ST KILDA PROMENADE, 1951
CHARLES BLACKMAN
enamel on board
45.5 x 56.5 cm
signed lower left: BLACKMAN
signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: ST KILDA PROMENADE / BLACKMAN 1951 XMAS
Private collection, acquired directly from the artist
Thence by descent
Private collection, Melbourne
Eastgate Gallery, Melbourne
Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 2004
In 1951, Charles Blackman moved to Melbourne where he found the urban environment congenial to his work which reflected domestic and city life, as well as themes stimulated by the literature he was reading at the time. During this first year in Melbourne, Blackman also discovered the bayside suburb of St Kilda, where he would travel by tram to swim, draw and visit Luna Park. The drawings led to a series of paintings on the same theme, one of which, Luna Park, c.1951 – 52, is today housed in the National Gallery of Australia. The present composition features the Esplanade in St Kilda with its distinctive lights designed by the architect Walter Burley Griffin.