Nora Heysen Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Nora Heysen Art Value Price Guide

Sep. 23, 2024
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Sea Shells with Spring Flowers 1955 oil on canvas on board 48 x 58cm
Est: $20,000 - $35,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Sea Shells with Spring Flowers 1955 oil on canvas on board signed and dated lower left: nora Heysen 1955 artist's name and title on unknown label verso 48 x 58cm PROVENANCE: The Estate of Dina Kamsler, Queensland Thence by descent
Leonard Joel
Aug. 24, 2024
NORA HEYSON, Australian 1911-2003, Boy with Arrow, conte crayon on paper, 45x30cm
Est: $400 - $600
NORA HEYSON Australian, 1911-2003 Boy with Arrow conte crayon on paper Nora Heysen, AM was an Australian artist, the first woman to win the prestigious Archibald Prize in 1938 for portraiture and the first Australian woman appointed as an official war artist.
Lawsons
Jul. 24, 2024
NORA HEYSEN, Seated Nude, ink on paper, 37 x 30 cm. (14.5 x 11.8 in.), frame: 58 x 50 x 2 cm. (22.8 x 19.6 x 0.7 in.)
Est: $400 - $600
NORA HEYSEN Seated Nude ink on paper signed lower centre
Lawsons
Jun. 26, 2024
NORA HEYSEN, (1911 - 2003), Seated Nude, ink on paper, 37 x 30 cm. (14.5 x 11.8 in.), frame: 58 x 50 x 2 cm. (22.8 x 19.6 x 0.7 in.)
Est: $400 - $600
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) Seated Nude ink on paper signed lower centre
Lawsons
Jun. 26, 2024
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003), Zinnias and Fruit 1932
Est: $35,000 - $45,000
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, QUEENSLAND NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Zinnias and Fruit 1932 oil on canvas 55.0 x 45.0 cm; 72.0 x 62.0 cm (framed) signed and dated lower left: NORA HEYSEN 1932 bears inscription on backing verso: 'ZINNIAS + FRUIT'/ BY NORA HEYSEN
Menzies
Apr. 21, 2024
NORA HEYSEN
Est: $70 - $90
Nora Heysen by Lou Klepac. Published by Beagle Press, 1989. Hardcover in dustwrapper. Some foxing.
Sydney Rare Book Auctions
Apr. 21, 2024
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003), White and Red Roses 1934
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
oil on canvas signed and dated lower right: NORA HEYSEN 1934 41.5 x 45.5cm PROVENANCE The David and Susi Caddy Collection
Gibson's
Mar. 09, 2024
HEYSEN Nora (1911-2003), Mother and Child, Conte, 26x23cm
Est: $400 - $700
HEYSEN, Nora (1911-2003) Mother and Child Conte 26x23cm
Davidson Auctions
Mar. 09, 2024
HEYSEN Nora (1911-2003), Two Figure Studies (double-sided), Pen & Pencil, 27x18.5cm (sheet)
Est: $500 - $800
HEYSEN, Nora (1911-2003) Two Figure Studies (double-sided) Accompanied by original card folder. Pen & Pencil 27x18.5cm (sheet)
Davidson Auctions
Feb. 28, 2024
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) - Ballerina conte on paper 40 x 34.5 cm (frame: 59 x 54 x 4 cm)
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) Ballerina conte on paper 40 x 34.5 cm (frame: 59 x 54 x 4 cm) signed lower left
Lawsons
Feb. 07, 2024
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) - Ballerina conte on paper 40 x 34.5 cm (frame: 59 x 54 x 4 cm)
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) Ballerina conte on paper 40 x 34.5 cm (frame: 59 x 54 x 4 cm) signed lower left
Lawsons
Dec. 14, 2023
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) - Ballerina conte on paper 40 x 34.5 cm (frame: 59 x 54 x 4 cm)
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) Ballerina conte on paper 40 x 34.5 cm (frame: 59 x 54 x 4 cm) signed lower left
Lawsons
Sep. 21, 2023
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) Apples screenprint, ed. A/P (AF) 42 x 52.5 cm (frame: 73 x 92 x 5 cm) signed lower right
Est: $500 - $700
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) Apples screenprint, ed. A/P (AF) 42 x 52.5 cm (frame: 73 x 92 x 5 cm) signed lower right
Lawsons
Sep. 20, 2023
Nora Heysen (1911-2003) Still Life
Est: $30,000 - $50,000
oil on board, signed l.r.c. 'Nora Heysen'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Aug. 29, 2023
Nora Heysen (1911-2003) Still Life, 1977
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
Nora Heysen (1911-2003) Still Life, 1977 dated lower left: '/77' signed lower right: 'Nora Heysen' oil on board 33.0 x 43.0cm (13 x 16 15/16in).
