
- 123.1980
- Copyright
- © R. Balson Estate
- Location
- 20th & 21st c Australian art
- Further information
Ralph Balson arrived in Sydney in 1913 and was, by trade, a plumber and housepainter. In the early 1920s he began classes at Julian Ashton’s Sydney Art School, before joining a small band of Sydney-based artists, including Rah Fizelle,
Frank and Margel Hinder and Grace Crowley. Balson quickly absorbed their structural approach to painting, based largely on cubist principles.Portrait of Grace Crowley depicts Balson’s mentor, and reveals his experimentation with pictorial ideas introduced to Crowley in Paris by the influential teacher and painter, André Lhote. Painted in Crowley’s studio, the work is executed
in a quasi-abstract style, a prelude to the complete non-figuration Balson unveiled to the Australian public in a historic solo exhibition in 1941.- Bibliography (19)
-
Deutscher and Hackett, Melbourne (Australia, estab. 2007) (Compilator), Deutscher and Hackett fine art auction: Melbourne 29 August 2012, Melbourne, 2012, 58.
Nick Waterlow (Australia) (Curator), Annabel Pegus (Australia) (Curator), Symposium papers: Colour in art - revisiting 1919 & R-Balson, Paddington, 2008, 35.
Elena Taylor (Author), Grace Crowley: being modern, Canberra, 2006, 35, 37 (colour illus.).
Paula Dredge (Author), Margaret Sawicki (Australia) (Author), Steven Miller (Australia) (Author), Lindsay Parker (Australia, b.1939, d.2003) (Author), S.A. Parker Framing Works, Domain, 2004, 53 (illus.).
'Ralph Balson: "Painting". Abstracting the invisible' by Nicholas Chambers, pg. 250-251., Art and Australia (Vol. 40, No. 2) Dec 2002-Feb 2003, Dec 2002-Feb 2003, 250.
Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, Domain, 2002, 90, 94 (colour illus.), 142, 147.
Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 127 (colour illus.), 300.
Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 146 (colour illus.).
Lynne Seear (Australia) (Editor), Julie Ewington (Australia) (Editor), Brought to light: Australian Art 1850-1965, South Brisbane, 1998, 224 (illus.).
Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections, Sydney, 1994, 46 (colour illus.).
'Ralph Balson in Retrospect' by Bruce Adams, pg. 20-21., Look Feb 1990, Feb 1990, 20 (colour illus.), 21.
'Balson at Heide' by Jenny Zimmer, pg. 8-9., Art Monthly Australia Oct 1989, Oct 1989, 8.
Bruce Adams (Author), Ralph Balson A Retrospective, Bulleen, Jul 1989, 15 (colour illus.), 21, 73. cat.no. 6
Project 41 - the mosaic, the grid, Sydney, 1983, 3. cat.no. 1
Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Three years on: a selection of acquisitions 1978-1981, Sydney, 1981, 8 (illus.). cat.no. 1
'The importance of Ralph Balson' by Paul McGillick, pg. 4-17., Aspect: Art and Literature Winter 1981, Winter 1981, 5.
Renée Free (Australia) (Author), Balson, Crowley, Fizelle, Hinder, Sydney, 1966, 7, 11. cat.no. 3
'Ralph Balson' by Daniel Thomas, pg. 248-291., Art and Australia Mar 1965, Mar 1965, 255, 256 (colour illus.).
Author Unknown, Exhibition 1, Sydney, 1939. cat.no. 3 as 'Portrait'
- Exhibition history (12)
-
Exhibition I, David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, 17 Aug 1939–02 Sep 1939.
Balson, Crowley, Fizelle, Hinder, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 05 Oct 1966–30 Oct 1966.
Balson, Crowley, Fizelle, Hinder, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, 09 Nov 1966–11 Dec 1966.
Three years on: Acquisitions 1978-81, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 15 Oct 1981–01 Dec 1981.
Project 41: The mosaic -The grid (1983), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 25 Mar 1983–24 Apr 1983.
Ralph Balson: a retrospective, Heide Park and Art Gallery, 15 Aug 1989–24 Sep 1989.
Ralph Balson: a retrospective, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, 06 Oct 1989–19 Nov 1989.
Ralph Balson: a retrospective, Wollongong City Gallery, 01 Dec 1989–28 Jan 1990.
Ralph Balson: a retrospective, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 14 Feb 1990–01 Apr 1990.
Ralph Balson: a retrospective, University of Queensland Art Museum, 12 Apr 1990–24 May 1990.
Parallel Visions: Twenty-two artists from the Australian collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 22 Feb 2002–May 2003.
Sydney studios, S.H. Ervin Gallery, 14 Aug 2004–26 Sep 2004.
