Title
The awakening
circa 1895
Artist
-
Details
- Other Title
- The awakening: Study for a fan
- Date
- circa 1895
- Media category
- Watercolour
- Materials used
- pencil, watercolour, gold paint, white highlights on silk fan
- Dimensions
- 14.2 x 42.2 cm silk (irreg.)
- Signature & date
Signed l.l., gold paint "CONDER.". Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1974
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 131.1974
- Copyright
- Artist information
-
Charles Conder
Works in the collection
- Share
-
-
About
Charles Conder returned to England, the country of his birth, in 1890, having established himself as one of the founders of the Heidelberg School of Australian impressionist painting. In England and in France, he was regarded as a member of the fin de siecle bohemian set, including among his intimates Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.
In his late work Conder favoured a romantic aestheticism, earning most fame for his decorative watercolours on silk. As with a number of other late 19th-century artists in France, Conder created a number of fan designs on silk between 1893 and 1905, inspired by contemporary literature and referencing 18th century imagery, utilising a deliberately pale palette to suggest age. Some fans were mounted but others, like this one, were not.
© Australian Art Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2004
-
Exhibition history
Shown in 7 exhibitions
Oil paintings and paintings on silk by Charles Conder (1900), Carfax & Co, London, 08 Dec 1900 -
Paintings and drawings from Agnew's London, David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, Sydney, 01 Oct 1974–19 Oct 1974
Paintings and drawings from Agnew's London, The Age Gallery, Melbourne, 29 Oct 1974–09 Nov 1974
Nineteenth century Australian watercolours from the collection (1991), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 13 Apr 1991–07 Jul 1991
Fin de Siècle: posters prints drawings from the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 Jan 1994–13 Mar 1994
Australian watercolours 1880s to 1990s, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 18 Nov 1995–14 Jan 1996
Australian watercolours 1880s to 1990s, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, 1996–1996
Australian watercolours 1880s to 1990s, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, 1996–1996
Charles Conder retrospective (2003-2004), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 14 Jun 2003–17 Aug 2003
Charles Conder retrospective (2003-2004), Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne, 05 Sep 2003–09 Nov 2003
Charles Conder retrospective (2003-2004), Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 21 Nov 2003–26 Jan 2004
Grand Courts collection rehang, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Nov 2021–2023
-
Bibliography
Referenced in 12 publications
-
Jean Campbell, Australian watercolour painters: 1780 to the present day, 'The 1880s and 1890s: Victoria and New South Wales', pg. 62-81, Sydney, 1989, 67 (colour illus.).
-
Bonny Cassidy., Tertangala, 'Charles Conder: a retrospective 1868-1909', Wollongong, Aug 2003. Exhibition review.
-
Renée Free, Fin de Siècle, Sydney, Jan 1994.
-
Ann Galbally, Craft arts international, 'Charles Conder 1868-1909', pg. 81-83, Sydney, 2003, 81 (colour illus.).
-
Ann Galbally, Charles Conder 1868-1909, 'Fans', pg. 159-161, Sydney, 2003, 167 (colour illus.), 195. cat.no. 85
-
Hendrik Kolenberg, Australian watercolours 1880s to 1990s, Sydney, 1995, 26 (colour illus.), 115. cat.no. 11
-
Hendrik Kolenberg, Nineteenth century Australian watercolours from the collection, Sydney, 1991. not paginated, cat.no. 17
-
John McDonald, Art of Australia. Vol 1: Exploration to Federation, ‘Individual and national feeling’, pg. 545-610, Sydney, 2008, 553-554. NOTE: General reference to Conder's fans.
-
Pamela Gerrish Nunn, Journal of design history (vol. 17, no. 3), 'Fine art and the fan 1860-1930', pg. 251-266, Oxford, 2004, 259 (illus.). figure no. 6
-
Public Programmes Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'K' is for Conder: Charles Conder retrospective, Sydney, 2003, (illus.). not paginated
-
Vivienne Webb, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Golden age', pg. 37-38, Sydney, 2000, 54 (colour illus.), 300.
-
Author Unknown, Paintings and drawings from Agnew's London, Sydney, Oct 1974. cat.no. 38
-
