IAN FAIRWEATHER 1891-1974 Mulberries, Hangchow (1936) oil and pencil on paper on cardboard 49.2 x 54.7 cm PROVENANCE Ian Fairweather, Zamboanga The Redfern Gallery, London Mervyn Horton, Sydney The Estate of the Late Mervyn Horton, Sydney Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne (stock 9000) Private Collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above on 23 November 1983 EXHIBITED Recent Paintings by Ian Fairweather, The Redfern Gallery, London, 7-30 January 1937, no. 7 Summer Salon, The Redfern Gallery, London, 1938, no. 120 Summer Salon, The Redfern Gallery, London, 1940, no. 120 Ian Fairweather: Paintings of China and the Philippines, The Redfern Gallery, London, 15 October – 7 November 1942, no. 42, ‘Mulberry Trees, Hangchow' On long-term loan to Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, December 2005 – February 2025 LITERATURE Murray Bail, Fairweather, Bay Books, Sydney, 1981, cat. no. 41, figure 19, pp. 53, 54 (illustrated), 233 Daniel Thomas, ‘The Mervyn Horton Collection', Art and Australia, The Fine Arts Press, Sydney, Vol. 21, No. 1, Spring 1983, p. 81 (illustrated) Murray Bail, Fairweather, Murdoch Books, Sydney, 2009, cat. no. 34, plate 27, pp. 48 (illustrated), 247
IAN FAIRWEATHER 1891-1974 Seated Women 1949 gouache on paper on hardboard dated ‘1949 [in Chinese]' lower left; signed ‘IF' lower right 54 x 49 cm PROVENANCE Ian Fairweather, Cairns The Macquarie Galleries, Sydney Mr J. Kemelfield, acquired from the above in April 1949 Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne (stock 6492) Private Collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above on 13 April 1978 EXHIBITED Easter 1949, The Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 6-23 April 1949, no. 11, 25 gns Autumn Exhibition 1978: Recent Acquisitions 1978, Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne, 7-20 April 1978, no. 96, ‘Three Figures', illustrated On long-term loan to Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, December 2005 – February 2025 LITERATURE Murray Bail, Fairweather, Bay Books, Sydney, 1981, cat. no. 81, plate 41, pp. 90, 92 (illustrated), 237 Murray Bail, Fairweather, Murdoch Books, Sydney, 2009, cat. no. 83, plate 64, pp. 87, 88 (illustrated), 250
IAN FAIRWEATHER 1891-1974 Banjo (1964) synthetic polymer paint and gouache on cardboard on composition board 91 x 71 cm frame: original, maker unknown, Sydney PROVENANCE Ian Fairweather, Bribie Island Macquarie Galleries, Sydney Private Collection, Sydney, acquired from the above on 22 July 1964 EXHIBITED Exhibition of Paintings: Ian Fairweather, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 5-17 August 1964, no. 2 LITERATURE Daniel Thomas, ‘Best One Man Show', The Sunday Telegraph, Sydney, 9 August 1964, (illustrated)
PROPERTY FORMERLY FROM THE COLLECTION OF RUTH PROWSE, CANBERRA IAN FAIRWEATHER (1891-1974) (Mother and Child) 1958 gouache on cardboard 52.5 x 37.0 cm; 85.5 x 68.0 cm (framed)
Ian Fairweather (1891-1974) Outside the Walls of Peking, 1935 initialled lower left: 'IF' oil and pencil on heavy card 49.0 x 57.0cm (19 5/16 x 22 7/16in).
Ian Fairweather. Text by Murray Bail. Bay Books, Sydney 1981. Blue cloth binding with gilt details and dustwrapper. Wrapper faded, else in very good condition.
Two Ian Fairweather exhibition catalogues. 1) Fairweather: A Retrospective Exhibition. Introduction by Robert Smith. Published by Queensland Art Gallery, 1965. In good condition. 2) Ian Fairweather May 18-June 14 1984. A limited edition. Held in Brisbane at the Philip Bacon Galleries. This copy has been signed by the Gallery owner Philip Bacon on the first page. Bumped corners.
Murray Bail Ian Fairweather Sydney: Bay Books, 1981. Deluxe Edition. Signed by the Author. 32cm x 26cn. 264 pages, colour illustrations. Blue cloth, gilt lettering, slipcase. The deluxe edition limited to 100 numbered copies signed by Bail, of which this is number 60. Fine Condition.
