Robert (1937) MacPherson Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Robert (1937) MacPherson Art Value Price Guide

Jun. 28, 2023
ROBERT MACPHERSON born 1937, Mayfair October Dingo Hire for D.P. 1999-2002
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
ROBERT MACPHERSON born 1937 Mayfair October Dingo Hire for D.P. 1999-2002 synthetic polymer paint on board (diptych) 91.0 x 122.0 cm (each); 91.0 x 244.0 cm (overall) panel (i) signed, dated and inscribed verso: #1/ 2 [illeg]/ #1 #2/ DINGO/ 04170/ HIRE/ 65618/ TITLE: "MAYFAIR: (OCTOBER) DINGO HIRE/ FOR D. P." 1999-2000/ DINGO/ HIRE/ 04170/ 65618/ "DINGO HIRE"/ MAY BE IINSTALLED/ IN SEVERAL POSSIBLE/ WAYS, HORZ' OR VERT'/ BUTTED TOGETHER/ OR WITH [illeg]/ 4'' SPACE ..... A LITTLE/ BIT OF FREEDOM 4 THE/ INSTALLERS [sic] TASTE./ R MACPHERSON/ 2002 panel (ii) signed, dated and inscribed verso: #2/ 2 [illeg]/ #1 #2/ DINGO 04170/ HIRE/ 65618/ OR/ DINGO/ HIRE/ 04170/ 68619/ "MAYFAIR: (OCTOBER) DINGO HIRE" [illeg]/ R MACPHERSON/ 2002
Menzies
Dec. 04, 2022
MACPHERSON Robert (1937-2021) (4), 'Mayfair: Four and a Grammar Pie for JP,' 1999-2000., Dulux Weathershield Gloss Acrylic on Whitec.
Est: $15,000 - $25,000
MACPHERSON, Robert (1937-2021) (4) 'Mayfair: Four and a Grammar Pie for JP,' 1999-2000. Signed, titled & inscribed verso (each panel). Ex Yuill/Crowley, Sydney. Dulux Weathershield Gloss Acrylic on Whitecote Masonite Board (4) 122x91.5cm (each)
Davidson Auctions
May. 22, 2022
MACPHERSON Robert (1937-2021) (4), 'Mayfair: Four and a Grammar Pie for JP,' 1999-2000., Dulux Weathershield Gloss Acrylic on Whitec.
Est: $20,000 - $40,000
MACPHERSON, Robert (1937-2021) (4) 'Mayfair: Four and a Grammar Pie for JP,' 1999-2000. Signed, titled & inscribed verso (each panel). Ex Yuill/Crowley, Sydney. Dulux Weathershield Gloss Acrylic on Whitecote Masonite Board (4) 122x91.5cm (each)
Davidson Auctions
May. 09, 2022
ROBERT MACPHERSON (born 1937) 5555 Frog Poems - The Boxers Robert Pene St Joseph's Convent Nambour 1947 1990-2006 mixed media on pap..
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
ROBERT MACPHERSON (born 1937) 5555 Frog Poems - The Boxers Robert Pene St Joseph's Convent Nambour 1947 1990-2006 mixed media on paper (10) titled and dated on artists label verso 29.5 x 41cm (each) PROVENANCE: Yuill|Crowley Gallery, Sydney Private collection, Melbourne OTHER NOTES: This work comprises 10 individual drawings created by MacPherson under the persona of his alter ego, Robert Pene. Pene is a grade 4 student at St Joseph's Convent, Nambour, in Queensland. Each sheet includes either a portrait of boxers Tommy Burns or Vic Patrick, a boxing glove, sometimes a caption added in Pene's uncertain script, with the paper deliberately stained to give apparent age from 1947 (a year after Burns and Patrick's most famous fight).
