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The letter
1926
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
81.0 × 65.3 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Bequest of the artist, 1947
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
This portrait is a document of a revolutionary place and time, and a relic of a relationship as intense as it was enduring. The subject is Rachel Dunn (nicknamed ‘Cherry’), Goodsir’s partner of more than twenty years and the inspiration for her greatest work. They met in London and moved to Paris’s Latin Quarter in 1921, a place of freedom and possibility for queer people. Cherry was a constant presence in Goodsir’s work, which received considerable critical acclaim in Europe and Australia. Goodsir died in Paris in 1939, with Cherry the sole beneficiary of her estate. When Cherry died in 1950, she was buried at Goodsir’s side.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Paris, France
Inscription
inscribed in light brown paint l.l.: Agnes GOODSiR / 1926
Accession Number
1779-4
Department
Australian Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation