41

PEGGY CROMBIE (1901-1984), Flowers on a Dish

oil on board
signed lower left: P Crombie
titled verso: "Flowers on a Dish"
39.5 x 54.5cm

PROVENANCE
The Kit and Betty Olsen Collection, Melbourne; Thence by descent
The David and Susi Caddy Collection

COLLECTION ESSAY
The David and Susi Caddy Collection (Lots 41 -114)

'If we are always arriving and departing, it is also true that we are eternally anchored. One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.' 1

The resonating tone of the David and Susi Caddy collection is an enduring spirit of wanderlust — a characteristic shared by the familial owners and the artists whose works are intertwined within the collection. For over 20 years, David and Susi Caddy have been making their yearly pilgrimage from England to Australia for three months of the year. They are now closing this chapter of their lives as they move to live full-time in England; parting with their beloved collection of Australian art, which intersects the journey of many generations roaming across Australia and abroad.

David and Susi's collection effortlessly navigates a century of Australian art, while also reflecting the narrative of their well-travelled paths. Housing exemplary archetypes from the defiant tonalist painters influenced by Max Meldrum's School (later coined Meldrumites) and George Bell, the collection ambles from this period to the later modernist and abstract attitudes of the mid to late 19th-20th century. The artists spanning these eras characterised the modern Australian psyche, displaced European attitudes striving to examine and interpret the new world they found themselves in. Their gradual awareness is apparent in the subject treatment and redefined palette employed to represent the subtle tones of the Australian landscape.

In 2001, David inherited a modest yet succinct selection of artworks from his uncle and aunt, Kit and Betty (née Caddy) Olsen. Betty Olsen was an artist in her own right studying under George Bell and Max Meldrum. She collected many works from her peers and acquaintances during her studies and throughout her life as a practising artist. David and Susi cared deeply for Kit and Betty and kept close contact until their passing. They admired the collection in its essence and resolved to conscientiously gather artworks that would complement it.

The lives of the two couples bear striking similarities — kindred spirits driven by an inherent earnestness to explore the world. When Kit Olsen retired from Melbourne Grammar School, he had a spell working for UNESCO. Kit and Betty lived abroad in Penang followed by Afghanistan for many years. David recalls how they recounted these experiences in detail, marvelling at the beauty and diversity of the places they visited.

In parallel, from infancy, David entered a lifetime of globe-trotting. Born in 1944 in Quebec, Canada, his father, an officer in the British Army, was part of a team of scientists who worked with the Americans in the development of guided weapons. David's father's work continued to establish the RAAF Woomera Rocket Range Complex in the 1950s, steering the family to settle in Adelaide. David was six months old when his mother and siblings undertook the intrepid journey by boat from Canada to Australia via England. Later in life, David's career as partner with PWC in London drew him to West Africa and South America for extended periods.

Both couples admired the worldliness in the lives of the painters that they collected. One can travel the world through these pictures –the majority painted through the eyes of a decisive array of distinguished Australian artists; impressions of London, Rome, Cairo and Paris are represented. The collection includes an early example by Nora Heysen titled Red and White Roses, 1934 (Lot 56), painted the year the young artist travelled to London in her mid-twenties; Charles Blackman's moody silhouette of the Parisian Streets (Lot 67) executed in the Antipodeans archetypal style; Hayward Veal's fragmented details of the coast of Normandy and Paris Market scenes (Lot 43 and 46); Charles Bush's picturesque watercolour renditions of Venice and Cairo (Lot 50 and 48); and William Dargie's grand tour of Roman ruins (Lot 49). The collection also holds several classic examples by Dorothy Braund, an emphatic traveller, who, along with fellow artist Guelda Pyke, navigated a Kombi van through Pakistan, Iran and Turkey in the 1950s without maps, surviving by sheer bravado. 2

Complimenting the distinctly European flavour of the collection is a delightful representation of the Australian terrain; the enigmatic landscape has a way of beckoning wayward travellers home. Dorothy Braund's quintessential fixation on the beach is characterised in Hot Day (Lot 64), an impressive panoramic figurative painting and a striking example of her command of composition. A classic watercolour in deep earthy tones by Hans Heysen, In the Brachia, 1950 (Lot 54), purchased in London by its current owners is testimony to the adage that distance makes the heart grow fonder; Helen Ogilvie's galvanised-iron capped church epitomising rudimentary rural aesthetics (Lot 44); and a rare streetscape by Ernest Buckmaster depicting Collins Street's ‘Paris End' (Lot 42) illustrates the blinding Australian sun silhouetting pedestrians crossing the street one busy afternoon in 1926. Each work reflects the disparate nature of the country's landscape, its contradictions, and its unique splendours, all inherently bound by their respective artists' heritage.

For the last 20 years, David and Susi's collection has proudly adorned the walls of their Toorak apartment; now bare, the images remain firmly planted in their mind's eye. After years of careful curation and preservation, this esteemed collection is now ready to journey once again to the collections of new custodians who will cherish and appreciate their intrinsic grace and sincerity.

Footnotes:
1. Henry Miller, 'Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch', United States, New Directions, published 1957, p. 25
2. Dorothy Braund Retrospective, Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum, 2006, p. 11

  • Condition: The painted surface area is reasonably stable, and there is no significant paint loss. There is paint contraction / cracking throughout the image and there are areas of wave in the board. Small pin holes to the corners. Scattered areas of discolouration / dirt marks. Overall this lot is in good condition.

    * All statements by Gibson’s in the catalogue entry for the property or in the condition report, or made orally or in writing elsewhere, are statements of opinion and are not to be relied upon as statements of fact. Such statements do not constitute a representation, warranty or assumption of liability by Gibson’s of any kind. References in the catalogue entry to the condition report to damage or restoration are for guidance only and should be evaluated by personal inspection by the bidder or a knowledgeable representative. The absence of such a reference does not imply that an item is free from defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of any others. Estimates of the selling price should not be relied on as a statement that this is the price at which the item will sell or its value for any other purpose. Neither Gibson’s nor The Seller is responsible for any errors or omissions in the catalogue or any supplemental material.

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21 April 2024 12:00 AEST
Armadale, Australia

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