Hausa men, Obuasi
(1926-1929)
Medium
watercolour over pencil
Measurements
16.0 × 14.7 cm (image and sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Penny Bassett in memory of Maria Pond, 2022
© Estate of the artist
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Madge Freeman was born in Bendigo in 1895 and moved to Melbourne to study at the National Gallery School. She subsequently enrolled at the George Bell School where she became interested in Modernism. In 1924 Freeman travelled to Europe and settled in Paris, where she married an Australian engineer. His work in the mining industry took the couple to Ghana in West Africa, where Freeman would paint street scenes and landscapes. Executed in quick brushstrokes, this watercolour captures the light and mood of a hot afternoon in the Ghanaian town of Obuasi. The quality of Freeman’s watercolours was praised by William Blamire Young and Arthur Streeton in 1934 when they were exhibited in Melbourne.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Ghana
Inscription
inscribed in pen and ink (in image) l.r.: MADGE FREEMAN
Accession Number
2022.1297
Department
Australian Prints & Drawings