Station blacks, Cape York
(1953)
Medium
oil on composition board
Measurements
60.5 × 72.5 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1954
© Courtesy Russell Drysdale Estate
Gallery location
Gallery 8
Level 2, NGV Australia
About this work
Russell Drysdale began painting First Peoples of the Cape York Peninsula in 1952, following several months of travel across northern Queensland and Cape York the previous year. Until this period, most settler artists had portrayed Australian First Peoples as a ‘dying race’ reflecting the prejudiced attitudes of the time. Station blacks, Cape York is one of Drysdale’s most important paintings. Set against a spare landscape, the figures are rendered with Drysdale’s characteristic restraint, synonymous with his portraiture.
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in brown paint l.r.: Russell Drysdale
Accession Number
3054-4
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 Relationships and Interactions
Subjects (specific)
Australia (nation) Cape York (inhabited place) children (people by age group) families (kinship groups) farms indigenous people Queensland (state)