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Lot 13
Leonard French(1928-2017)Colour Sketch for the 'Seventh Day', 1964
22 September 2019, 13:00 AEST
Sydney, WoollahraSold for AU$23,180 inc. premium
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Leonard French (1928-2017)
Colour Sketch for the 'Seventh Day', 1964
titled, dated and signed on artist's label verso: 'Colour Sketch for the 7th Day, Leonard French 1964'
enamel on hessian on composition board
92.0 x 92.0cm (36 1/4 x 36 1/4in).
titled, dated and signed on artist's label verso: 'Colour Sketch for the 7th Day, Leonard French 1964'
enamel on hessian on composition board
92.0 x 92.0cm (36 1/4 x 36 1/4in).
Footnotes
PROVENANCE
possibly David Jones Gallery, Sydney
Collection of the late Sir Warwick and Lady Fairfax, Sydney
RELATED WORK
The Seventh Day, 1962-65, enamel on hessian covered hardboard, 365.8cm diameter, in the collection of the Australian National University, Canberra
In his foreword for the 1965 David Jones Gallery exhibition catalogue, Leonard French gave the following account of what was to be one of his most celebrated series, The Seven Days,
'On the Greek Island of Samos in the summer of 1962, my son swam out through the clear water and on reaching me asked "How did the world begin?" It began right here in all this clear whiteness and my attempt to answer the rest of his question resulted in the paintings, 'The Seven Days.' They were commenced in London and completed three years later in Australia.
The First Day, black and white burnt earth, a landscape without colour.
On the Second Day the earth was divided from the sky by a rainbow sea, and there was light and colour on the earth.
On the Third Day the fish teemed in the sea, the serpent entwined with the turtles and the air was full of birds.
On the Fourth Day the man entwined by the serpent lay asleep beneath the earth, while a banner of left heralded his awakening.
On the Fifth Day the man breaks free of the serpent and thrusts up through the earth.
On the Sixth Day the man and woman embrace in the beautiful garden.
On the Seventh Day, all the days become one and everything was alive on the earth.'