Born in North Italy, George Baldessin moved to Australia with his family in 1949. He was a well respected sculptor and printmaker, having won multiple awards in both mediums; he won the Geelong Print Prize in 1970 and the Comalco Invitation Award for sculpture in 1971, around the time when this work was produced.
This work was produced during the later part of the artist’s life and shows the power and inventiveness of his work, having been influenced during his trips to Europe in the early 1960s.
Although he was known for his radical figurative style during the 1960s and 70s when abstraction was dominant, the print titled Curtains shows the versatility of his practice and creative output.
This print is a key addition to Council’s collection as the first acquisition by this important Australian artist who had professional and social ties to various key figures in contemporary printmaking and the modernist movement during the 1960s and 1970s including Jan Senbergs and Daniel Moynihan, who are already represented in the collection.
Baldessin’s work is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; all state galleries and regional galleries including but not limited to Ballarat, Geelong, Mornington, Warrnambool & Newcastle; his work also appears in University collections including Melbourne University, Monash, and internationally at the Museum of Modern Art NY.
George Baldessin,
Curtains (1968-75), lithograph, artist proof, 99cm x 113cm. Yarra City Council Art & Heritage Collection. Donated in 2015 by Dr Jonathan Hartley.
Born in North Italy, George Baldessin moved to Australia with his family in 1949. He was a well respected sculptor and printmaker, having won multiple awards in both mediums; he won the Geelong Print Prize in 1970 and the Comalco Invitation Award for sculpture in 1971, around the time when this work was produced.
This work was produced during the later part of the artist’s life and shows the power and inventiveness of his work, having been influenced during his trips to Europe in the early 1960s.
Although he was known for his radical figurative style during the 1960s and 70s when abstraction was dominant, the print titled Curtains shows the versatility of his practice and creative output.
This print is a key addition to Council’s collection as the first acquisition by this important Australian artist who had professional and social ties to various key figures in contemporary printmaking and the modernist movement during the 1960s and 1970s including Jan Senbergs and Daniel Moynihan, who are already represented in the collection.
Baldessin’s work is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; all state galleries and regional galleries including but not limited to Ballarat, Geelong, Mornington, Warrnambool & Newcastle; his work also appears in University collections including Melbourne University, Monash, and internationally at the Museum of Modern Art NY.
George Baldessin,
Curtains (1968-75), lithograph, artist proof, 99cm x 113cm. Yarra City Council Art & Heritage Collection. Donated in 2015 by Dr Jonathan Hartley.