Bonhams
Jul. 09, 2023
HEYSEN Nora (1911-2003), Male Portrait (Gordon Clarke), 1976., Pastel & Chalk, 32x24cm
Est: $400 - $600
HEYSEN, Nora (1911-2003) Male Portrait (Gordon Clarke), 1976. Pastel & Chalk 32x24cm PROVENANCE: The artist; Marian and Gordon Clarke, Sydney (acquired from the above); thence by descent.
Davidson Auctions
Jul. 09, 2023
HEYSEN Nora (1911-2003), Female Standing Nude, 1934., Conte, 46.5cmx25.5cm
Est: $1,000 - $2,000
HEYSEN, Nora (1911-2003) Female Standing Nude, 1934. With dedication verso handwritten by Nora Heysen. Conte 46.5cmx25.5cm PROVENANCE: The artist; Marian and Gordon Clarke, Sydney (acquired from the above); thence by descent.
Davidson Auctions
May. 09, 2023
NORA HEYSEN PAINTING
Est: €120 - €200
HEYSEN, NORA (Hahndorf / Adelaide Hills 1911-2003 Sydney), Drawing (red ink): "Jack", signed "Nora Heysen" and titled lower right; study sheet. Heysen, daughter of the landscape painter Sir Hans Heysen, studied art at the School of Fine Arts in Adelaide (with F. Millward Gray) and in London at the Central School of Art. During the Second World War she was the first Australian woman to be appointed official war artist. Framed behind glass in a mount. Measures approx. 36 x 26.5 cm in the mount; overall dimensions with frame 61 x 50.5 cm. Backside protection with stamp of the John Dunn - Gallery. From an Osnabrück collection with family connections to Australia.HEYSEN, NORA (Hahndorf / Adelaide Hills 1911-2003 Sydney), Zeichnung (rote Tusche): "Jack", unten rechts signiert "Nora Heysen" und betitelt; Studienblatt. Heysen, Tochter des Landschaftsmalers Sir Hans Heysen, studierte Kunst u. a. an der School of Fine Arts in Adelaide (bei F. Millward Gray) und in London an der Central School of Art. Als erste australische Frau wurde sie während des 2. Weltkrieges zur offiziellen Kriegskünstlerin ernannt. Hinter Glas im Passepartout gerahmt. Maße im Passepartoutausschnitt ca. 36 x 26,5 cm; Gesamtmaße mit Rahmen 61 x 50,5 cm. Rückseitenseitenschutz mit Stempel der John Dunn - Galerie. Aus einer Osnabrücker Sammlung mit familiären Beziehungen nach Australien.
Auktionshaus Rheine
Apr. 23, 2023
Nora Heysen (1911-2003) Still Life, Fruit and Flowers, 1955
Est: $15,000 - $25,000
Nora Heysen (1911-2003) Still Life, Fruit and Flowers, 1955 signed and dated lower right: 'Nora Heysen 1955' oil on board 45.5 x 33.0cm (17 15/16 x 13in).
Bonhams
Apr. 23, 2023
Nora Heysen (1911-2003) Self Portrait, 1936
Est: $80,000 - $120,000
Nora Heysen (1911-2003) Self Portrait, 1936 signed and dated lower right: 'NORA HEYSEN. 1936.' oil on linen 63.0 x 50.5cm (24 13/16 x 19 7/8in).
