Compatriot of Charles Blackman and Mirka Mora, Rosemary Ryan lived her life in the thick of the Australian art scene. She studied at both the National Gallery School and under George Bell, showing two works at the Australian Artists’ Association exhibition in London, 1956. On her second solo exhibition, Bernard Smith wrote for The Age that she was “the surprise of the week”, praising her Proustian sensibility, authenticity and literary penchant. 

Smith’s observations suffuse ‘Day in the Sun’, an epic mixed-media painting. It is a collage of references to the Renaissance, 18th century prints and the Golden Age of Hollywood, rendered with the haziness of spray paint. In the manner of pop art, Ryan collages aesthetics of yesteryear to provoke ideas about change, cultural identity and feminism. From a lush tropical landscape, emerge depictions of women – talking, dancing and lounging. What do you see?

As one critic observed, “to classify Rosemary Ryan would be difficult.” She was a skilled and distinctive painter, inspired by Picnic at Hanging Rock, her milieu and the critical eye of feminism and postmodernism. Whether helping to paint Mora’s Cafe Balzac, being photographed by Joyce Evans or organising a mass picnic to inspire her art, Ryan was remembered as a “generous friend, a witty conversationalist… [and] a wonderful host.” 

For collectors of modernist, pop and female artists, Ryan is a spark of life.

Rosemary RYAN (1926 - 1996)
'Day in the Sun' c. 1960s
Spray paint on masonite
Image Size: 90 x 120 cm
Dimensions: 95 x 125 x 3 cm
Signed: Signed 'Ryan' lower left corner
 
Comes with Letter of Provenance
 
Condition: Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to the paint surface.
 
(c) The Artist or Assignee