Breakfast piece, 1936 by Herbert Badham ::

Details

Other Title

Breakfast

Date

1936

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on hardboard

Dimensions

59.0 x 71.0 cm board; 71.0 x 83.3 x 4.5 cm frame

Signature & date

Signed and dated l.l. corner, red oil "H BADHAM ''36 ["HB" monogram]".

Credit

Purchased 1936

Location

20th-century galleries (ground floor)

Accession number

6381

Copyright

Reproduction requests

Artist information

Herbert Badham

Works in the collection

2

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About

Studying under Julian Ashton, George W Lambert and Henry Gibbons at Ashton’s Sydney Art School, Herbert Badham received a traditional art training based on the primacy of draughtsmanship, to which he added a personal interest in perspective and design. Exemplifying this particular interest, 'Breakfast piece' is an arrangement of objects amongst which the artist has situated his wife. The painting’s tranquil morning mood, however, is counterpointed as the routine breakfast ‘props’ are juxtaposed with the newspaper headline announcing Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia.

Badham was one of a number of figurative painters in Sydney between the wars whose work typified an aspect of Sydney modernism that addressed contemporary subjects through predominantly English realist traditions.

Exhibition history

Shown in 9 exhibitions

Society of Artists Annual Exhibition (1936), Education Department Gallery [Loftus Street], Sydney, 04 Sep 1936–02 Oct 1936
150 years of Australian art (1938), National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 27 Jan 1938–25 Apr 1938
Art of Australia 1788-1941, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 01 Oct 1941–26 Oct 1941

Art of Australia 1788-1941, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 17 Nov 1941–31 Dec 1941

Art of Australia 1788-1941, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ottawa, 15 Jan 1942–15 Feb 1942

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Yale University Art Gallery, United States of America, 02 Mar 1942–23 Mar 1942

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 03 Apr 1942–15 May 1942

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Wilmington Society of Fine Arts, Wilmington, 01 Jun 1942–27 Jun 1942

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 10 Jul 1942–27 Aug 1942

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Toledo Museum of Art, United States of America, 06 Sep 1942–27 Sep 1942

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, 05 Oct 1942–02 Nov 1942

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Cleveland Museum of Art, United States of America, 09 Nov 1942–07 Dec 1942

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Detroit Institiute of Arts, Detroit, 01 Jan 1943–29 Jan 1943

Art of Australia 1788-1941, The Art Gallery of Toronto, Toronto, 05 Feb 1943–28 Feb 1943

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Art Association of Montreal, Montreal, 07 Mar 1943–28 Mar 1943

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Herron Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indianapolis, 08 Apr 1943–05 May 1943

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Fort Wayne Art School and Museum, Fort Wayne, 12 May 1943–31 May 1943

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Rockhill Nelson Gallery, Kansas City, 07 Sep 1943–08 Oct 1943

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Philbrook Art Museum, Tulsa, 20 Oct 1943–17 Nov 1943

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Dallas, 28 Nov 1943–26 Dec 1943

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Abilene Museum of Fine Arts, Abilene, 10 Jan 1944–07 Feb 1944

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Heard Museum, Phoenix Fine Arts Association, Phoenix, 21 Feb 1944–20 Mar 1944

Art of Australia 1788-1941, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, 04 Apr 1944–07 May 1944

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Rosicrucian Egyptian Oriental Museum, San Jose, 19 May 1944–16 Jun 1944

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Hamline University, St Paul, 01 Dec 1944–17 Dec 1944

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Society Liberal Arts, Joslyn Memorial, Omaha, 06 Jan 1945–27 Jan 1945

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, United States of America, 06 Feb 1945–27 Feb 1945

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Quincy Art Club, Quincy, 09 Mar 1945–30 Mar 1945

Art of Australia 1788-1941, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, 13 Apr 1945–04 May 1945

Art of Australia 1788-1941, University of Oklahoma, Norman, 14 May 1945–04 Jun 1945