Bonhams
Feb. 26, 2023
Nora Heysen (1911-2003) Trobriand Island girl Oil on board Signed lower right
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
Nora Heysen (1911-2003) Trobriand Island girl Oil on board Signed lower right
Artvisory
Dec. 01, 2022
NORA HEYSEN, SELF PORTRAIT, 1971
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) SELF PORTRAIT, 1971 oil on canvas 87.0 x 67.0 cm signed and dated lower left: Nora Heysen / 1971 PROVENANCE Estate of the artist, Sydney Thence by descent Stefan Heysen, South Australia, the artist’s brother Thence by descent Private collection, South Australia LITERATURE Bogle, D., ‘Nora Heysen: Out of the shadows’, The Advertiser, Adelaide, 26 March 2019, illus. RELATED WORK Study for Self Portrait, charcoal and oil on card, 40.5 x 31.5 cm, in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 23, 2022
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003), The Old Chalet Kitchen 1977
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) The Old Chalet Kitchen 1977 oil on hessian 51.0 x 61.0 cm signed and dated lower right: Nora Heysen '77
Menzies
Oct. 16, 2022
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) "PORTRAIT OF WENDY"
Est: $1,000 - $3,000
Fine large pencil sketch of baby girl (Nb:This Artist first woman Archibald Prize winner 1938 for Portraiture)signed lower right 47cm x 39.5cm
Phillip Caldwell Auctioneers
Oct. 04, 2022
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Spring Flowers 1950 oil on canvas laid on board
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Spring Flowers 1950 oil on canvas laid on board signed and dated lower left: Nora Heysen 1950 artist's name and title inscribed on backing board verso 53.5 x 43.5cm PROVENANCE: Leonard Joel, Melbourne, 5 November 1980, lot 237 Private collection, Melbourne OTHER NOTES: Flowers have been part of Nora Heysen's earliest memories of the idyllic childhood life she experienced in Hahndorf, South Australia. As the daughter of one of Australia's most accomplished landscape artists, Heysen's practice began early in life, taking lessons with her siblings at their family home. Painting flower studies and garden scenes en plein air, these enduring memories created a profound impact on her practice seen throughout the entirety of her career. Painted at her home in College Street, Sydney, Still Life 1950 is a wonderful example of Nora Heysen's effortless ability to create a harmonious composition using daffodils, anemones, camellias and roses. This mature piece shows her freer technique, achieved through a quicker application and loose brushwork, most likely developed while painting as an official war artist in 1943. While producing many fine portrait and figural works in New Guinea and Borneo, Heysen reluctantly saw out her posting, desperately missing home, the climate, and access to the flowers from the surrounding countryside. While under instructions to only paint the daily interactions of the troops, she was court marshalled in New Guinea when she refused to take orders until her still-life painting was complete. She recalls "I'd arranged myself a beautiful native bowl full of flowers and I was sitting in the mess painting this when I had a signal to be moved on down to Lae, and I ignored the signal, and the jeep came along to collect me and I was said 'Go away! I'm in the middle of painting my flowers', and I continued to paint my flowers and got into hot water over this." [1] While the subject of the still life is at the core of Nora Heysen's oeuvre, every work is as unique and dynamic as the last, with subjects ranging from stylised vases of flora to impromptu bowls of fruit. Since this period of her war works, Heysen had narrowed her subjects almost exclusively to still life and interior scenes. Deepening her commitment and love of the subjects that took her back to a cherished time in her past, she creates a special intimacy between artist and viewer. Lucy Foster Senior Fine Art Specialist [1] Klepac, L., Nora Heysen, The Beagle Press Pty Ltd, Sydney 1989 p. 14
Leonard Joel
Aug. 21, 2022
HEYSEN Nora (1911-2003), Still Life with Apples and Pears, 1997., Pastel, 35x42.5cm
Est: $5,000 - $8,000
HEYSEN, Nora (1911-2003) Still Life with Apples and Pears, 1997. Pastel 35x42.5cm PROVENANCE: Lawsons 'The Estate of the Late Jane Glad,' 5th May 2019, lot 69 (catalogue included); a private collection, Sydney.
Davidson Auctions
Aug. 21, 2022
HEYSEN Nora (1911-2003), Female Nude, Pencil, 32x48cm
Est: $300 - $500
HEYSEN, Nora (1911-2003) Female Nude Pencil 32x48cm PROVENANCE: A private collection, Sydney.
