Title

Nocturne no. 3, Commonwealth Lane

(1936)

Artist

Danila Vassilieff

Russia, Australia

28 Dec [in the Gregorian calendar] or 16 Dec [in the Julian calendar] 1897 – 22 Mar 1958

Alternate image of Nocturne no. 3, Commonwealth Lane by Danila Vassilieff

Details

Other Title

Nocturne, Commonwealth Lane

Date

(1936)

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on canvas

Dimensions

52.7 x 47.3 cm stretcher; 71.4 x 65.8 x 2.2 cm frame

Signature & date

Not signed. Not dated.

Credit

Purchased 1968

Location

South Building, ground level, 20th-century galleries

Accession number

OA13.1968

Copyright

© Heide Museum of Modern Art
Reproduction requests

Artist information

Danila Vassilieff
Works in the collection

12

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About

For my subjects I must find something that speaks to me. Something simple and elemental. I may find that anywhere - in a street, in the form of an apple, in a garden, or in a grimy slum lane.
Danila Vassilieff, 1936

Danila Vassilieff was a Russian refugee who escaped the Revolution by immigrating to Australia in 1923. He is credited with pioneering figurative expressionism and social realism in Australian art during the 1940s.
'Nocturne no 3, Commonwealth Lane' dates from Vassilieff's Sydney period (1935-36), when he had returned to Australia after several years spent travelling, working, and exhibiting throughout Asia, Europe, South America, and West Indies. It was displayed in the artist's first Sydney exhibition at Macquarie Galleries, in 1936, which polarised critical opinion for being 'ultra-modernist'. The inner-city street scene depicts the facades of terraced houses - since demolished -illuminated by a lone street light at night. Painted with spontaneity in a tertiary palette from his Surry Hills studio Vassilieff's representation of his newfound urban environment is fervent and defining.
Exhibition history
Shown in 7 exhibitions
- An exhibition of paintings by Vassilieff (1936), Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 03 Mar 1936–16 Mar 1936
- Art and social commitment: an end to the city of dreams, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 27 Sep 1984–28 Oct 1984
  
  Art and social commitment: an end to the city of dreams, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 15 Nov 1984–06 Jan 1985
  
  Art and social commitment: an end to the city of dreams, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne, 24 Jan 1985–03 Mar 1985
  
  Art and social commitment: an end to the city of dreams, Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane, 26 Mar 1985–28 Apr 1985
- Vassilieff: a retrospective exhibition of paintings, sculptures and watercolours, Heide Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne, 11 Aug 1985–22 Sep 1985
  
  Vassilieff: a retrospective exhibition of paintings, sculptures and watercolours, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 12 Oct 1985–02 Feb 1986
  
  Vassilieff: a retrospective exhibition of paintings, sculptures and watercolours, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 04 Mar 1986–02 Apr 1986
- Angry Penguins and Realist Painting in Melbourne in the 1940s, Hayward Gallery, London, 19 May 1988–14 Aug 1988
  
  Angry Penguins and Realist Painting in Melbourne in the 1940s, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, 05 Oct 1988–27 Nov 1988
- Shaded, Dubbo Regional Art Gallery, Dubbo, 28 Aug 2017–03 Dec 2017
- Archie Plus, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 26 Sep 2020–07 Mar 2021
- 20th-Century galleries, ground level (rehang), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Aug 2022–2023
Bibliography
Referenced in 8 publications
- Mary Eagle, Australian Modern Painting Between the Wars 1914-1939, 'The Depression', pg. 126-137, Sydney, 1989, 137 (colour illus.).
- Macquarie Galleries, Exhibition of paintings by Vassilieff, Sydney, 1936. either cat.no. 17 'Nocturne, Sydney' or cat.no. 18 'Commonwealth Lane, Sydney'
- Charles Merewether, Art and social commitment: an end to the city of dreams 1931-1948, Sydney, 1984, 17 (colour illus.), 111. cat.no. 5
- Felicity St John Moore, Vassilieff and his art, 'Urban impressions 1935-1938', pg. 29-48, Melbourne, 1982, 32, 142, 191. titled 'Nocturne, Commonwealth Lane'
- John Saxby (Editor), Look, 'The art that made me: Kevin Connor', pg. 12-13, Sydney, May 2016, 13.
- Felicity St John Moore, Vassilieff: a retrospective exhibition of paintings, sculptures and watercolours, Bulleen, 1985, 15. cat.no. 9; titled and dated 'Nocturne, Commonwealth Lane' 1935
- Natalie Wilson, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Out of Melbourne: realisms and mythologies', pg. 163-164, Sydney, 2000, 164, 171 (colour illus.), 302.
- Editor Unknown, Sydney Morning Herald, 'Art exhibitons. Vassilieff's paintings.', Sydney, 03 Mar 1936. reference to 'Commonwealth Lane and 'Nocturne, Sydney'