Collection
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Title
The duchess disrobes
1936
About
Dobell's London years form the most significant period in his development as an artist, when he produced an outstanding group of works that witnessed the germination of his acute interest in human nature. Living in central London's Pimlico, surrounded by a rich milieu of characters, he was inspired to produce quickly-captured glimpses of life in the streets, cafes and parks.
"We'd go around everywhere; to the zoo on the free day ... and we'd sketch there, and then to the cheap coffee houses and we'd sketch the people sitting around ... I then got the idea of transposing those quick sketches into paintings".
William Dobell, 1963
His London period reached its peak in his inspirationally conceived, tiny comic masterpiece 'The duchess disrobes', the idea for which had its origins in his sketches of birds drying their wings at the London Zoo. It is one of a small number of extraordinary paintings in the tradition of English social caricaturists William Hogarth and Thomas Rowlandson.
Australian Art Department, AGNSW, 2001
Details
Date
1936
Materials used
oil on plywood
Dimensions
35.5 x 27.0 cm board; 54.0 x 45.4 x 6.2 cm frame
Signature & date
Signed l.r. corner, yellow oil "W.Dobell". Not dated.
Credit
Purchased with assistance from the Trustees of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation 1987
Accession number
482.1987
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William Dobell
The duchess disrobes
Shown in 6 exhibitions
Exhibition history
William Dobell: Paintings from 1926 - 1964 (1964), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 Jul 1964–30 Aug 1964
Great gifts, great patrons, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 17 Aug 1994–19 Oct 1994
William Dobell the painter's progress (1997-1998):
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 14 Feb 1997–27 Apr 1997
- Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle 07 May 1997–06 Jul 1997
- Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Melbourne 29 Jul 1997–21 Sep 1997
- Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane 25 Oct 1997–07 Dec 1997
- Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart 08 Jan 1998–01 Mar 1998
Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000
Portraits in context: the early work of William Dobell (2003), Carrick Hill, Australia, 08 Mar 2003–29 Jun 2003
The naked and the nude, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, 13 Sep 2008–07 Dec 2008
Referenced in 16 publications
Bibliography
Portrait of an artist: A biography of William Dobell, Melbourne, 1983, 244.
Scott Bevan, Bill: the life of William Dobell, 'Learning from the masters', pg. 32-83, Cammeray, 2014, 60.
Helen Campbell, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Out of Sydney: city and hinterlands', pg. 185-186, Sydney, 2000, 186, 190, 191 (colour illus.), 300.
Elizabeth Cross, The Naked and the Nude, 'The Naked and the Nude', pg. 16-29, Ballarat, 2008, 25, 26, 110 (colour illus.), 131. no catalogue numbers
William Dobell', William Dobell: portraits in context, 'Portraits in context: selected early works, pg. 21-25, Kent Town, 2003, 13, 45 (colour illus.).
Harbant Gill, Sun-Herald, 'Naked and the dread', pg. 32, Sydney, 22 Sep 2008, 32.
William Dobell, London, 1964, 24 (colour illus.).
James Gleeson, The drawings of William Dobell in the Australian National Gallery, 'Ladies of fashion', pg.32, Canberra, 1992, 32 (colour illus.), 63. figure no. 38, erroneously states that work is in a Private Collection.
AGNSW Collections, 'Image of contention', pg. 10-20, Sydney, 1994, 48 (colour illus.).
Barry Pearce, Australian painters of the twentieth century, 'William Dobell', pg. 76-87, Sydney, 2000, 80.
Barry Pearce, Look, 'The Lowy, Gonski Gallery', pg. 37, Sydney, Dec 2005-Jan 2006, 37.
Peter Raissis, William Dobell - the painter's progress, 'London: life and portraits', pg. 32-72, Sydney, 1997, 24, 34, 50, 51 (colour illus.), 144. cat.no. 12a
Jill Sykes, Look, 'Breaking the territorial mould: some thoughts from a new head curator', pg. 30-31, Sydney, Sep 2011, 31 (colour illus.).
William Dobell: the painters progress, Sydney, 1997, illus..
The Art of William Dobell, Sydney, 1946, 61 (illus.).
Look, Heidelberg, Mar 1988, 22.