Title
Still Life: West Australian gum blossoms
1985
Artist
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Details
- Date
- 1985
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- synthetic polymer paint on hardboard
- Dimensions
- 122.7 x 91.5 cm board; 125.4 x 94.3 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed and dated l.r. corner, blue/green synthetic polymer paint "VV 85".
Signed and dated upper c. verso on hardboard, white synthetic polymer paint "VICKI VARVARESSOS/ 1985".- Credit
- Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Frank Watters 2018
- Location
- South Building, ground level, 20th-century galleries
- Accession number
- 38.2018
- Copyright
- © Vicki Varvaressos
- Artist information
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Vicki Varvaressos
Works in the collection
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About
Vicki Varvaressos belongs to a significant generation of artists who addressed women's issues in their work during the 1970s and early 80s. In her paintings from this period, such as 'Allure: What is it - Who’s got it' 1985, Varvaressos drew attention to how women were often misrepresented in the media by satirising their portrayal in glossy lifestyle magazines. From the mid-1980s, Varvaressos abandoned social commentary in her work for more traditional and introspective genres such as portraits and still-lifes. In 'Still Life: West Australian gum blossoms' 1985, Varvaressos pays homage to fellow pioneering woman painter in Australian art: Margaret Preston. This painting has its origin in an exhibition organised by the education department at the AGNSW in 1985 where contemporary artists were invited to create a work in response to Preston's 'Western Australian gum blossom' 1928.
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Exhibition history
Shown in 2 exhibitions
Frank's flat, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland, 27 May 2011–17 Jul 2011
Open Studio (brick vase clay cup jug), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 01 Jul 2023–07 Jan 2024
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Bibliography
Referenced in 2 publications
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Jennifer Phipps, Artists' gardens: flowers and gardens in Australian art, 1780s-1980s, Kensington, 1986. plate no. 207
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Frank’s flat: A selection from Frank Watters collection, Maitland, 2011. cat.no. 238; titled 'Proteas in vase'
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