Charles Meere

(Australia 1890–1961)

Title

Australian beach pattern

Other titles:

Beach Pattern

Place of origin

Sydney → New South Wales → Australia

Year

1940

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on canvas

Dimensions

91.5 x 122.0cm stretcher; 108.0 x 138.8 x 5.5cm frame

Signature & date

Signed and dated l.r. corner, pencil "CHARLES MEERE 1940".

Credit

Purchased 1965

Accession number

OA20.1965

Copyright

Location

20th & 21st c Australian art

Further information

Charles Meere was one of a group of Sydney artists whose work modernised classical artistic traditions as a means of depicting national life during the inter-war period. The epitome of his vision is Australian beach pattern, a tableau of beach goers whose athletic perfection takes on monumental, heroic proportions. Meere created a crowded and complex composition through the pattern of figures, which appears as a still-life of suspended strength. This iconic painting encapsulates the myth of the healthy young nation symbolised by the tanned, god-like bodies of the sunbathers.

Bibliography (42)

Deutscher and Hackett, Melbourne (Australia, estab. 2007) (Compilator), Deutscher and Hackett fine art auction: Melbourne 26 November 2008, Woollahra, Nov 2008, 38, 39. Related work: 'Australian beach pattern' by Studio of Charles Meere, lot 18

Robert Drewe (Australia) (Author), The Bodysurfers, Victoria, 2008, front cover (colour illus., detail).

Susan McCulloch (England; Australia, b.1949) (Author), Alan McCulloch (Australia, b.1907, d.1992) (Author), Emily McCulloch Childs (Australia, b.1976) (Author), The new McCulloch's encyclopedia of Australian art, Carlton, 2006, 672 (colour illus.). Another version titled 'Australian Beach Pattern'; dated c.1938-1940; Courtesy estate of the artist and Deutscher Fine Art.

'Muse worthy' by Steve Meacham, pg. 6., The Sydney Morning Herald 26 Dec 2005, 26 Dec 2005, 6 (illus.).

'Bondi: A biography' by Steve Meacham., The Sydney Morning Herald 26 Dec 2005, 26 Dec 2005, (colour illus.). Article located online.

'In time of war: Charles Meere's Australian beach pattern' by Joy Eadie, pg. 26-31., Art Monthly Australia Dec 2005-Feb 2006, Dec 2005-Feb 2006, 26 (colour illus.), 27, 28, 29, 30, 31.

Richard White (Australia, b.1951) (Author), On holidays: a history of getting away in Australia, North Melbourne, 2005, front cover (cover illus., detail), back cover (colour illus.).

'Bondi' by Richard Taylor, pg. 2-3., Insites Summer 2005, Summer 2005, 3 (colour illus., detail).

Richard Taylor (Australia) (Author), Bondi: a biography, Sydney, 2005, 4 (colour illus.).

John Slater (England) (Author), Through artists' eyes: Australian suburbs and their cities 1919-1945, Melbourne, 2004, x (colour illus., detail), xi, 118 (colour illus.), 130-131. illus.no. 103

Merryn Gates (Australia) (Author), Anita Callaway (Author), Strike a pose: Hunter art.1 art tourist 2004, Lake Macquarie, 2004, 13, 18.

Isobel Crombie (Australia) (Author), Body culture: Max Dupain, photography and Australian culture, 1919-1939, Mulgrave, 2004, 188, 189 (colour illus.), 190.

Deutscher-Menzies Fine Art (Australia) (Author), The Sydney auction: Australian and International Art: Fine Art, 4 March 2003, Sydney, 2003, 48-49. Lot no. 29 is another, smaller version of the AGNSW painting.

Robert Rosenblum (Author), Alannah Weston (United States of America) (Editor), The beach, Florida, 2002, 12, 13 (colour illus.).

Mark Ferson (Australia) (Editor), Mary Nilsson (Australia) (Editor), Aspects of Art Deco in Australia: Sunrise over the Pacific, St Leonards, 2001, 98 (colour illus.), 100, back cover dust jacket (colour illus.). plate no. 113

Leone Huntsman (Australia) (Author), Sand in our souls, Carlton South, 2001, 70, 71 (illus.).

'An artist for all seasons: Arthur Murch' by Steven Miller, pg. 14., Look Jul 2000, Jul 2000, 14.