Art of Australia 1788-1941, North Texas State Teachers' College, Denton, 14 Jun 1945–05 Jul 1945
100 years of Australian painting (1948), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 19 Apr 1948–17 May 1948
A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Sep 1953–25 Oct 1953
Warning: Smoking has been linked to some of the most powerful images of the twentieth century – an MPRG exhibition., Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, 04 Apr 2006–28 May 2006
Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, 06 Apr 2007–20 May 2007

Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Booragul, 08 Jun 2007–22 Jul 2007

Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, 28 Aug 2007–21 Oct 2007

Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Australia, 26 Oct 2007–09 Dec 2007

Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Riddoch Art Gallery, Mt Gambier, 15 Dec 2007–15 Feb 2008

Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Broken Hill City Art Gallery, Broken Hill, 26 Mar 2008–05 May 2008

Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Manly, 16 May 2008–15 Jun 2008

Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns, 01 Jul 2008–15 Aug 2008

Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Artspace Mackay, Queensland, 31 Aug 2008–30 Sep 2008
Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, 05 Oct 2011–27 Nov 2011

Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, 10 Dec 2011–04 Mar 2012
20th-Century galleries Rehang (Ground Level), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Aug 2022–2023

Bibliography

Referenced in 19 publications

Ian Burn, National life and landscape - Australian painting 1900-1940, Sydney, 1990, 178, 179 (colour illus.). plate no. 139
Eileen Chanin, Art Network, 'Herbert Badham', pg. 20-21, Artarmon, Spring 1983, 21.
A Staff Correspondent, The Sunday Herald, 'When art lovers take to the axe', pg. 13, Sydney, 22 Mar 1953, 13.
Christine Dixon, Herbert Badham 1899-1961, Wollongong, 1987, 12, 17 (colour illus.), 22. cat.no. 15
Deborah Edwards, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Classical allusions', pg. 135-136, Sydney, 2000, 135-136, 148 (colour illus.), 300.
Emma Glyde, Look, ‘Tea and the art of good taste’, pg. 22-23, Sydney, Sep 2012, 23 (colour illus.).
Bruce James, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian Collection: Painting and Sculpture', pg. 102-181, Sydney, 1999, 145 (colour illus.).
Rodney James., WARNING: Smoking has been linked to some of the most powerful images of the twentieth century, 'Come to where the flavour is, smoking, cigarettes + modernity', Mornington, 2006. List of works.
Heather Johnson, Brought to Light: Australian Art 1850–1965 from the Queensland Art Gallery collection, 'Reality or Religious Fantasy? Roy de Maistre and Herbert Badham', pg. 218-223, Brisbane, 1998, 222.
Lionel Lindsay, 150 years of Australian art, Sydney, 1938. cat.no. 161 [Gallery No. 2]
Hal Missingham, A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Sydney, 1953. cat.no. 100
Ronald Monson, The Sunday Herald, 'The carpenter now repairs works', pg. 21, Sydney, 22 Mar 1953, 21.
John Slater, Through artists' eyes: Australian suburbs and their cities 1919-1945, 'Suburbs: "The partial paradise"', pg. 175-205, Melbourne, 2004, 202, 203 (colour illus.), 204. illus.no. 164
Linda Slutzkin, Interiors - from the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1981, 4, 12-13, 20 (colour illus.). cat.no. 12
Bernard Smith, 100 years of Australian painting, 'Foreword', pg. 2-4, Sydney, 1948, 10. cat.no. 51
Society of Artists, Society of Artists Annual Exhibition (1936), Sydney, 1936. cat.no. 66; priced 30 guineas
Sydney Ure Smith (Editor), Art of Australia 1788-1941, New York, 1941, 44. cat.no. 105; titled 'Breakfast'.
Gavin Wilson, Cuisine & country: a gastronomic venture in Australian art, 'Cuisine & Country', pg. 9-66, New South Wales, 2008, 28, 31 (colour illus.), 86.
Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sun and Guardian, 'Vandal mutilates Gallery painting', pg. 7, Sydney, 16 Apr 1950, 7 (illus.). Badham is pictured inspecting restored painting

Breakfast piece