Nora Heysen
(Australia 11 Jan 1911–30 Dec 2003)
- Title
- Self portrait
- Year
- 1932
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
-
76.2 x 61.2cm stretcher; 96.2 x 81.0 x 5.0cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.r. corner, red oil "NORA HEYSEN. 1932.".
- Credit
- Gift of Howard Hinton 1932
- Accession number
- 943
- Copyright
- © Lou Klepac
- Location
- 20th & 21st c Australian art
- Further information
I painted that self-portrait in my father’s studio – on the walls were several Vermeer prints. I greatly admired Vermeer’s works and wanted to paint like him – perhaps Vermeer and my father were my biggest influences in those days …
Nora Heysen, 1970s
Nora Heysen’s self-portrait strongly articulates her identity and ambition as a young artist, independent of her famous artist-father Hans Heysen. Characteristic of her 1930s’ paintings, 'Self portrait' is powerfully composed with precise, strongly defined forms and earthy colours recalling European masters of the early Renaissance. After undertaking study in Europe, Heysen established herself as a distinguished portrait and still-life painter. In 1938 she won the Archibald Prize, the first woman to have done so.
- Bibliography (20)
-
Sotheby's Australia (Australia), Sotheby's Sydney: Important Australian Art (31 August 2010), Melbourne, 2010, 52, 53 (colour illus.). RELATED WORK: cat.no. 23; titled 'Self portrait' 1932, 76 x 64cm, private collection. This work is illustrated on page 53.
Look Nov 2009, Nov 2009, 48 (colour illus.). members events section hightlighting forthcoming 'Nora Heysen: Light and Art', S.H. Ervin Gallery.
Jane Hylton (b.1950) (Author), Nora Heysen: light and life, Kent Town, 2009, 17, 18, 51 (colour illus.).
Look Oct 2007, Oct 2007, 45 (colour illus.).
Alex Taylor (Australia) (Author), Perils of the studio: inside the artistic affairs of bohemian Melbourne, North Melbourne, 2007, 96, 100 (colour illus.). figure 87
'The Lowy, Gonski Gallery' by Barry Pearce, pg. 37., Look Dec 2005-Jan 2006, Dec 2005-Jan 2006, 37.
'Objects in the mirror: gendering the still life' by Rosemary Lloyd, pg. 39-55., Yearbook of comparative and general literature [Vol. 49, 2001] 2002, 2002, 46, 52 (illus.).
'The Heysen legacy: the work of Nora Heysen' by Lou Klepac, pg. 7-10., National Library of Australia news Nov 2000, Nov 2000, 22 (colour illus.).
Lou Klepac (Australia; Croatia, b.1936) (Author), Nora Heysen, Canberra, 2000, back cover (colour illus.), 18 (colour illus.), 50.
Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 135, 142 (colour illus.), 143, 300.
Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 142 (colour illus.).
Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections, Sydney, 1994, 43 (colour illus.).
Alan McCulloch (Australia, b.1907, d.1992) (Author), Susan McCulloch (England; Australia, b.1949) (Author), The Encyclopedia of Australian Art, St Leonards, 1994, 339 (illus.).
Ian Burn (Australia; United States of America, b.1939, d.1993) (Author), National life and landscape - Australian painting 1900-1940, Sydney, 1990, 120, 121 (colour illus.). plate no. 87
Lou Klepac (Australia; Croatia, b.1936) (Author), Nora Heysen, Roseville, 1989, 9, 26 (colour illus.), 78.
Ursula Prunster (Australia) (Author), Seeing is believing: the art in photography, Sydney, 1985. cat.no. 21; not paginated
Janine Burke (Australia, b.1952) (Author), Australian women artists 1840-1940, Collingwood, 1980, 110 (illus.), 168-169. plate no. 32
R.H. Goddard (Author), Lionel Lindsay (Australia, b.1874, d.1961) (Author), C.B. Newling (Author), A memorial volume to Howard Hinton patron of art, Sydney, 1951, 130 (illus.).
National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Howard Hinton memorial exhibition, Sydney, 1948, 18. cat.no. 116
Catherine Speck (Australia) (Editor), Heysen to Heysen: selected letters of Hans Heysen and Nora Heysen, Canberra, 2011, 2, 329.
- Exhibition history (13)
-
Howard Hinton memorial exhibition (1948), National Art Gallery of New South Wales, 13 Apr 1948–30 Apr 1948.
Artists by artists (1954), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 04 Nov 1954–05 Dec 1954.
Seeing is believing - the art in photography, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 13 Dec 1985–19 Jan 1986.
South Australian Women Artists: 1890s - 1940s, Art Gallery of South Australia, 15 Apr 1994–17 Jul 1994.
All in the family, National Portrait Gallery [Old Parliament House], 01 Oct 1994–08 Feb 1995.
Review - works by women from the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 08 Mar 1995–04 Jun 1995.
Nora Heysen, National Library of Australia, 25 Oct 2000–28 Jan 2001.
Nora Heysen: Light and life, Carrick Hill, 01 Apr 2009–28 Jun 2009.
Nora Heysen: Light and life, Geelong Art Gallery, 11 Jul 2009–06 Sep 2009.
Nora Heysen: Light and life, S.H. Ervin Gallery, 14 Nov 2009–20 Dec 2009.
Nora Heysen: Light and life, New England Regional Art Museum, 15 Jan 2010–14 Mar 2010.
Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, 05 Oct 2011–27 Nov 2011.
Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, 10 Dec 2011–04 Mar 2012.