Leonard Joel
Nov. 25, 2021
ROBERT MACPHERSON (1937 - ) (5 WORKS) - Nature Studies Grade IV 29.5 x 41.5 cm (frames: 62 x 62 x 3 cm)
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
ROBERT MACPHERSON (1937 - ) (5 WORKS) Nature Studies Grade IV mixed media on paper 29.5 x 41.5 cm (frames: 62 x 62 x 3 cm) each signed "Robert Penne" upper left
Lawsons
Sep. 28, 2021
Robert MacPherson (b. 1937)
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
Dingo Hire of DP, 1999-2002 acrylic on masonite (diptych)
Shapiro Auctioneers
Sep. 28, 2021
Robert MacPherson (b. 1937)
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
Bib and Bub in Memory of DP, 1993-2001 dulux weathershield and acrylic on canvas (diptych), titled, signed and dated verso 'Bib and Bub in Memory of DP, R MacPherson, 1993-2001'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Jun. 24, 2021
Robert George Owen - Origami Series #7A, 1992
Est: $600 - $700
Robert George Owen - Origami Series #7A, 1992
Cooee Art
Nov. 23, 2020
Robert MacPherson (b. 1937)
Est: $2,500 - $3,500
Queensland Series (Left Hand), 1978 acrylic on plywood, inscribed, titled, signed and dated verso 'For Ray, Queensland Series (Left Hand), RM, 1978'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Nov. 21, 2018
Robert MacPherson (b. 1937)
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
Mayfair: (October) Lime Spider for Little E.E.W., 1999-2002, acrylic on board (diptych), titled, dated and signed verso 'Mayfair: (October) Lime Spider For Little E.E.W.'1999-2002 Robt's'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Nov. 21, 2018
Robert MacPherson (b. 1937)
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
Mayfair: BullaMaKanka, 1988, acrylic on board (diptych), titled, dated and signed verso 'Mayfair: BullaMaKanka, 1988 Jan/Feb, Robert MacPherson Brisbane'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Aug. 09, 2018
ROBERT MacPHERSON born 1937, 555 Frog Poems by Robert Pene 1990-2006
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
ROBERT MacPHERSON born 1937, 555 Frog Poems by Robert Pene 1990-2006 29.5 x 41.0 cm (each) (i) The Currawong (ii) The Carpet Snake (iii) A Kitty Hawk (iv) Looking to the Right, Looking to the Left (v) The Dodo (vi) A Storm Cloud (vii) Watching the Eclipse mixed media on paper (7)
Menzies
Aug. 09, 2018
ROBERT MACPHERSON born 1937, Sarah's Merle 1976-77
Est: $12,000 - $16,000
ROBERT MACPHERSON born 1937, Sarah's Merle 1976-77 180.0 x 30.0 cm (overall) each inscribed on stretcher verso: 19 each numbered on stretcher verso: 1-6 enamel on canvas (6)
Menzies
May. 15, 2018
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937)
Est: $500 - $700
Fresh Lettuce, 1979, collage on paper, titled, signed and dated l.m. 'Fresh Lettuce, Secular Red, RM, Brisbane, Aug '79'
Shapiro Auctioneers
May. 15, 2018
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937)
Est: $500 - $700
French Letters, 1977, collage on paper, titled, signed and dated l.m. 'French Letters, RM, Brisbane, Aug '77'
Shapiro Auctioneers
May. 14, 2018
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937)
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Conte A Paris, 1975, mixed media, conte Paris pastel sticks on paper, titled and signed below image 'Conte A Paris, Hommage to G.S.' (2)
Shapiro Auctioneers
Nov. 22, 2017
Robert MacPherson (b. 1937)
Est: $1,200 - $1,800
Up Down Left Right, 1977, ink and postcards on paper, titled signed and dated l.r.c. 'Up Down Left Right, RM, Brisbane, 30.4.77'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Nov. 22, 2017
Robert MacPherson (b. 1937)
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Ruler Reds, 1977, collage on paper, titled, signed and dated l.m. 'Ruler Reds, RM Brisbane, August, '77'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Jul. 25, 2017
Robert MacPherson (b. 1937)
Est: $800 - $1,200
For a Very Bonny Lass, 1974, mixed media on paper, inscribed verso, no.1., RM, 1974, For a Very Bonny Lass (4), 9.5 x 7.5 cm each, Provenance: Gift of the artist
