Untitled (Two sisters seated)
(c. 1964)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
152.4 × 165.2 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria from the Bequest of Violet Dulieu, Founder Benefactor, 1997
© Charles Blackman/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Gallery location
Not on display
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in black paint l.c.r.: BLACKMAN
Accession Number
1997.148
Department
Australian Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Subjects (general)
Human Figures Portraits Relationships and Interactions
Subjects (specific)
brush strokes figurative art group portraits outlines (linear form) profiles (figures) silhouettes sisters (siblings)
Movements
Antipodeans
Physical description
The two girls are seated in profile with eyes averted from the viewer. Their bodies blend into one another and are in white silhouette with black outline, softened by pastel and jewel coloured palette of their faces and part of the body. The figures melt into the pale blues of the background and broken brushwork of background and body colours. It has a general literary source in the poems of Shaw Neilsen some of which deal with near-blindness and colour. The painting continues to show the influence of Ben Shahn and also of British artists like Hockney.
Frame
Reproduction, 2000