Dated 1951, ‘Girl Playing, Arms Raised’ is an early original drawing by Charles Blackman. It was created the same year Blackman moved to Melbourne, where he fast found himself among a group of artists. The Heide Circle, which included Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker and Joy Hester, pivoted around the home of art patrons John and Sunday Reed in the outer suburbs of Melbourne.

In 1952, Blackman would commence his iconic Schoolgirl series — a series of paintings following schoolgirls through a desolate urban landscape. The works pricked at post-war societal unease, following the tension between innocence and threat, naive and knowing.

‘Girl Playing, Arms Raised’ contains the same brooding sensibility as Blackman’s schoolgirls. Ambiguous faces rear from ink — are these figures frollicking or fighting? Are they real or figments of fading daylight?

For collectors of Blackman and modernist works on paper, this historically significant drawing, provenanced from the artist’s archives, is an engrossing find.

Charles BLACKMAN (1928 - 2018)
'Girl Playing, arms raised' 1951
Ink and wash on paper
Image Size: 35 x 30 cm
Dimensions: 40 x 32 cm
Signed: Signed lower right 'Blackman 51'
Comes with Letter of Provenance
 
Condition: Good: Describes the average used work of art, where the image is in good condition. The margin may need to be framed out due to markings, corner wear, dog ear, small tears or if framed, the frame may have minor damage
 
(c) Charles Blackman / Copyright Agency