Arthur Murch
(Australia 1902–23 Sep 1989)
- Title
- The idle hour
- Other titles:
- Idle hours
- Place of origin
-
Thirroul →
New South Wales →
Australia
- Year
- 1933
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas on hardboard
- Dimensions
-
81.9cm diam. sight; 100.0cm diam. frame
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.r., brown oil "MURCH.33".
- Credit
- Purchased 1933
- Accession number
- 873
- Copyright
- © AGNSW
- Location
- 20th & 21st c Australian art
- Further information
I can truthfully say it is the best piece of flesh painting (colour) I’ve seen ... It was beautifully warmed with the most subtle of grey greens running through, better than Lambert’s flesh.
Eric Wilson, 1933
Highlighting his early study under sculptor Rayner Hoff, Arthur Murch first modelled his subject for this painting in plaster in order to study the effects of light. 'The idle hour' exemplifies Murch’s skill at painting light and flesh tones. It reveals the influence of the early Renaissance and classical-period statuary on his work, and his own sympathetic observations of family life.
During the 1930s, Murch was a prominent and successful exponent of an approach to painting in which artists sought to tie their depictions of Australian modern life to the classical traditions of European art in their quest for a national culture.
- Bibliography (10)
-
Anne Gray (Australia, b.1947) (Author), Face: Australian portraits 1880-1960, Canberra, 2010, 104.
Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, Domain, 2002, 66 (colour illus.), 145, 147.
Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 136, 144 (colour illus.), 301.
Joseph Eisenberg (Author), Belinda Cotton (Curator), Arthur Murch 1902-1989: A retrospective, Armidale, 1992, 8-9. A study for this painting was shown in this exhibition, cat.no. 37, from the collection of Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
Daniel Thomas (Author), Project 19: Arthur Murch, Sydney, 1977. cat.no. 9
Tony Tuckson (Egypt; England; Australia, b.1921, d.1973) (Author), New South Wales Travelling Art Scholarship 1900 to 1956, Sydney, 1956, 7. cat.no. 5
Hal Missingham (Australia, b.1906, d.1994) (Author), A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Domain, 1953. cat.no. 144
Laurie Thomas (Australia, b.1915, d.1974) (Editor), Jubilee exhibition of Australian art, Sydney, 1951, 45. cat.no. 140
Bernard Smith (Australia, b.1916, d.2011) (Author), Trustees of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), 100 years of Australian painting, Sydney, 1948, 9. cat.no. 43; titled 'Idle hours'
Lionel Lindsay (Australia, b.1874, d.1961) (Author), 150 years of Australian art, Sydney, 1938. cat.no. 161 [Gallery No. 2]
- Exhibition history (11)
-
100 years of Australian painting (1948), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 19 Apr 1948–17 May 1948.
Jubilee exhibition of Australian art, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 12 Mar 1951–31 Mar 1951.
Jubilee exhibition of Australian art, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, 09 Apr 1951–28 Apr 1951.
Jubilee exhibition of Australian art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 25 Jun 1951–21 Jul 1951.
Jubilee exhibition of Australian art, Queensland Art Gallery, 06 Aug 1951–01 Sep 1951.
Jubilee exhibition of Australian art, Art Gallery of South Australia, 24 Sep 1951–20 Oct 1951.
Jubilee exhibition of Australian art, Art Gallery of Western Australia, 12 Nov 1951–10 Dec 1951.
A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 25 Sep 1953–25 Oct 1953.
New South Wales Travelling Art Scholarship 1900 to 1956, National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Apr 1956 -.
Project 19 - Arthur Murch (1977), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 30 Jul 1977–28 Aug 1977.
Parallel Visions: Twenty-two artists from the Australian collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 22 Feb 2002–May 2003.