Davidson Auctions
Aug. 16, 2022
NORA HEYSEN, STILL LIFE OF BOTTLES (TRIPTYCH), 1926
Est: $7,000 - $9,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911 – 2003) STILL LIFE OF BOTTLES (TRIPTYCH), 1926 pencil and watercolour on three sheets of paper (triptych) 31.5 x 39.5 cm; 11.0 x 13.5 cm; 10.5x 13.5 cm (sheets) 54.0 x 59.5 cm; 41.0 x 32.0 cm; 37.0 x 32.2 cm (frames) i: signed and dated lower left: NORA HEYSEN 1926 ii and iii: signed with lower left initials N.H. PROVENANCE Private collection Sotheby’s, Melbourne, 22 April 1991, lot 105 Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne The Cbus Collection of Australian Art, Melbourne, acquired from the above on 29 April 1991 EXHIBITED BUS Art Collection, Wollongong City Gallery, Wollongong, New South Wales, 16 March – 12 April 1992, cat. 16 (as ‘Still Life’) The Reading Room: The Cbus Collection of Australian Art, Latrobe Regional Gallery, Victoria, 9 November 2013 – 20 April 2014 on long term loan to Wollongong City Art Gallery, New South Wales LITERATURE Nainby, B., Stanhope, Z., and Furlonger, K., The Cbus Collection of Australian Art, in association with Latrobe Regional Gallery, Melbourne, 2009, pp. 19, 53 (illus.), 221
Deutscher and Hackett
Jun. 29, 2022
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003), Self Portrait 1987
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Self Portrait 1987 oil on canvas 136.5 x 90.0 cm signed and dated lower right: Nora Heysen/ 1987
Menzies
Mar. 31, 2022
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003), Still Life with Flowers and Shell 1991
Est: $8,000 - $10,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Still Life with Flowers and Shell 1991 pastel on paper 53.0 x 74.0 cm signed and dated lower right: Nora Heysen/ 91
Menzies
Mar. 31, 2022
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003), Pears 1990
Est: $7,000 - $9,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Pears 1990 pastel on paper 35.5 x 49.5 cm signed and dated lower right: Nora Heysen 1990
Menzies
Mar. 17, 2022
Nora Heysen, Australia (1911-2013), Apples, Colour lithograph ed. P/P
Est: $800 - $1,200
Nora Heysen Australia, (1911-2013) Apples Colour lithograph ed. P/P Signed & titled lower margin
Theodore Bruce Auctioneers & Valuers
Dec. 08, 2021
NORA HEYSEN, CAMELLIAS AND MIXED FLOWERS IN A DELFT VASE
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) CAMELLIAS AND MIXED FLOWERS IN A DELFT VASE oil on canvas on board 40.0 x 30.5 cm signed lower right: nora Heysen PROVENANCE David Dridan, Adelaide (label attached verso, as 'Spring Flowers') Private collection, Adelaide, acquired from the above September 1967 Thence by descent Private collection, Adelaide
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 01, 2021
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003), Still Life
Est: $22,000 - $28,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Still Life oil on canvas 64.0 x 49.0 cm signed lower right: Nora Heysen
Menzies
Nov. 23, 2021
Nora Heysen (1911-2003)
Est: $700 - $900
Apples screenprint on paper, edition: 49/50, numbered, titled and signed below image '49/50, Apples, Nora Heysen'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Nov. 10, 2021
NORA HEYSEN, VASE OF FLOWERS, c.1940s
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) VASE OF FLOWERS, c.1940s oil on canvas 45.0 x 40.0 cm signed lower right: Nora Heysen PROVENANCE Artarmon Galleries, Sydney Private collection, New South Wales, acquired from the above in 1996
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 10, 2021
NORA HEYSEN, FREESIAS, 1985
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) FREESIAS, 1985 oil on canvas 50.0 x 61.0 cm signed and dated lower right: Nora HEYSEN / 1985 PROVENANCE Private collection, Sydney, acquired directly from the artist in 1986 EXHIBITED Nora Heysen, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 25 October 2000 – 28 January 2001 (illus. in exhibition catalogue, p. 52) Nora Heysen: Light and Life, Carrick Hill, Adelaide, 1 April – 28 June 2009; Geelong Art Gallery, Victoria, 11 July – 6 September 2009; S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, 14 November 2009 – 20 December 2009 and New England Regional Art Museum, New South Wales, 15 January – 14 March 2010 LITERATURE Klepac, L., Nora Heysen, The Beagle Press, Sydney, 1989, pp. 73 (illus.), 52 Hylton, J., Nora Heysen: Light and Life, Wakefield Press, South Australia, 2009, pp. 87, 146, 186 - 7 (illus.) ‘Life Class’, The Australian, Sydney, 23 May 2009 Willoughby, A.