Shapiro Auctioneers
Apr. 05, 2017
ROBERT MACPHERSON, born 1937, MAYFAIR: RED FIJI, FOUR SIGNS FOR KL, 1993, synthetic polymer paint on composition board, four panels
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
ROBERT MACPHERSON, born 1937, MAYFAIR: RED FIJI, FOUR SIGNS FOR KL, 1993, synthetic polymer paint on composition board, four panels SIGNED: panel 1 signed with initials and inscribed verso: 1 4/93 / RM panel 2 inscribed verso: 11 panel 3 inscribed verso: 111 panel 4 signed with initials, dated and inscribed verso: 493 IV / 4 PANELS / RM DIMENSIONS: 92.0 x 61.0cm each, 92.0 x 244.0 cm overall PROVENANCE: Yuill/Crowley, Sydney The Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, Sydney, acquired from the above EXHIBITED: Robert MacPherson, Mayfair, Yuill Crowley Gallery, Sydney, 1993, 9 October 10 November 1993 LITERATURE: Thomas, D., Everybody Sing. The Art of Robert MacPherson, Art and Australia, Sydney, vol. 33, no. 4, 1996, pp. 494 (illus.), 495 ESSAY: Heralded by René Block in 1990 as one of only two contemporary inheritors of the legacy of French revolutionary artist Marcel Duchamp, Robert MacPherson was a surprising addition to Australias cultural landscape.1 MacPherson, an autodidact from the tropical hinterland of Nambour in Queensland arriving late into the art world in the 1970s, is now considered one of the finest conceptual painters in Australia, producing works that combine the rigid teachings of Greenbergian formalism with philosophy and satire. Mayfair: Red Fiji, Four Signs for K.L., 1993, brightly exhibits MacPhersons appreciation for the quirks of language, carefully selected to resonate with Australian audiences. This multi-panelled painting was featured within the artists solo exhibition Mayfair at Yuill Crowley in 1993, a show prosaically named after the Art Deco sandwich bar in suburban Brisbane where the artist used to eat lunch. In 2015, the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (QAGoMA) staged a significant retrospective of this artists work, featuring sister works from this series. Known collectively as road sign paintings, these artworks by MacPherson all feature text appropriated from vernacular and utilitarian advertisements lining the arterial highways of inland Australia. Painted on standard issue masonite, Mayfair: Red Fiji displays the names of popular types of bananas grown in Queensland and Australia - Cavendish and Ladyfingers - scrawled in disjointed bright yellow letters on a black background. MacPhersons choice of colour is not insignificant it provides another avenue for the artist to interrogate the relationship between the signifier and the signified, the name and the object, with the colour being representative of the object simply by association. Furthermore, black-and-yellow reflective signage is particularly evocative of our local milieu, favoured for its ability to attract attention and remain visible within our sun-scorched landscape. Other notable Australian artists have also been quick to use this visual device for their own practice, the most famous perhaps being Rosalie Gascoigne. MacPhersons work records how language and image shape human interaction with the physical landscape. An art that reveres text as much as image, MacPhersons work uses letters that form a string of incidental text, the sense of which is not immediately visible to a cursory glance. There is instead an aesthetic rhythm in his succession of letters. Mayfair: Red Fiji reads LADY - / S FIN / GER / CAVE/ NDIS/ H. / RED / FIGIA/ N / -S / 1 KM, containing seemingly plausible spelling errors and a frieze of Warholian bananas drawn above each name signifying the visual appearance of the product. The series ends abruptly with a vertically oriented panel, jarring the readers consciousness into recognising the produce will be available at a location 1 kilometre away, much in the same