FAIRWEATHER, Ian (1891-1974) Rooster, c.1915. No signature apparent. Ink on Paper 18.5x15cm EXHIBITIONS: Philip Bacon Galleries, Ian Fairweather 1891-1974 Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, 19th May-14th June 1984, cat #6 (label verso)
The Drunken Buddha by Ian Fairweather. Published by University of Queensland Press in 1965. Original cloth in dustwrapper. Dustwrapper chipped and price clipped else a very good copy
Ian Fairweather by Murray Bail. Bay Books 1981. First Edition. Hardcover in dust wrapper in very good condition, dust wrapper is a little bit faded. 33cm x 26cm
The Drunken Buddha by Ian Fairweather. Published by University of Queensland Press in 1965. Original cloth in dustwrapper, Very good copy inscribed ' To Mr Carl Plats with thanks and best wishes from Ian Fairweather'
§ IAN FAIRWEATHER 1891-1974 Summer (1964) synthetic polymer paint and gouache on cardboard on hardboard signed 'Ian Fairweather' lower right; inscribed 'Summer' verso 72.1 x 101.5 cm frame: original, maker unknown, Sydney PROVENANCE Ian Fairweather, Bribie Island Macquarie Galleries, Sydney Hazel Hughes, Sydney, acquired from the above in May 1965 for £210.0.0. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, gift from the above in memory of Norman Schureck in 1965 Fine Art Auction, Deutscher and Hackett, Sydney, 17 November 2010, lot 6, illustrated Selwyn and Renata Litton, Sydney, acquired from the above EXHIBITED Other Recent Works by Ian Fairweather exhibited with The Drunken Buddha Series, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 12-24 May 1965, no. 20 LITERATURE Murray Bail, Ian Fairweather (rev. ed.), Murdoch Books, Sydney, 2009, cat. no. 206, plate 180, pp. 208 (illustrated), 210, 259
IAN FAIRWEATHER (1891 - 1974) PEKING WALLS, 1948 gouache and pencil on paper 41.5 x 46.0 cm (sheet) signed indistinctly lower left: Fairweather PROVENANCE The Redfern Gallery Ltd., London (label attached verso) Mrs Ruth Keating, London, acquired from the above in 1948 Thence by descent Private collection, USA EXHIBITED Ian Fairweather, Redfern Gallery, London, 28 October – 20 November 1948, cat. 40 ESSAY No Australian twentieth century artist understood Asia better than Ian Fairweather. It began in improbable circumstances as a prisoner of war. He enlisted in the British Army in June 1914 and, within two months of arriving in France, was captured by the Germans. He read works by E. F. Fenollosa and Lafcadio Hearn (two distinguished scholars on Japan), illustrated prisoner-of-war magazines and attempted unsuccessful escapes. Back in London he studied at the Slade School of Fine (1920 – 24) while attending evening classes in Japanese and Chinese at the School of Oriental and African Studies. By 1929, he was in Shanghai and remained in China until 1932. His peripatetic nature, restless curiosity and affection for China saw him return there in 1935 where he was ‘completely at home with (his) fellows.’1 Travel to other places followed, from South East Asia to Calcutta – and regardless of location, Chinese subjects continued. It was a necessary and essential part of his personality. Indeed, the idea for Monastery, 1961 (National Gallery of Australia) remained in his memory for more than two decades before it was realised.2 In Peking Walls, 1948 we find Fairweather’s synchronised approach to painting, one which would evolve into larger, grand paintings during the sixties. Both however have the same underpinning: Chinese thought and experience, and his unmistakable, idiosyncratic technical fluency. Drawing with paint is used extensively across mediums – from paper to card and wooden panels, calligraphic-like gestures over layered surfaces result in final irregular painting, a finished work. Fairweather’s observation is always one of creative approximation, forever avoiding the dullness of literalism.3 There is no suggestion of a clichéd, exotic Western unfamiliarity in Peking Walls where stereotypes might suffice. Fairweather was too immersed in Chinese culture, philosophy, language and art to fall into some kind of Asian Grand Tour romanticism. While certain subtle inflections suggest a nod to Matisse and the French Nabis – for example, painted lineal suggestions and blotchy shapes of colour – there are specific Chinese characteristics in works such as these as well. There are also similarities with Peking Tea Room, 1936 (Art Gallery New South Wales) – it clearly complements Peking Walls but is one of many later iterations of subjects that remained a perpetual echo. What might appear as Fairweather’s clumsiness of execution as an individual stylistic trait, is actually an aesthetic virtue shaped by his understanding of Chinese painting. As Pierre Ryckmans notes in his discussion of spiritual deficiency and finish in Chinese painting, ‘…technical virtuosity and seductiveness in a painting are considered vulgar, as they precisely suggest the slick fluency of a