Collection
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Title
Luna Park with Griffin light
1953
About
Born in Sydney in 1928, Charles Blackman moved to Melbourne where he established a studio in 1951. Blackman found the urban environment congenial to his work which reflected domestic and city life, as well as themes stimulated by the literature he was reading at the time. It was during his first year in Melbourne that Blackman discovered the bayside suburb of St Kilda, where he would travel by tram to swim, draw and visit Luna Park. The drawings led to a series of paintings on the same theme. The 'Griffin light' at the centre of the composition refers to the distinctive street lights along the Esplanade in St Kilda, which were designed by the architect Walter Burley Griffin.
© Australian Art Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2004
Details
Date
1953
Materials used
charcoal on cardboard
Dimensions
52.2 x 60.1 cm sheet
Signature & date
Signed and dated l.l., pencil "BLACKMAN 53".
Credit
Purchased 1984
Location
Not on display
Accession number
289.1984


Place
Where the work was made
Melbourne
Shown in 2 exhibitions
Exhibition history
Contemporary Australian Drawings - from the collection:
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 11 Jan 1992–17 Feb 1992
- Nolan Gallery, Australia 01 May 1992–08 Jun 1992
- Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown 12 Jun 1992–12 Jul 1992
- Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre, Murwillumbah 14 Oct 1992–08 Nov 1992
Australian drawings from the Gallery's collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 13 Dec 1997–15 Mar 1998
Referenced in 3 publications
Bibliography
Contemporary Australian drawings: from the collection, Sydney, 1992. cat.no. 1
Australian drawings from the Gallery's collection, Sydney, 1997, 96 (illus.). cat.no. 88
Luna park and the Art of Mass Delirium, Melbourne, 1998, 46.