way as a sequence of road signs gradually displays decreasing indications of distance before a landmark. Showing the artists love of sequence and of the arbitrary nature of taxonomy, Mayfair: Red Fiji is a humourous aside, elevating the experience of the humble Australian. The dedication embedded in the title of this work adds a human touch to MacPhersons dry conceptualism, K.L. being the initials of a former colleague, plucked from the artists blue-collar past and anonymously inserted into the whitewashed contemporary gallery. While initially presenting itself as obscure, MacPhersons work contains layers of cultural references, visual puns, linguistic double-entendres, creating a playfulness that rewards those who look beyond the surface of conceptual art. 1. René Block, French curator of the Sydney Biennale in 1990, Ready-made Boomerang, famously categorised MacPherson as a second-generation Duchampian Marxist artist. LUCIE REEVES SMITH
Deutscher and Hackett
Sep. 29, 2016
Robert MacPherson (1937 - ) - Untitled (The Mayfair Bar, 1983) 34 x 47cm
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
Robert MacPherson (1937 - ) Untitled (The Mayfair Bar, 1983) mixed media 34 x 47cm signed lower right
Lawsons
May. 17, 2016
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937)
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937) Rolled Drawings, 1979 (2) mixed media paper and fabric, signed, titled and dated verso 'Rolled Drawings in Brisbane Jan 79', 'Roll Drawings, R. Macphersonm, Jan 79'
Shapiro Auctioneers
May. 17, 2016
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937)
Est: $700 - $900
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937) St Josephs Convent Nature Studies Grade IV mixed media on paper, signed upper left 'Robert Pene'
Shapiro Auctioneers
May. 17, 2016
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937)
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937) Green and White acrylic on canvas Private Collection label verso
Shapiro Auctioneers
Nov. 30, 2015
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937) - Drawing Line Crossing itself at 5 Points, 1975
Est: $500 - $700
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937) Drawing Line Crossing itself at 5 Points, 1975 pencil and ink on paper, titled, signed and dated below image 'Drawing Line Crossing itself at 5 Points, for Jill and Ray X'mas, '75 Bob Macpherson' 26.5 x 24.5 cm
Shapiro Auctioneers
Nov. 30, 2015
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937) - Fresh Lettuce, 1979
Est: $700 - $900
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937) Fresh Lettuce, 1979 collage on paper, titled, signed and dated l.m. 'Fresh Lettuce, Secular Red, Aug '79' 39 x 29 cm
Shapiro Auctioneers
Nov. 30, 2015
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937) - French Letters, 1977
Est: $700 - $900
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937) French Letters, 1977 collage on paper, titled, signed and dated l.m. 'French Letters, RM, Brisbane, Aug '77' 39 x 29 cm
Shapiro Auctioneers
Nov. 30, 2015
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937) - Gesture Pantry, 1977
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Robert Macpherson (b. 1937) Gesture Pantry, 1977 signed, titled and dated verso 'Robert Macpherson, Gesture Pantry, 1977' (2) each panel 57 x 50 cm
Shapiro Auctioneers
Aug. 26, 2015
ROBERT MACPHERSON, born 1937, GINGER MEGGS AND MIN IN MEMORY OF D.P. 1993 - 2001, 2001, synthetic polymer paint on two canvas panels
Est: $18,000 - $24,000
ROBERT MACPHERSON, born 1937, GINGER MEGGS AND MIN IN MEMORY OF D.P. 1993 - 2001, 2001, synthetic polymer paint on two canvas panels SIGNED: panel 1 inscribed on stretcher verso: “2 PAINTINGS (NAMING) GINGER+MIN IN MEMORY OF DP.” 1993 2001 2 PANELS # 1 panel 2 signed with initials, dated and inscribed on stretcher verso: 2 PANELS #2 2 PAINTINGS: NAMING GINGER+MIN ETC / RM / 2001 DIMENSIONS: 120.0 x 70.0; 70.0 x 70.0 cm PROVENANCE: Yuill Crowley, Sydney Private collection, Sydney
