Lot 22: AUSTEN DEANS (NEW ZEALAND 1915 - ) - The Bugush Box, Western Desert 1941 53 x 81 cm

Name: AUSTEN DEANS (NEW ZEALAND 1915 - ) - The Bugush Box, Western Desert 1941 53 x 81 cm
Brand: Lawsons
SKU: qbppdhqhbs

Est: $12,000 AUD - $15,000 AUDSold:

LawsonsAnnandale, AustraliaApril 30, 2007

Item Overview

Description

AUSTEN DEANS (NEW ZEALAND 1915 - )
The Bugush Box, Western Desert 1941
oil on canvas
53 x 81 cm
signed and dated lower left: A.A.D 1941

Artist or Maker

Austen Deans

Notes

Austen Deans enlisted at the outbreak of WWII and sailed with the 2nd New Zealand Division to Egypt. He was to be appointed as an official war artist but shortly after leaving Egypt for Greece he was wounded and captured in Greece and spent the rest of the war in captivity in Germany and Poland. As a prisoner he continued to paint and with the assistance of a Red Cross worker was able to smuggle more than 100 paintings from Stalag 25 in Poland to England.

Bagush Box - The following is quoted by Austen Deans, "fairly late in 1941, in Egypt, we were taken to a spot in the Western Desert known as Bagush, about 15 miles east of Mersa Matruk, a mile in from the Mediterranean. Over a month the 20th Battalion with the 18th and 19th constructed a defensive position big enough to hold the complete New Zealand Brigade. The Machine Gun and Artillery Battalion were there too. This picture, dated 1941 shows the Intelligence sections observation post under construction (sandbags) with trenches leading to it from our tent, below on the lower ground. When we completed the Bagush Box we returned to Helwan Camp, near Cairo. We never used it, the Italian campaign ended after 2 or 3 days in complete Italian defeat. The ''Box'' was used later in the German advance and worked quite well. I managed to carry the painting to Helwan Camp in the Colonel''s map case. Then the Greek campaign intervened and I lost track of it. When I arrived home after 4 years as a POW I found the painting had been sent back to New Zealand by a good friend together with my oil kit and brushes".

Auction Details

LM Paintings Pt 1 - The Art of War

Lawsons

April 30, 2007, 03:00 PM EST

1A The Crescent, Annandale, NSW, 2038, AU

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