professional answering a client’s commission and betray a lack of inner compulsion on the part of the artist.’4 Peking Walls is the clear, continuing and evolving expression born from his visits to China in the 30s. Fairweather paints vastness and intimacy, figures in the foreground to a mid-ground market canopy. The painted lineal sweeps in halftones are interspersed with his familiar use of a rich ultramarine or, in Fairweather’s specific case, Reckitt’s blue.5 1. Abbott-Smith, N., Ian Fairweather: profile of a painter; University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1978, p. 27 2. Capon, J., ‘The China Years’ cited in Bail, M., et al., Fairweather, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1994, p.63 3. For a specific analysis of Fairweather’s approach see, Fisher, T., The Drawings of Ian Fairweather, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1997, pp. 4 – 7 4. Ryckmans, P., ‘The Amateur Artist’, in Bail, op. cit., pp. 15 – 23 5. Roberts, C. & Thompson, J., (eds.), Ian Fairweather: A Life in Letters, Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2019. This publication provides a rich, first-person account in letters from the artist, many of which are about China. DOUG HALL AM
IAN FAIRWEATHER 1891-1974 Two Figures synthetic polymer paint and gouache on cardboard on hardboard 93 x 68.5 cm PROVENANCE Ian Fairweather, Bribie Island The Estate of the Late Ian Fairweather, Queensland Australian Paintings, Christie's Australia, Melbourne, 28 April 1976, lot 110 Private Collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above
1) The Drawings of Ian Fairweather, by Tim Fisher. National Gallery of Australia (1997). Hardcover, no dust wrapper in good condition. 30cm x 24cm. 2) The Drunken Buddha, by Ian Fairweather. University of Queensland Press (1965). Hardcover with dust wrapper. Tan edges, otherwise in good condition. 25cm x 24cm
§ IAN FAIRWEATHER 1891-1974 Composition (1961) synthetic polymer paint and gouache on cardboard signed 'I Fairweather' lower left 42 x 58 cm PROVENANCE Ian Fairweather, Bribie Island Macquarie Galleries, Sydney Alexander Slutzkin, Sydney, acquired from the above in 1961 The Estate of the Late Alexander Slutzkin, Sydney Private Collection, Sydney EXHIBITED Ian Fairweather, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 14-23 June 1961, no. 13, 25 gns
IAN FAIRWEATHER 1891-1974 On the Lake (1964) synthetic polymer paint and gouache on cardboard on hardboard inscribed 'On the Lake' lower centre; signed 'Ian Fairweather' lower right 69 x 93 cm PROVENANCE Ian Fairweather, Bribie Island Macquarie Galleries, Sydney Mrs M.A. McGrath, Sydney, acquired from the above in May 1965, until Australian Historical and Contemporary Drawings and Paintings, Christie's Australia, Melbourne, 6 March 1970, lot 63, illustrated Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne (stock 2017), acquired from the above Private Collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above on 10 March 1970 EXHIBITED The Drunken Buddha: Ian Fairweather, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 12-24 May 1965, no. 6, 275 gns Ian Fairweather: The Drunken Buddha, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville, 29 November 2014 - 15 March 2015 LITERATURE Ian Fairweather, The Drunken Buddha, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1965, p. 155 (illustrated) Murray Bail, Fairweather (rev. ed.), Murdoch Books, Sydney, 2009, p. 204 Ian Fairweather, The Drunken Buddha (rev. ed.), University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 2015, pp. 143 (illustrated), 165
FAIRWEATHER, Ian (1891-1974) 'Near Kvam, Norway,' c.1925. No signature apparent. Provenance: Geoff Brown, Brisbane; Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane (label attached verso); private collection, Queensland, purchased from the above in 1984; Estate of the above, Queensland. W/Clr 20.5x29cm OTHER NOTES: Exhibitions: Ian Fairweather (1891-1974) Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane, 19 May-14 June 1984, cat. 25 (as 'Near Kvan, Norway?[sic.]'). Daws, L. and Bail, M., Ian Fairweather, exhibition catalogue, Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane, 1984, cat. 25, pp. 20 (illus.), 31 (as 'Near Kvan, Norway?[sic.]')
IAN FAIRWEATHER (1891 – 1974) HEAD OF A GIRL, 1949 ink and gouache on paper 23.5 x 17.0 cm signed with initials (as Chinese character) lower right: IF PROVENANCE Stanley Coe Gallery, Melbourne Guelda Pyke, Melbourne Joseph Brown, Melbourne Christie’s, Sydney, 22 October 1975, lot 489 (as ‘A Girl’s Head, c.1950’) Private collection, Sydney EXHIBITED Gouache Drawings by Ian Fairweather, Stanley Coe Gallery, Melbourne, 24 July – August 1, 1951, cat. 15 Spring, Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne, 7 – 23 October 1974, cat. 50 (as ‘Head Study’) (illus. in exhibition catalogue) We are grateful to Murray Bail for his assistance with this catalogue entry.
