Much of Arthur Boyd’s artistic career was spent grappling with the duality of human nature. Boyd’s father, the ceramist Merric Boyd, suffered from epilepsy and deliberating seizures — seeding in his son the idea that an alter ego lies within. This notion of “an alien force inside the normal human body” was intensified by Boyd’s time in the military. He began expressing imagery haunted by an anthropomorphic monster, people writhing in acute metamorphosis.

‘Lovers and Window’ sees a figure in transition. Echoes of a body emerge from the shadows, a curtain is held aloft, birds float across a river, crucifixes stamp out eyes. Boyd’s world is strange, symbolic and surreal — it twists together elements of the domestic, natural and mystical. In giving voice to the fraughtness of human nature, he could exorcise his own demons.

Boyd is considered one of Australia’s greatest artists, a foremost figure in modernism. He is represented in all state collections and has been honoured with numerous retrospectives and monographs.

‘Lovers and Window', commissioned by the Art Gallery of NSW, will enrich collections of modern art and important works on paper.
 

Arthur BOYD (1920 - 1999)
'Lovers and Window' 1994
etching on paper
Image Size: 60 x 39 cm
Dimensions: 80 x 57 cm
Signed: Signed and editioned below image
Comes with Letter of Provenance
Commissioned by the Art Gallery of NSW. Minor tear to top border; crease on left margin; image itself in pristine condition.
An impression of this work is represented at the Art Gallery of NSW, accession no. 266.1994
Availability: in stock
 
Condition: Very Good: Describes a work of art’s image As New, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to paint surface. Image is in Fine condition.
 
© Arthur Boyd / Copyright Agency 2023