Deutscher and Hackett
Jul. 21, 2015
ROBERT MACPHERSON born 1937 Mayfair: Icebergs for Sears 1993-1999 synthetic polymer paint on composition board
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
ROBERT MACPHERSON born 1937 Mayfair: Icebergs for Sears 1993-1999 synthetic polymer paint on composition board signed, dated and inscribed 'MAYFAIR: ICEBERGS FOR SEARS' 1993 - 1999 / R MACPHERSON' verso 91.5 x 122 cm (each); 91 x 244 cm (overall) PROVENANCE Yuill Crowley Gallery, Sydney Minter Ellison Collection, Sydney, acquired from the above PROPERTY FROM THE MINTER ELLISON COLLECTION, SYDNEY
Smith & Singer
Nov. 24, 2013
Robert MacPherson (b. 1937) Mayfair: 14, Tom Dick
Est: $24,000 - $28,000
Robert MacPherson (b. 1937) Mayfair: 14, Tom Dick and Harry, 1993-1996 titled, dated and signed verso on each panel Mayfair: 14 paintings (naming)/Tom Dick and Harry, R. MacPherson, Brisbane
Shapiro Auctioneers
Mar. 24, 2013
Robert MacPherson (born 1937)
Est: £6,000 - £8,000
Scale from the Tool, 1976-1977 signed with intials and dated 'RM 76-77' verso synthetic polymer paint on canvas 176.5 x 47cm (69 1/2 x 18 1/2in).(overall size)
Bonhams
Mar. 24, 2013
Robert MacPherson (born 1937)
Est: £20,000 - £30,000
Mayfair: A chook, a roll, and a pie, 1996 synthetic polymer paint on composition board 91.5 x 61cm (36 x 24in).(each panel)
Bonhams
Apr. 06, 2011
Robert MacPherson (b.1937) Mayfair: Black Mountain
Est: $50,000 - $70,000
Robert MacPherson (b.1937) Mayfair: Black Mountain for Shaun McC. 1992-2005 dulux weathershield and acrylic on masonite, signed, titled and dated four panels each 91 x 122 cm Provenance Yuill/Crowley Gallery Sydney Private Collection, London Copyright courtesy of Yuill/Crowley Gallery Sydney
Shapiro Auctioneers
May. 24, 2005
ROBERT MACPHERSON (B. 1937)
Est: $80,000 - $120,000
Black - White (Vindex) for E signed, dated and titled on each panel: I. '4 PANELS/I/R.MACPHERSON/BRISBANE 75/MAY/BLACK - WHITE (VINDEX) FOR E' (on the reverse of the black panel) II. 'BLACK - WHITE (VINDEX) FOR E MAY 75 4 PANELS (II) R.MACPHERSON/BRISBANE' (on the reverse of the grey panel) III. 'R.MACPHERSON/BRISBANE/MAY 75 III BLACK - WHITE (VINDEX) FOR E' (on the reverse of the black panel) IV. '4 PANELS (IV) BLACK - WHITE (VINDEX) FOR E MAY '75 R.MACPHERSON BRISBANE' (on the reverse of the grey panel) acrylic on canvas 173.4 x 206.3 cm (each panel)
Christie's
Jun. 25, 2002
ROBERT MACPHERSON (B. 1937)
Est: $67,200 - $78,400
UNTITLED SERIES ONE acrylic paint on canvas with different wire lengths 61 x 45.6 cm each panel Painted in 1979 PROVENANCE Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane Three works were acquired from the above by the present owner in 1979 The remaining six were acquired by the present owner in 1983 EXHIBITION Brisbane, Ray Hughes Gallery, 1979 Brisbane, IMA, Robert MacPherson: Survey Exhibition, 1985 NOTES Conceived by the artist in 1979, these panels were acquired by Mal Enright in two instalments, firstly from Ray Hughes' gallery in 1979, and following their exhibition as a set in the important Robert MacPherson: Survey Exhibition at the Institute of Modern Art in 1985. A smaller work from the series, Untitled Paintings 1980-81, forms a crucial part of MacPherson's representation in AGWA's extensive collection. As a fascinating premeditated enigma - a painterly conception with a typical simplicity of means - each self-referential piece is a seminal work in major investigations by the artist into painting as a container, pictorial space, Russian Constructivism and the icon as a religious and domestic signifier.1 We might see the panels as naming the three dimensional space they occupy, as according to Cripps, they describe their own display.2 His regulative idea is the subject matter describing how the work is hung, the canvasses installed at an angle to the wall. Each grey-green form describes the dimensions and shapes