-L., Nora Heysen: A Portrait, Fremantle Press, Perth, 2019, p. 338 ESSAY When Nora Heysen held her first solo exhibition in December 1933, the critic for the Adelaide Advertiser was full of praise: ‘One may safely say that never has there been such a wonderful collection of still life studies on the walls of the Society of Arts’ gallery as that displayed by Miss Nora Heysen, daughter of Hans Heysen …’1 Still lifes were a lifelong passion, accompanied by portraits. And, as studio artefacts or objects associated with the person portrayed, still lifes even found their way into some of her portraits and subject pictures. Self Portrait, 1932 (Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney) is one fine example. Painted in the studio of her father, Hans Heysen, at ‘The Cedars’, it features the artist’s equipment of boards, bottles, and especially the palette, given to Nora by the internationally-famed Australian singer, Dame Nellie Melba. Another, London Breakfast, 1935 (National Gallery of Australia, Canberra), shows a table set with bread, milk, teapot, cut pumpkin and vase of flowers. Nora’s choice not to paint landscapes was intentional and understandable – ‘to avoid working in the same field as her father’2 – and her many still life paintings in Australia’s public collections are evidence of her extraordinary success in this regard. The years from 1934 to 1937 which Nora spent studying in London and visiting Italy and France, not only broadened her experiences, but provided a break from the conservatism and tonal realism of her early years. Returning to Australia in 1937, she moved to Sydney the following year, where, apart from war service, she would be based for the remainder of her long life. The move had auspicious beginnings. That same year, at the age of 28, she won the prestigious Archibald portrait prize with Madame Elink Schuurman – the first woman to do so. Another first was her appointment in October 1943 as an Australian woman war artist, serving as a captain in the Australian Women’s Army Service until 1946. Many of her works are now in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. Her exceptional drawing skills continued to be recognised when she was awarded the Queensland Art Gallery’s L.J. Harvey Memorial Prize for Drawing in 1973 and again, in 1975. Wider recognition came with a series of retrospective exhibitions. First, in 1984 at the Old Clarendon Gallery in South Australia, followed by the S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney in 1989, the National Library of Australia, Canberra in 2000, and Carrick Hill, Adelaide in 2009. Freesias, 1985 is a confident and characteristic later work. Informal in mood and presentation, although still based on the triangular composition, this highly expressive work seems to be almost drawn in paint. Engaging the same directness of her early still lifes, she adopts a higher viewpoint which, combined with the enveloping light and openness of brushwork, enhances the feeling of freedom within the privacy of one’s home. Bolder in style, colours are brighter and the composition more complex. Dominated by yellows and pinks, structure depends on the central darks, verticals and horizontals of the interior setting. Rapid execution, lively lines and gestural touches add to the friendly, conversational nature of the painting. 1. ‘Fine Still Life Studies. Nora Heysen Exhibition Open Today’, The Advertiser, Adelaide, 6 December 1933, p. 12 2. Thiele, C., Heysen of Hahndorf, David Heysen Productions, revised edition, Adelaide, 2001, p. 245 DAVID THOMAS
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 10, 2021
NORA HEYSEN, STILL LIFE STUDY, 1931
Est: $60,000 - $80,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) STILL LIFE STUDY, 1931 oil on canvas 51.0 x 61.0 cm signed and dated lower right: NORA. HEYSEN. 1931. bears inscription verso: no. 40 PROVENANCE Stephen Robert Delmont, Adelaide, acquired directly from the artist, c.1931 Thence by descent Private collection, Adelaide Thence by descent Private collection, Adelaide EXHIBITED Autumn Exhibition of Paintings and Craftwork, S. A. Society of Arts, Adelaide, 23 April – 9 May 1931, cat. 64 (label attached verso, as ‘A Study’) Nora Heysen, Society of Artists Gallery, Adelaide, 6 December 1933, cat. 41 LITERATURE 'Society of Arts', The Advertiser and Register, Adelaide, 23 April 1931, p. 11 (as ‘A Study’) ‘Fine Still Life Studies’, The Advertiser, Adelaide, 6 December 1933, p. 12 Cameron Wilson, S., From Shadow into Light. South Australian Women Artists Since Colonisation, Pagel Production, Adelaide, 1988, pl. 80, p. 62 (illus., as ‘Still Life’) RELATED WORK A Study, 1931, oil on canvas, 47.5 x 53.0 cm, Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth ESSAY Painted when Nora Heysen was about twenty years old, Still Life Study, 1931 is a work of outstanding