Chris Deutscher (Australia) (Author), Australian modern masters and 19th & 20th century Australian and International Fine Art: Fine Art auction 3 & 4 May 2000, Melbourne, 2000, 100. reference to work in assocation with lot 62 'Bronte Beach'

'D'une guerre à l'autre (1900-1950)', pg. 95-111., L'Australie: Naissance d'une nation 2000, 2000, 104 (colour illus.). plate no. 147

'Sport ... a magnificent obsession' by Harry Gordon, pg. 6-8., Olympic Opening Ceremony Sydney 2000 2000, 2000, 8 (colour illus.).

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 135, 136, 138, 139 (colour illus.), 301.

Aspects of Australian art 2000, 2000, (illus.). card no. 15: Anne Zahalka 'The bathers' 1989

The beach 2000, 2000, 00:01.25 and 00:46.25 (colour, details).

Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 147 (colour illus.).

Australian readers - Discovering Democracy - Middle Primary Collection 1999, 1999, 27 (colour illus.).

Art is ... making, creating and appreciating 2 1999, 1999, 114 (colour illus.).

Discovering Democracy, Middle Secondary Units 1998, 1998, 140 (illus.).

Zoë Ross (Editor), Eyewitness travel guides: Australia, London, 1998, 61 (colour illus.).

Looking At Australia 1997, 1997, 11, 23, 37, 111.

Christopher Allen (Australia) (Author), Art in Australia: from Colonization to Postmodernism, London, 1997, 94 (illus.), 96. fig.no. 74

Author Unknown (Author), Wool in the Australian imagination, Glebe, 1994, (illus.).

Donald Williams (Australia) (Author), Colin Simpson (Australia, b.1960) (Author), Art now: Contemporary art post - 1970, Australia, 1994, 33 (illus.). fig. no. 2.10

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, 118 (colour illus.), 183. cat.no. 67

Ian Burn (Australia; United States of America, b.1939, d.1993) (Author), National life and landscape - Australian painting 1900-1940, Sydney, 1990, 178, 180 (colour illus.), 216. plate no. 140

Edward Lucie-Smith (Jamaica; England, b.1933) (Author), Art deco painting, Oxford, 1990, 58, 102=103 (colour illus.), 104. plate no. 72

Daniel Thomas (Editor), Ron Radford (Australia, b.1949) (Assistant Co-ordinator), Creating Australia: 200 years of art 1788-1988, Melbourne, 1988, 9, 176-177, 177 (colour illus.), 239, 246.

'Two styles from 1830's Sydney' by Anne Loxley, pg. 17-18., National Trust magazine [no. 41] Sep 1987, Sep 1987, 17, 18 (illus.).

Graeme Sturgeon (Australia, b.1936, d.1990) (Author), Australia - the painter's vision, Kensington, 1987, 144, 145 (colour illus.), 202. plate no. 89

Linda Slutzkin (Australia, d.2005) (Author), On the beach, Sydney, 1982, 18 (illus.). cat.no. 13

'Landscape Landscapes.', pg. 11., Bulletin 27 Aug 1952, 27 Aug 1952, 19. NOTE: General review of Charles Meere exhibition held at David Jones Art Gallery 1952.

'Painting of Beach scene', pg. 5., Daily telegraph and daily news 21 Aug 1952, 21 Aug 1952, 5 (illus.). NOTE: Photo of Charles Meere infront of painting; General review of Charles Meere exhibition held at David Jones Art Gallery 1952.

'No warmth in Meere's paintings' by James Gleeson, pg. 17., Sun 21 Aug 1952, 21 Aug 1952, 17. NOTE: General review of Charles Meere exhibition held at David Jones Art Gallery 1952.

Exhibition history (11)

Archibald, Wynne and Sulman (1940), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 22 Jan 1941–23 Feb 1941.

Charles Meere A.R.C.A. (1952), David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, 20 Aug 1952–28 Aug 1952.

On the Beach, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 08 Dec 1982–28 Dec 1982.

Celebrity Choice - Sam Neill, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 08 Jan 1987–08 Feb 1987.

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.

On the beach: Australian Artists at the shore, Museum of Modern Art at Heide, 05 Dec 1994–05 Feb 1995.

Ready, set, ... go! Sporting life and Australian art, Global Arts Link, 18 Aug 2001–11 Nov 2001.

"When I was young...": artists' impressions of childhood, Global Arts Link, 09 Nov 2002–02 Feb 2003.

Strike a pose, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, 13 Feb 2004–04 Apr 2004.

Art Deco 1910-1939, NGV: International, 27 Jun 2008–05 Oct 2008.