of the hanging angle of the canvas, and correspond to the volume of space behind and beyond the picture plane. A void, then, is the 'real' pictorial space of the works. Further, the deliberate confusing of the imagery of his paintings with the painting itself paradoxically abolishes traditional notions of 'pictorial space' and has a constructive dialogue with the work of Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. The piece catches a shift in the artist's formal logic of applying found systems to painting as object and container, comprehensively extending these notions to include the container of art in the space of the spectator. For Periz, there is another insouciant poke at key debates in 1960's formalism here, namely the disciplinary demarcation between painting and sculpture.3 Utilising the formal and material conditions that constitute an imminent pictorial language - although not textual in this instance - he paths the way to eventually include in his work text and image, and currently, text as image. It might be argued the work itself defines precisely a space 'between' readings of MacPherson's oeuvre. The space Untitled Series One 1979 creates, so it would follow, allows us to juxtapose concerns of his past [investigations of the painterly process] with a different present [his explorations of language and other sign systems]. If we were to read much further into it, we might ultimately see these painted forms as shadows of reason that inform and unify with astonishing efficiency his entire output to date. In them the door is left slightly ajar; Robert MacPherson is nothing if not discreet. 1. SEE: Trevor Smith, 'The World in My Paintbrush' in Robert MacPherson ex cat AGWA 2001 pp 60-62, and 'Artist's Statement' in Robert MacPherson: A Proposition to Draw 1973-78 ex cat University of QLD Art Museum 1993 for extensive coverage of MacPherson's idea for the 'painting as container'. 2. SEE: Peter Cripps 'Robert MacPherson' in Robert MacPherson: Survey Exhibition ex cat IMA 1985 pp8-9 3. Ingrid Periz 'Close your Eyes' in Robert MacPherson: Survey 1975-1995 ex cat National Gallery Victoria 1995, unpaginated. We are grateful to Simon Wright for this catalogue entry.
Christie's
Jun. 25, 2002
ROBERT MACPHERSON (B. 1937)
Est: $19,600 - $25,200
THREE FROG POEMS FOR E.T. inscribed by Edward Tull '"3" CIRCLES...'76'; further inscribed by Robert MacPherson 'THIS WORK IS/A FOUND PAINTING/BROUGHT BY ME/IN 1983 TO USE/IN A POSS/SYLVIA HOLMES WORK/RM '83' (on the reverse of found painting); signed with initials, dated and inscribed 'RM 1988-89/3 PANELS/+ FOUND/PAINTINGS' (on the reverse of Panel 1 and Panel 2) melt-stik on wood with found painting 76.7 x 270 cm PROVENANCE Yuill Crowley, Sydney Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1989 NOTES Since he began using the collective title of Frog Poems in 1988 for an ever-expanding body of work, MacPherson has presented subtle formal arrangements determined by an invisible rationale in the act of their naming. Related to the exploration of painting's prescriptive tropes and his ultimate abandonment of them, we are offered a new personal language in which an ordained correspondence still exists between the name and the object, the work and its title.1 More specifically, he engages a consistent set of regulative ideas, in this case visual puns and language games, to highlight the operation of other classificatory systems. These systems exist not only in science [herpetology is the study and classification of frogs], language [Latin is used to classify things in nature, and like the frog, happens to be endangered in contemporary Australia], but also in art [activated by the work in combination with its title]. In Frog Poems for E.T 1988-89 the relationship of the signboards to the found painting can also be understood as an allusion to the particularities of place. Selected by the artist for the Enright Collection, it's a reference to the