quality. Reflecting gifts inherited from her renowned father, Hans Heysen, who had a very formative influence on his talented daughter, it asserts her early rights to be honoured as one of Australia’s finest still-life artists. In a letter to Lionel Lindsay in 1927 Hans proudly announced: ‘we have another artist in the family!’1 Commenting on her ‘remarkable aptitude’, he wrote: ‘[she] can paint a very fair still life – true in tone values with a nice sense of colour in light’.2 For Nora, the thirties were a decade of extraordinary achievement. She won the South Australian Society of Arts Prize for Still Life in 1930, and the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales purchased her Petunias, 1930 from the annual exhibition of the Society of Artists, Sydney. It was her first work to enter a public collection. Two years later, Howard Hinton, the perceptive and generous art patron, gave the Sydney gallery her self portrait of 1932. His gifts to Armidale, now in the New England Regional Art Museum, included Heysen’s Still Life, 1933, gifted in 1933, and Eggs, 1927 in 1934. Moreover, the Queensland Art Gallery acquired its first Heysen in 1931, the still life A Mixed Bunch, 1930. Aged just twenty-two, Nora held her first solo exhibition in 1933 at the South Australian Society of Arts, Adelaide. A sell-out, it included thirty still lifes, our painting among them. That same year she was awarded the Melrose Prize for Portraiture with Ruth, purchased soon after by the Art Gallery of South Australia, as well as the flower piece, Scabious, 1930. After some years of further study in London, Heysen returned to Australia in 1937. To top off the decade, in 1938 she became the first women to win the Archibald Prize with her portrait of Madame Elink Schuurman. Still Life Study, 1931 is a major work from these early years. A companion painting, A Study, 1931, is in the prestigious Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth. Both are powerfully painted in a tonal realist style. Eye-catching form is developed through tone and light, which, in turn, highlights the textures. Smooth eggshells contrast with crumbly bread and crisp lettuce (in our painting only) and shiny glass surfaces. Red seals on elegantly inclined Benedictine bottles top traditional triangular compositions. When Still Life Study, 1931 was exhibited in Heysen’s solo show of 1933, the critic for the Adelaide Advertiser praised her still lifes, especially those portraying vegetables: ‘“Onions,” “Red Cabbage,” and “Still Life Study” are perfect in draughtsmanship and colour, especially the study of an ordinary loaf of bread, a few eggs and a lettuce!’3 Brightly lit from the left, Still Life Study, 1931 has a heightened sense of reality, clarity and stillness that is arresting. Nevertheless, the everyday objects of bread, cheese and eggs evoke domesticity - familiar produce from the kitchen and grounds of the Heysen home, ‘The Cedars’, in the Adelaide Hills outside Hahndorf, where Nora spent her early years. 1. Thiele, C., Heysen of Hahndorf, David Heysen Productions, revised edition, Adelaide, 2001, p. 221 2. Ibid 3. ‘Fine Still Life Studies’, The Advertiser, Adelaide, 6 December 1933, p. 12 DAVID THOMAS
Deutscher and Hackett
Oct. 19, 2021
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Portrait 1954 conte on paper
Est: $600 - $800
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Portrait 1954 conte on paper signed and dated lower right: Nora Heysen/54 36 x 30.5cm
Leonard Joel
Sep. 14, 2021
NORA HEYSEN, MIXED FLOWERS IN A JUG (VERSO: STILL LIFE WITH PINEAPPLE), 1973
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) MIXED FLOWERS IN A JUG (VERSO: STILL LIFE WITH PINEAPPLE), 1973 oil on canvas 46.0 x 35.5 cm 60.0 x 50.0 cm (frame) signed lower left: Nora Heysen dated lower right: 1973 PROVENANCE Major Joyce Snelling MBE, Sydney, acquired from the artist Jennifer Manton, Sydney Estate of the above, Sydney This work is located at our Melbourne gallery
Deutscher and Hackett
Sep. 06, 2021
Nora Heysen, (1911-2003), Spring Posey in a Blue Vase, Oil on canvas
Est: $8,000 - $10,000
Nora Heysen (1911-2003) Spring Posey in a Blue Vase Oil on canvas Signed lower left
Theodore Bruce Auctioneers & Valuers
May. 17, 2021
Nora Heysen (1911-2003) Nude Backview Pen & ink on beige paper, faded
Est: $600 - $800
Nora Heysen (1911-2003) Nude Backview Pen & ink on beige paper, faded Signed lower centre 37 x 30 cm, 57.5 x 50 cm framed OTHER NOTES: Good condition, ink faded, aged discoloured paper,
Theodore Bruce Auctioneers & Valuers
Apr. 29, 2021
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) - Untitled (Two Polynesian Girls), c1940s 30 x 21.5 cm (framed: 48 x 38 x 2 cm)
