Jean Bellette
(Australia, Spain 1908–16 Mar 1991)
- Title
- Figures in a classical landscape
- Place of origin
-
Sydney →
New South Wales →
Australia
- Year
- circa 1950
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on plywood
- Dimensions
-
40.0 x 50.0cm board; 57.3 x 67.3 x 4.5cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed l.r., red oil "JB". Not dated.
- Credit
- Bequest of Margaret Olley 2012
- Accession number
- 198.2012
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
'Group of figures in a landscape' c1950 was completed following the artist’s critical recognition of the 1940s which saw her win the Sir John Sulman Prize for genre painting in 1942 and 1944. Its procession of classical figures embedded within a distant, unspecified setting is not unlike the Gallery’s 'Electra' 1944. Operating outside of modernist, nationalist and socio-political narratives in Australian art, Bellette drew upon Europe’s reinterpretation of the 'essence' of antiquity two decades earlier. It has been suggested that mythology was her means of investigating societal values and psychological traits, even the Australian experience. Bellette stated in 1952:
'I have tried to paint groups of figures in landscape, using mythology as a pretext; my main preoccupation was to try and order space and colours in a certain way, so that they would suggest to me some atmosphere I recognise …'
Significantly, Bellette was a member of the Society of Artists and a co-founder of the Sydney Group.
- Bibliography (1)
-
Christine France (Australia) (Author), Amanda Beresford (Author), Barbara Hall (Author), Jean Bellette retrospective, Sydney, 2004, 37 (colour illus.), 71.
- Exhibition history (5)
-
Jean Bellette retrospective (2004-2005), Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, 10 Dec 2004–16 Jan 2005.
Jean Bellette retrospective (2004-2005), S.H. Ervin Gallery, 12 Mar 2005–15 Apr 2005.
Jean Bellette retrospective (2004-2005), University of Queensland Art Museum, 06 May 2005–12 Jun 2005.
Jean Bellette retrospective (2004-2005), Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, 12 Jul 2005–28 Aug 2005.
Jean Bellette retrospective (2004-2005), The Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, 10 Nov 2005–18 Dec 2005.
