Throughout his career, Garry Shead has chased his erotic Muse. Transformed into an icon and celebrated as a goddess, he sees in her the biographical, mystical and spiritual. For Shead, his Muse gives visual identity to inner reality. So vital did he believe inspiration was to a worthwhile life, he once quoted Dostoevsky, writing “The world will be saved by beauty.”

In this work, she emerges as a Poem or Erato, considered Shead s favoured iteration of the Muse.

Collected by all public institutions, Shead has won the Archibald and Dobell prizes. Frolicking in the serious and profane, his work is at once poetic and interrogative. This beautifully presented original etching will enliven collections of iconic Australian art, as well as all in need of a dose of inspiration.

Garry SHEAD (1942 - )
'Poem' 1976
etching on paper
Edition of 65
Image Size: 18 x 13 cm
Dimensions: 41 x 34 x 5 cm
Signed: Signed, titled and numbered in margin
Comes with Letter of Provenance
The etching is in very good condition overall, with minor, soft brown tonal variations consistent with natural paper ageing, and no evidence of structural damage.

(c) Garry Shead / Copyright Agency