suburban landscape around Brisbane, as the three frogs listed on the boards, while physically absent in the work, are local tree-burrowing varieties that make holes/homes in old box trees. In the found painting we may see the connection. The work is also significant for its direct relationship to the major work Where Are You Now Sylvia Holmes 1982-83 [Private collection, Illustrated p 145 AGWA catalogue]. In it, MacPherson pairs two found abstract paintings he found in a junk shop with an open letter to the artist, a Sylvia Holmes, and speculates as to how chance has prevailed in the final work. The left panel in 3 Frog Poems for E.T 1988-89 was bought from the same shop on the day MacPherson acquired the Holmes pictures for a total of $17. On this occasion, however, the amateur artist [Mr Eddie Tull] remains unnamed, in keeping with so many of the works the artist has dedicated. Inscribed on its reverse is an insciption by the artist: 'This work is a found painting bought by me in 1983 to use in a poss' Sylvia Holmes work. RMcP.' By incorporating these found paintings into his own work, he makes a point in support of so many lost and unappreciated artists.... the gap between the gallery wall and the junk shop wall is not that great. Less a test of faith for the viewer, it's more a rewarding insight into his highly ordered world. Focussed on the backyard and everyday, it is here that he finds the beautiful, descriptive, wonderful and metaphorical - in his words "it is poetry."2 1. SEE: Ingrid Perez The Described and the Undescribed ex cat AGNSW 1994 p 11 2. Daniel Thomas 'Landfall: Bea Maddock and Robert MacPherson' ex cat Ivan Dougherty Gallery 2000 We are grateful to Simon Wright for this catalogue entry.
Christie's
Jun. 25, 2002
ROBERT MACPHERSON (B. 1937)
Est: $25,200 - $33,600
ROYCO each inscribed with panel number; further panel 1 is inscribed '10 panels', panel 2 is inscribed 'install in line 3" Space', panel 7 is inscribed 'FEB 14 '77', panel 8 is inscribed 'FEB 14 '77', panel 9 is inscribed '"ROYCO" 1' and panel 10 is inscribed 'FEB 14 '77', all (on the reverse) oil on stretched canvas 31 x 31 cm each panel 10 PROVENANCE Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1978 LITERATURE P Cripps, Robert MacPherson, Brisbane, 1985, cat. pp. 5-6 EXHIBITION Brisbane, Ray Hughes Gallery, 1978 NOTES Robert MacPherson Royco 1977, acts as logical closure on a sequence of investigations into mark-making, Action painting, scale of the brush and artist's reach. The year is important for MacPherson, for in 1977 he took up a Visual Arts Board grant to visit New York, yet we suspect as always, local factors held equal sway in the conception of these works. One of MacPherson's first jobs in Brisbane was as a ship painter.It was here that the artist saw the effect created by paint waste flowing and dripping over large areas, and from this perhaps, MacPherson augmented ideas that underpin important serial works. Completed in groupings known as Sarah's Merles 1976, Swanboro 1976-7, Smithfield 1977 and Royco 1977, many of these are now in permanent public collections, united by his uses of incident as total image and subject matter rather than as an interesting by-product. For Sarah's Merles 1976, which hang vertically in six units, the top panel in each series was painted with a heavily loaded brush with the result that excess paint splashed and dripped down over the raw canvas units below.1 The group thus becomes a reflection of the whole process. Through swanboro 1976-7 the theme of modernist reduction is extended in horizontal sets until we see in Royco 1977 - named after the brand of house painting brush MacPherson used for the work - a conclusive statement on the concept and process. Over the course of working on ten panels the artist has systematically exhausted a fully loaded brush until cleaned out. 1. see Cripps Op Cit pp 5-6 We are grateful to Simon Wright for this catalogue entry.
Christie's