Title
The mockers
(1945)
Artist
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Details
- Place where the work was made
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Murrumbeena
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Victoria
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Australia
- Date
- (1945)
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas on hardboard
- Dimensions
- 84.3 x 102.2 cm board; 86.2 x 104.0 x 3.0 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed l.l., black oil "Arthur Boyd". Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1965
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- OA1.1965
- Copyright
- © Art Gallery of New South Wales
- Artist information
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Arthur Boyd
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
Born into an extraordinarily artistic family, Arthur Boyd is considered one of Australia’s greatest painters of the 20th century. In the 1940s, he produced a series of paintings which tackled overtly biblical themes, set predominantly within the Victorian landscape near the Boyd family property at Murrumbeena, close to Port Phillip Bay.
'The mockers' is one of a series of about 15 paintings executed between 1945 and 1948 after Boyd’s discharge from the army. Responding to the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps, witnessed through newsreel footage, Boyd drew on his knowledge of the allegories of Pieter Breugel the Elder and Hieronymus Bosch, in an attempt to find a personal answer to the moral chaos and social disorder he observed.
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Exhibition history
Shown in 17 exhibitions
Contemporary Art Society Eighth Annual Interstate Exhibition (1946), Vickery's Galleries, Sydney, 12 Nov 1946–28 Nov 1946
Arthur Boyd (1950), David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, Sydney, 04 Sep 1950–16 Sep 1950
Twelve Australian Artists, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, Bath, 05 Sep 1953–26 Sep 1953
Twelve Australian Artists, City of Bradford Art Gallery, Bradford, 03 Oct 1953–24 Oct 1953
Twelve Australian Artists, Derby Art Gallery, Derby, 05 Dec 1953–26 Dec 1953
Twelve Australian Artists, City Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol, Bristol, 02 Jan 1954–23 Jan 1954
Twelve Australian Artists, City of Belfast Museum and Art Gallery, Northern Ireland, 30 Jan 1954–20 Feb 1954
Twelve Australian Artists, New Burlington Galleries, London, 12 Jul 1954–22 Aug 1954
Contemporary Australian Painting - Pacific Loan Exhibition (1956), Orient Lines, S.S. "Orcades", , 02 Oct 1956–25 Oct 1956
Contemporary Australian Painting - Pacific Loan Exhibition (1956), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 13 Nov 1956–02 Dec 1956
Arthur Boyd: Allegorical paintings (1958), Australian Galleries, Melbourne, Collingwood, 22 Apr 1958–05 May 1958
Arthur Boyd retrospective (1962), Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, Jun 1962–Jul 1962
Arthur Boyd retrospective exhibition (1964), Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 07 Mar 1964–21 Mar 1964
Arthur Boyd retrospective (1964), Museum of Modern Art and Design, , 05 May 1964–28 May 1964
Aspects of Australian Figurative Painting 1942-1962: Dreams, Fears and Desires (The 5th Biennale of Sydney), S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks, 11 Apr 1984–17 Jun 1984
Angry Penguins and Realist Painting in Melbourne in the 1940s, Hayward Gallery, London, 19 May 1988–14 Aug 1988
Angry Penguins and Realist Painting in Melbourne in the 1940s, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, 05 Oct 1988–27 Nov 1988
Arthur Boyd retrospective (1993-1994), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 Dec 1993–06 Mar 1994
Arthur Boyd retrospective (1993-1994), National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne, 30 Mar 1994–23 May 1994
Arthur Boyd retrospective (1993-1994), Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, 09 Jun 1994–21 Aug 1994
Arthur Boyd retrospective (1993-1994), Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 22 Sep 1994–20 Nov 1994
Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000
O Soul O Spirit O Fire: Celebrating Fifty Years of the Blake Prize for Religious Art, Queensland University of Technology, Australia, 23 Nov 2001–24 Feb 2002
The Murrumbeena Boyds, Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Caulfield, 19 Oct 2006–05 Nov 2006
Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, 05 Oct 2011–27 Nov 2011
Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, 10 Dec 2011–04 Mar 2012
Sea of dreams: Port Phillip Bay 1915–2013 (Part two), Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, 14 Dec 2013–02 Mar 2014
The Murrumbeena Boyds, Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Caulfield, 26 Sep 2015–06 Dec 2015
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Bibliography
Referenced in 38 publications
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Jenny Aland and Max Darby (Editors), Art Connections, 'Why talk and write about artworks', pg. 89-92, Port Melbourne, 1998, 91 (colour illus.).
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Jenny Aland, Art connections, Port Melbourne, 1991, 91 (colour illus.).
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Jane Alexander, Sea of dreams: Port Phillip Bay 1915-2013: Part Two, 'Introduction', pg. 9-15, Mornington, 2013, 12, 13 (colour illus.), 50.
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Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook, Sydney, 1972, 113 (colour illus.).
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Diana Brydon, Mosaic: a journal for the comparative study of literature, 'Tradition and Post-Colonialism: Hugh Hood and Martin Boyd', pg.1-15, Winnipeg, Sep 1982, 6 (illus.), 8 (illus. detail),11, 12 (illus. detail).
