A USTRALIAN G ALLERIES

GEORGE BALDESSIN Work from the Estate

MEDIA RELEASE

Exhibition Dates: 23 October - 11 November 2018 28 Derby Street Collingwood VIC 3066 Open 7 days 10am to 6pm

To be opened at 6.45pm by Emeritus Professor Sasha Grishin AM

Talk: Saturday 10 November 2pm Tess Edwards Baldessin - Behind the art of George Baldessin

‘What am I trying to express? – I think human weakness through the vulnerable figure without extracting its dignity no matter how uncertain… this is why distortion and the element of drama [are] ever present’ - George Baldessin

Coinciding with Baldessin/Whiteley: Parallel Visions at the National Gallery of Victoria, this intimate exhibition features a collection of signature prints, alongside several rarely exhibited paintings and drawings from the Estate. Baldessin’s singular artistic vision is revealed here not only through his etchings but also through a series of ink studies and delicate yet powerful drawings, exploring the female form, the landscape and his personal set of emblems.

George Baldessin’s powerful mark-making and mastery of technique was coupled with an acute sensitivity to, and observation of, the human condition, finding poetry in the inherent tension of life. Baldessin’s figures are animated by distortion and fragmentation, but also by the push and pull evident between the figures and their environment.

The work of George Baldessin is held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; all state galleries and regional galleries including Ballarat, Geelong, Mildura, Mornington, Sale, Warrnambool, Newcastle, Fremantle, Launceston and University collections including Melbourne, Monash and Hobart. In 2009 a major survey of Baldessin’s work was held at TarraWarra Museum of Art and Australian Galleries published the significant monograph on the artist’s work, titled George Baldessin: Paradox and Persuasion.

‘George Baldessin is one of the giants of post-war 20th century who only today is receiving his due recognition.’ - Emeritus Professor Sasha Grishin AM

Work from the Estate is current until 11 November 2018.

For more details or images contact: [email protected] australiangalleries.com.au 03 9417 4303