Russell Drysdale
(England, Australia 07 Feb 1912–29 Jun 1981)
- Title
- Shopping day
- Year
- (1953)
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
-
59.7 x 75.0cm stretcher; 86.0 x 70.5 x 6.3cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed l.r. corner, red oil "Russell Drysdale". Signed u.r. corner verso, red/brown oil "Russell Drysdale/ ...". Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased with funds provided by MEPC Australia Ltd 1988
- Accession number
- 523.1988
- Copyright
- © Reproduced with permission
- Location
- 20th & 21st c Australian art
- Further information
One of many paintings of Aboriginal people arising from Russell Drysdale’s extended journeys throughout northern and western Australia, 'Shopping day' ranks among his most powerfully emotive portrayals of the human condition, and reveals his emphatically humanist approach to his subject.
Drysdale’s portrayal is based on his memories of Aboriginal groups he had observed coming into the country towns of far north Queensland, from outlying settlement camps. It conveys, with great sensitivity and eloquence, the dispossession of Indigenous people during the early 1950s when they were obliged to integrate into white society.
- Bibliography (22)
-
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, 65 (illus.).
Gavin Wilson (Australia) (Author), Beneath the Monsoon: visions north of Capricorn, Mackay, 2003, 11, 13 (colour illus.), 70.
Stuart Hill (Australia, b.1943) (Author), Martin Mulligan (Australia) (Author), Ecological pioneers: a social history of Australian ecological thought and action, Cambridge, 2001, 68.
John McDonald (Australia, b.1961) (Author), Federation: Australian art and society 1901-2001, Canberra, 2000, 47, 48 (colour illus.), 253.
'A new conception of the land' by Janet Morse, pg. 28-29., Look Oct 2000, Oct 2000, 28 (colour illus.), 29.
'Time makes its judgment' by Barry Pearce, pg. 2-3., The Weekend Australian 12 Aug 2000-13 Aug 2000, 12 Aug 2000-13 Aug 2000, 3 (colour illus.). This colour supplement is a 'Review Special' published for the 'Weekend Australian'. It consists of a four-page, colour wrap-around for the 'Weekend Australian Review'. 'The Australian' was the media sponsor for the AGNSW Exhibition 'Australian Icons', for the Olympic Arts Festival 2000.
'Seeing the light' by Julie Roberts, pg. 222-230., Art and Australia (Vol. 37, No. 2) Dec 1999-Feb 2000, Dec 1999-Feb 2000, 230, 231 (colour illus.).
Russell Drysdale 1912-81: Education guide 1998, 1998, (colour illus.).
Look Apr 1998, Apr 1998, cover (colour illus.), 3, 15.
Geoffrey Smith (Author), Russell Drysdale 1912-1981, Melbourne, 1997, 11, 142, 143 (colour illus.). cat.no. 55
Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Patricia McDonald (Editor), Haruo Arikawa (Japan) (Author), Chikashi Kitazaki (Japan) (Editor), Two hundred years of Australian painting: nature, people and art in the southern continent, Tokyo, 1992, 145 (colour illus.). cat.no. 88
Catherine De Lorenzo (Australia) (Author), Dinah Dysart (Australia) (Curator), A changing relationship: aboriginal themes in Australian art, c.1938-1988, Sydney, 1988, 8 (illus.), 9, 41. cat.no. 19
Graeme Sturgeon (Australia, b.1936, d.1990) (Author), The painter's vision, Sydney, (1987), 183, 184 (colour illus.), 203. plate no. 118
Dinah Dysart (Australia) (Director), Lou Klepac (Australia; Croatia, b.1936) (Author), Russell Drysdale: paintings 1940-72, Sydney, 1985, 10, 11 (colour illus.). cat.no. 36
Lou Klepac (Australia; Croatia, b.1936) (Author), The life and work of Russell Drysdale, Kensington, 1983, 138, 309 (colour illus.), 368. plate no. 127
Geoffrey Dutton (Australia, b.1922, d.1998) (Author), Russell Drysdale, London, 1964, 50, 152 (illus.), 189. plate no. 82
'Russell Drysdale' by Robert Hughes, pg. 66, London magazine Dec 1964, Dec 1964, 66 (illus.).
Daniel Thomas (Author), Paul Haefliger (Australia, b.1914, d.1982) (Author), Russell Drysdale; a retrospective exhibition of paintings from 1937 to 1960, Sydney, 1960, 44 (illus.), 59. plate no. 28; cat.no. 80
'Outback into art', by author unknown, pg. 15., Nation 22 Oct 1960, 22 Oct 1960, 14, 15 (illus.).
Russell Drysdale: retrospective exhibition 1937 - 1960 1960, 1960. cat.no. 80
'Exhibition by Russell Drysdale' by Paul Haefliger, pg. 2., The Sydney Morning Herald 18 Nov 1953, 18 Nov 1953, 2.
'Exciting oils by Drysdale' by James Gleeson, pg. 36., Sun 18 Nov 1953, 18 Nov 1953, 36.
- Exhibition history (17)
-
Russell Drysdale (1953), Macquarie Galleries, 18 Nov 1953–04 Dec 1953.
Russell Drysdale: a retrospective exhibition of paintings from 1937 to 1960, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 05 Oct 1960–06 Nov 1960.
Russell Drysdale: paintings 1940-72, S.H. Ervin Gallery, 14 Jun 1985–21 Jul 1985.
A changing relationship: Aboriginal themes in Australian art, c.1938-1988, S.H. Ervin Gallery, 08 Jun 1988–31 Jul 1988.
Two hundred years of Australian painting : Nature, people and art in the southern continent, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 28 Apr 1992–28 Jun 1992.
Two hundred years of Australian painting : Nature, people and art in the southern continent, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, 14 Jul 1992–06 Sep 1992.
Russell Drysdale 1912-1981, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], 19 Dec 1997–09 Mar 1998.
Russell Drysdale 1912-1981, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 27 Mar 1998–10 May 1998.
Russell Drysdale 1912-1981, Queensland Art Gallery, 18 May 1998–28 Jun 1998.
Russell Drysdale 1912-1981, Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, 20 Jul 1998–30 Aug 1998.
Russell Drysdale 1912-1981, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 23 Sep 1998–15 Nov 1998.
Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000.
Federation: Australian art and society 1901-2001, National Gallery of Australia, 08 Dec 2000–11 Feb 2001.
Beneath the monsoon: Visions north of Capricorn, Artspace Mackay, 07 Feb 2003–06 Apr 2003.
Beneath the monsoon: Visions north of Capricorn, Cairns Regional Gallery, 24 Apr 2003–01 Jun 2003.
Beneath the monsoon: Visions north of Capricorn, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, 06 Jun 2003–10 Aug 2003.
Russell Drysdale: the drawings, S.H. Ervin Gallery, 17 Feb 2012–25 Mar 2012.
