About this work
September tablet was painted when Peter Upward was living in an old building in Victoria Street, Potts Point. Situated near Kings Cross, this area was a hub for Sydney’s avant-garde artists of the period, including John Olsen, Stan Rapotec and Clement Meadmore. Working on the floor and painting with broom-size brushes, Upward experimented with enamels and acrylic paints. September tablet is part of a group of gestural calligraphic works executed using a restricted colour palette that Upward produced in the early 1960s, and exemplifies the artist’s fascination with Zen Buddhism and Eastern calligraphy.