Lucien Henry

(France, Australia 1850–1896)

Title

Waratah

Year

1887

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on wood

Dimensions

51.0 x 35.0cm board; 68.3 x 52.4 x 4.5cm frame

Signature & date

Signed and dated l.r., pencil "L. Henry 87".

Credit

Gift of Marcel Aurousseau 1983

Accession number

238.1983

Location

19th c Australian art

Further information

This Beaux-Arts graduate and Paris Communard was exiled from France to New Caledonia, settling in Sydney after his reprieve in 1879. As both teacher and practising designer, Lucien Henry made a vital contribution to the Sydney art scene during two of its most active and experimental decades.

Fascinated by the pictorial possibilities of native flora and fauna – especially the waratah, the floral emblem of New South Wales – Henry produced superlative designs for stained glass, interior décor, architecture and items of applied art. He also created this striking, highly-detailed painting, 'Waratah', with its scarlet bloom set against an intricate turquoise-and-gold geometric Islamic-style pattern. It was exhibited in 1887 at the Eighth Annual Exhibition of the Art Society of NSW.

Bibliography (6)

Margaret Betteridge, State of the waratah: the floral emblem of New South Wales in legend, art and industry 2000, 'A national style', pg. 18-19, Sydney, 2000, 18, 19 (colour illus.).

Anna Elias, Art and Australia (vol. 32, no. 1) Spring 1994, 'Useless Beauty', pg. 66-72, Killara, Spring 1994, 67 (colour illus.).

Juliana Engberg, Colonial Post Colonial 1996, Victoria, 1996, 67.

Bruce James, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian Collection: Painting and Sculpture', pg. 102-181, Domain, 1999, 109 (colour illus.).

Ann Stephen and Charles Pickett, Visions of a Republic: the work of Lucien Henry 2001, 'The makings of an Australian art', pg. 66-69, Haymarket, 2001, 66, 67 (colour illus.).

Jill Sykes (Editor), Look Feb 2012, 'Members events: February 2012', pg. 40-41, Newtown, Feb 2012, 40 (colour illus.).

Exhibition history (4)

Colonial Post Colonial, Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Bulleen, 25 May 1996–11 Aug 1996

State of the Waratah, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, 01 Sep 2000–08 Oct 2000

Visions of Federation, Powerhouse Museum, Australia, 03 Apr 2001–14 Oct 2001

Visions of a republic: the work of Lucien Henry, Powerhouse Museum, Australia, Apr 2001 -