Fiona Hall

(Australia 1953– )

Title

The marriage of the Arnolfini - after van Eyck

Year

1980

Media category

Photograph

Materials used

type C photograph

Dimensions

28.0 x 35.5cm sheet:

1 - left image; 25.2 x 20.4cm

2 - right image; 14.2 x 11.5cm

Signature & date

Signed and dated l.r. verso, ink "Fiona Hall 1980".

Credit

Purchased 1984

Accession number

169.1984

Copyright

Location

Not on display

Further information

In 1980 Fiona Hall’s work underwent a shift, although for her it was: ‘a gradual revelation … it was more about returning to a space in the history of art, as constructed by other artists. It’s difficult to go back and talk about the shift as being a revelation because it happened over a period of time … if one could talk about an extended revelation, yes it has been revelatory, an exploration of what one could say in the studio and taking it further and further.1

Hall produced a series of works in colour where she examined, in the form of diptychs, iconic images from the history of art, including those by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Piet Mondrian and Jan van Eyck. Hall’s reconstructions are akin to examinations within examinations as reproductions of the original masterpiece sit within her mediations on it. Unlike a series of Chinese boxes or Russian dolls the final work is a puzzle where all the extrapolations lead to more interpretative possibilities. As Kate Davidson has written: ‘These associations are not a matter of chance: like theatre props, the unorthodox materials were consciously selected and arranged. Collectively they function as diagrammatic representations of pictorial elements and undermine, at the same time revitalise, conventional perceptions of the famous works they mimic.2

1. Fiona Hall interviewed by J Moss & T Morrell 1988/89, ‘Photofile’, no 25, summer p 26
2. Davidson K 1992, ‘Garden of earthly delights: the work of Fiona Hall’, Australian National Gallery, Canberra p 8

Bibliography (7)

George Alexander, Photography: Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection, 'Tableaux - memento mori - screen culture', pg.313-335, Sydney, 2007, 315 (colour illus.), 320 (colour illus.).

Judy Annear, What is this thing called photography? 1999, Sydney, 1999. no catalogue numbers

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Five years on: a selection of acquisitions 1981-1986 1986, Sydney, 1986. cat.no. 158

Julie Ewington, Fiona Hall, 'Seeing meaning, making meaning', pg.26-51, Annandale, 2005, 42, 51 (colour illus.).

Robert McFarlane, Critic's Choice 1994, Sydney, 1994. no catalogue numbers

Bernice Murphy, Australian Perspecta 1981 1981, Sydney, 1981, 160. cat. no. 147

Gael Newton, Re-constructed Vision: Contemporary work with photography 1981, Sydney, 1981. cat.no. 24

Exhibition history (7)

Australian Perspecta 1981, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 29 May 1981–21 Jun 1981

Project 38- Re-constructed Vision, Contemporary work with photography (1981), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Jul 1981–23 Aug 1981

Ten years on, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Jan 1986–Jan 1986

Five years on: a selection of acquisitions 1981-1986, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 26 Sep 1986–23 Nov 1986

Contemporary Colour Photographs from the Collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 06 Jul 1991–22 Sep 1991

Critic's Choice, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Apr 1994–10 Jul 1994

What is this thing called photography?, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 05 Jun 1999–29 Jul 1999