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) Untitled (Two Polynesian Girls), c1940s pastel on paper 30 x 21.5 cm (framed: 48 x 38 x 2 cm) signed lower right
Lawsons
Apr. 29, 2021
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) - A Nude, 1937 40 x 30 cm (frame: 52 x 42 x 4 cm)
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911 - 2003) A Nude, 1937 oil on canvas on board 40 x 30 cm (frame: 52 x 42 x 4 cm) signed and dated lower right, titled and signed verso. Provenance: Estate of June Caroline Sherry
Lawsons
Dec. 01, 2020
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Still Life oil on canvas laid on board
Est: $14,000 - $18,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Still Life oil on canvas laid on board signed lower right: Nora Heysen 55 x 39.5cm PROVENANCE: The Rothschild Collection, Melbourne
Leonard Joel
Oct. 21, 2020
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Tomatoes 1951 oil on canvas on board
Est: $17,000 - $22,000
NORA HEYSEN (1911-2003) Tomatoes 1951 oil on canvas on board signed and dated lower right: Nora Heysen 1951 35 x 43cm PROVENANCE: Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle (label verso) Dr J. P. Rasmussen OAM Thence by descent Private collection, New South Wales OTHER NOTES: Related Work: "Tomatoes" 1939, oil on board, 44.2 x 55.6cm, Art Gallery of South Australia Nora Heysen achieved many firsts in her career. She was the first woman to win the prestigious Archibald prize for portraiture, and the first female Australian official war artist. As a young girl, Nora was strongly encouraged by those around her to pursue her artistic talents. Sydney Ure Smith, Lional Lindsay, and Will Ashton (friends of her father Hans Heysen) nominated her the winner of a prize amongst her siblings for the best artwork, and she later received an artist's palette from family friend Dame Nellie Melba in 1927 which remained with her for decades to come. With support behind her, Nora experienced early success being awarded the best still life at the South Australian Society of Arts when she was just 19. Nora Heysen's body of work displays her inherent preference for still life. Upon her return from London in 1938, it is believed that Hans agreed with her that she would focus on still lifes and him landscapes to avoid the comparisons between their work and allow each to maintain their own success. Although still life was a subject matter already deemed appropriate and acceptable for women painters, Nora chose it as she genuinely preferred it to painting en plein air. Still life enabled her to focus on form, shadowing, and diverse colouring. It should be noted that Nora was a very strong-willed woman, and so she would not have shyed away from painting the more "masculine" subject matter, such as landscapes, if she wished. Nora explored the various facets of still life painting, from florals to vegetables to objects. It was in compositions of fruits and vegetables, however, that we notice the inherent agrarianism. In "Tomatoes" 1951 the eggplant is bulbous, firm, and perfectly shaped. The tomatoes are rich, plump, and ripe for the eating. These still lifes are not just a study of objects, but a celebration of seasonal produce and the abundance of the land. Although Nora adopted a more elevated viewpoint, she was inspired by Henri Fantin-Latour especially his "Plate of Apples" 1861. In the book accompanying the wonderful exhibition "Hans and Nora Heysen", curator Tracey Lock fittingly identifies, "under the repeated sharp observation of everyday fruits and vegetables and cut flowers, the Heysens' empirical art came to denote a human interface with nature, where the journey was within. Resonating with a defining healing spirit, their quiet home-based paintings are as potent as any of the assertively modern or nationally self-conscious artistic expressions of their period. The still lifes remind us that as a space to contemplate in peaceful silence the simple beauty of natural forms and objects, there is indeed 'no place like home." (Hesson, A., Lock., T., Hans and Nora Heysen: Two Generations of Australian Art, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2019, p.106) Olivia Fuller Head of Art
Leonard Joel
Aug. 16, 2020
HEYSEN Nora (1911-2003), Study of Trees, 1930., Pencil, 28.5x32cm
Est: $400 - $700
HEYSEN, Nora (1911-2003) Study of Trees, 1930. Nora Heysen Centenary label verso. Pencil 28.5x32cm
Davidson Auctions
Aug. 16, 2020
HEYSEN Nora (1911-2003), 'The Red Vase', Oil on Panel, 46x33cm
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
HEYSEN, Nora (1911-2003) 'The Red Vase' Provenance: private collection, Sydney. Oil on Panel 46x33cm
Davidson Auctions