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Our Art Critic, The Sydney Morning Herald, 'Contemporary art more conservative', pg 5, Sydney, 12 Nov 1946, unknown. Review of Eighth Interstate Exhibition of the CAS.
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Rosemary Crumlin., O Soul O Spirit O Fire, 'Beginnings', Brisbane, 2001, not paginated. exhibition list
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Ursula De Jong, Art and architecture of twentieth century: Australia and the West: Study guide, Geelong, 1993, 87 (illus.).
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Patricia Dobrez and Peter Herbst, The art of the Boyds: generations of artistic achievement, Sydney, 1990, 100 (colour illus.). plate no. 93
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F.A.Philipp, Present opinion, 'On three paintings by Arthur Boyd', pg. 9-14, Melbourne, 1947, 11 (illus.).
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Peter Fuller', Modern painters, 'Arthur Boyd interviewed, pg. 20-26, London, Summer 1990, 22 (illus.).
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Margaret Garlick, Dissent: a radical quarterly, 'The extremes of Arthur Boyd', pg. 21-23, Melbourne, Spring 1964, 22.
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James Gleeson, Contemporary Australian painting, Unknown, 1956. cat.no. 5, lent by the artist
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Sasha Grishin, Australian art: a history, 'Murrumbeena and the humanist tradition in Melbourne art', pg. 332-347, Carlton, 2013, 340, 341 (colour illus.), 550, 557. plate no. 33.6
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Helen Verity Hewitt, Patrick White, painter, manqué: paintings, painters and their influence on his writing, 'Jerusalem', pg. 54-64, Carlton, 2002, 61.
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Jean Hillier and Denis Cryle (Editors), Consent and consensus: Politics, media and governance in twentieth century Australia, Perth, 2005, front cover (colour illus.).
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Dr Ursula Hoff, The art of Arthur Boyd, London, 1986, 17-18, 42-43. cat.no. 36
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Ursula Hoff, Meanjin, 'The paintings of Arthur Boyd', pg. 143-147, Carlton, Jun 1958, 144.
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Mervyn Horton (Editor), Art and Australia, Sydney, Sep 1965, 118 (illus.).
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Barry Humphries, Australians on Arthur Boyd, 'A conscientious chaperon', pg. 4-6, Melbourne, 1998, 4 (colour illus.).
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Paul Magin, The Murrumbeena Boyds: just like us; but different, Caulfield, 2006, 18. List of works.
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Ray Matthew, London magazine, 'Arthur Boyd', pg. 38-42, London, Aug 1963, 39.
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Susan McCulloch-Uehlin, The Weekend Australian, 'The lie of the land', pg. 16-19, Sydney, 20 Nov 1999-21 Nov 1999, 18.
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Janet McKenzie, Arthur Boyd: Art and life, London, 2000, 64 (colour illus., detail), 65-66.
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Barry Pearce, Arthur Boyd retrospective, Sydney, 1993, 64 (colour illus.). cat.no. 46
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Barry Pearce, Look, 'The legacy in Sydney Arthur Boyd', pg. 18-20, Melbourne, Jul 1999, 20.
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Barry Pearce, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian', pg. 13-35, Sydney, 1988, 24.
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Franz Philipp, Arthur Boyd, London, 1967, XII (illus.), 241. cat.no. 3.1, Biblical Paintings 1945-50, including The Grange Frescoes
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John Reed, Ern Malley's journal, 'Arthur Boyd: a personal reaction to his painting and career', pg. 29-32, Melbourne, Nov 1954, 31.
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Barrett Reid, Bernard William Smith, Janine Burke, Charles Merewether, Christine Dixon and Max Harris, Angry Penguins and Realist Painting in Melbourne in the 1940s, London, 1988, 76, 131 (illus.), 169. cat.no. 112
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T G Rosenthal., Retrospective exhibition of paintings, drawings and other work by Arthur Boyd: 14 April to 10 May 1969, 'The art of Arthur Boyd', Edinburgh, 1969, (illus.).
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Martin Terry, Masterpieces of Australian Painting, Sydney, 1984, 149 (colour illus.).
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Daniel Thomas AM (Editor), 1965 Acquisitions, Sydney, 1965, 13-14.
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Laurence Thomas, Twelve Australian artists, 'Introduction', pg. 6-10, London, 1953, 16. cat.no. 33
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Whitechapel Art Gallery and Arthur Boyd, Arthur Boyd: retrospective exhibition (1962), London, 1962. cat.no. 28
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Natalie Wilson, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Out of Melbourne: realisms and mythologies', pg. 163-164, Sydney, 2000, 164, 172 (colour illus.), 300.
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Mary Woodburne, Look, 'Arthur Boyd 1921-1999: The mockers', pg. 38, Melbourne, Jun 2000, 38 (colour illus.). Australian Icon series
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Editor Unknown (Editor), Daily telegraph and daily news, 'Emotional art in exhibition', Sydney, 13 Nov 1946, unknown. Review of Eighth Interstate Exhibition of the CAS.
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