Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the National Collection

Media Kit

Clarice Beckett, Sandringham Beach, c 1933, oil on canvas, 55.8 x 50.9 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 1971

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'[My artistic aim is] to give a sincere and truthful representation of a portion of the beauty of Nature and to show the charm of light and shade, which I try to set forth in correct tones so as to give as nearly as possible an exact illusion of reality.'

Clarice Beckett

Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the National Collection presents an intimate, rarely seen group of works by one of the most original artists of early twentieth century Australia.

Deeply sensitive to the effects of colour, light and atmosphere, Beckett painted the life and scenery of her coastal home in south-east Naarm/Melbourne with an eye for the commonplace and fleeting effects of nature. Her work captures a world on the cusp of modernisation, evoking both the natural environment and simple pleasures of suburbia.

In 1972, the artist’s sister Hilda Mangan donated a group of Beckett’s works to the National Gallery. It is this collection that will be on view for the first time, their freshness and vitality recently restored by extensive conservation treatment.

Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the National Collection is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition supported by The Australian Government through Visions of Australia.

Curators:
Elspeth Pitt, Senior Curator, Australian Art
Deirdre Cannon, Assistant Curator, Australian Art

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