IAN FAIRWEATHER (1891 – 1974) INDIAN ROADSIDE, 1949 ink and gouache on paper 18.5 x 22.5 cm signed with initials (as Chinese character) lower right: IF PROVENANCE Macquarie Galleries, Sydney V.C. Millane, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 1953 Leonard Joel, Melbourne, 1 August 1984, lot 11 Private collection, Sydney EXHIBITED An Exhibition of Drawings, Ian Fairweather, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 21 September – 1 October 1949, cat. 15 We are grateful to Murray Bail for his assistance with this catalogue entry.
IAN FAIRWEATHER (1891 – 1974) MUSICIAN, 1951 gouache on paper on composition board 47.5 x 67.5 cm signed and dated lower right (in Chinese characters): IF 1951 PROVENANCE Macquarie Galleries, Sydney Robert Shaw, Sydney Thence by descent Private collection, Sydney EXHIBITED Exhibition of Paintings Easter 1953, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 31 March – 20 April 1953, cat. 7 Contemporary Australian Paintings from Private Collections in Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 28 September – 19 October 1955, cat. 26 (as ‘Reclining Figure’) Fairweather: a retrospective exhibition, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 3 June – 4 July 1965; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 21 July – 22 August 1965; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 9 September – 10 October 1965; National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 26 October – 21 November 1965; Western Australian Art Gallery, Perth, 9 December 1965 – 16 January 1966; Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, 10 February – 13 March 1966, cat. 26 (as ‘Reclining Figure, about 1953?’) Exhibition of the Private Collection of Robert Shaw Esq., Gallery A, Sydney, arranged by the exhibitions committee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 13 – 16 August 1966, cat. 22 (as ‘Lute Player, 1952’) LITERATURE Art and Australia, Ure Smith, Sydney, Vol. 1, No. 1, May 1963, p.34 (illus. as ‘Lute Player (1949) Collection Robert Shaw’) McGregor, C. (et. al), In the Making, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1969, p. 147 (as ‘Reclining Figure’, image reversed) Bail, M., Fairweather, Bay Books, Sydney & London, 1981, pl. 48, cat. 95, pp. 98, 106 (illus.), 238 ESSAY By the time Ian Fairweather painted this voluptuous image, the British-born artist had already travelled through China, Bali, the Philippines, and India. The memories of these places, particularly of traditional village life, left tangible traces throughout his subsequent paintings. In spite of his self-imposed exclusion from society, Fairweather was fascinated with the lives of others, and his artworks are full of keenly observed imagery. However, it is the fusion of Eastern and Western painting styles that elevates his work. In the Australian canon, there was no one like him, and Musician, 1951, perfectly encapsulates all of these divergent influences. Fairweather’s first solo exhibition was held at the Macquarie Galleries in Sydney in 1949, by which time he was living in Cairns. His biographer Murray Bail describes this residence as being ‘an abandoned goat dairy in a forest of lantana. Nearby was the skeleton of a sawmill; within the wall-less space, he constructed a studio.’1 This became a particularly fertile period for the artist as a multitude of images, mostly figurative, poured out of his brushes. A particular subject was his memories of the sub-continent and Fairweather painted ‘dozens of India-based kneeling figures where the brush describes not so much chaste forms as the rhythms of line (and so of life).’2 His nomadic spirit caused the artist to leave Cairns in late 1949, and he hitch-hiked to Darwin in early 1950, again setting up in the least likely of places, an abandoned railway truck. Driven out by possums and rats, Fairweather moved into the rear half of a wrecked patrol boat on Dinah Beach at Frances Bay; and here he stayed until the now infamous raft trip to Timor in April 1952. The figure was again central to the works created in Darwin and key works from 1950-51 include Persimmon (National Gallery of Victoria), Palm Sunday (Queensland Art Gallery), and the boldly evocative Pied-à-terre (Art Gallery of New South Wales). In Musician, 1951, the reclining androgynous figure defines the picture plane, eyes shut and engrossed within the music being coaxed from the gourd. This is a hand-made, even rudimentary instrument, which bears only passing resemblance to other gourd-based examples, such as the Indian pungi made famous by snake charmers. Fairweather allows the waves of music to animate the background, undulating lines that mimic the indulgent swell of the musician’s belly. The artist preferred painting at night by the light of kerosene lamps, and would start with a single mark, which would then be added to and amplified as memories, sounds and smells ignited his inspiration. Such a strategy can be determined in Musician, a sense that the image has emerged from the artist’s mind as he progressed. The palette is simple but the sensuous result is not. Musician was not included in the artist’s exhibitions of 1951 and 1952, having already been purchased by the noted collector Robert Shaw. In 1953, Fairweather was ignominiously digging trenches in England, a result of his deportation from Timor. In the absence of new work, Shaw generously loaned Musician for exhibition at the Macquarie Galleries, thus allowing the creativity of this singular artist to remain in public view. 1. Bail, M., Ian Fairweather, Bay Books, Sydney & London, 1981, p.90 2. Ibid . ANDREW GAYNOR
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