GIRL IN A PRAM (STUDY FOR SUZANNE AND THE GOLDFISH), c.1948
William Dobell
gouache on paper on card
15.0 x 20.0 cm
signed lower left: W Dobell
inscribed verso: 7 years old / "His Niece" "Child in Pram" "Sir Laurence Olivier"
The Estate of Pro Hart, Broken Hill, New South Wales
William Dobell's fondness for the themes of children and family is captured poignantly in this painting of his young niece convalescing in the warmth of a sunlit verandah. Although aged seven, the pram was a necessity because she was not strong enough to support herself on a chair. The building and landscape views seen through the framing verandah suggest that it was painted at Wangi on the shores of Lake Macquarie, where Dobell had retreated after the bitter controversy of the 1943 Archibald Prize. However, by 1948 he was again in full stride and this painting combines a portrait of his little niece within the setting of his beloved Wangi landscape. The extensive use of white is characteristic, as a highlight, but also suggests something of the delicacy of the child's health and beauty. The handling of the paint recalls related works of young women, as in The White Lace Dress of 1946.
Children feature in Dobell's paintings from the early 1930s onwards - Billy Frost, 1932 (National Gallery of Australia, Canberra); Cockney Kid with Hoop, 1936; the engaging Boy with Dog, 1949 (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne); to Boy in Jodhpurs, 1953; and Rattails, 1959. Paintings of mothers and their children have already been referred to in relation to lot 30.
Girl in a Pram had its brush with fame. According to a typed note attached to the painting, Sir Laurence Olivier liked the painting so much that he commissioned Dobell to do a larger one. Another, larger version in oil does exist, titled Suzanne and Goldfish.1 According to Brian Adams in his later biography of Dobell, Olivier and Vivien Leigh showed great interest in Dobell's work during the time they spent in Sydney in July 1948, while appearing with the Old Vic Company at the Tivoli Theatre. Ill-founded rumours swept the city that Dobell was painting their portraits, but they did visit his studio and acquire one of his landscapes of Wangi.2 Dobell, however, was once more the talk of town when it was announced that he had won both the Archibald, with his portrait of Margaret Olley, and the Wynne Prize with the landscape, Storm Approaching Wangi. A record crowd visited the Art Gallery of New South Wales on the exhibitions' opening day, and Dobell was the focus - equally reviled and praised. Girl in a Pram is a little gem from this spectacular period.
1. See Sotheby's, Sydney, 28 August 2006, lot 1
2. Adams, op. cit, p. 234
DAVID THOMAS