Garry Shead’s ‘Rembrandt and Nude’ is about the act of creating art. It pays homage to the European master Rembrandt, pictured here in his studio painting two muses – one nude and the other a voyeur in white. Shead is preoccupied with the concept of artistic inspiration personified by the Muse – a figure of creation and distraction.

Rembrandt is a recurring character in Shead’s work. In the 2000s, artistic director of the Melbourne Theatre Company, Simon Phillips, asked Shead to paint a work to inspire six emerging writers. Their resulting play would echo the painting with the characters, at some point, convening on stage to recreate it. Shead supplied ‘Homage to Rembrandt’, which hung in the theatre foyer for the season’s run.

Collected by all public institutions, Shead was a finalist the Archibald Prize in 2005 for his portrait of Phillips. About art, inspiration and our cultural archetypes of creativity, ‘Rembrandt and Nude’ will delight collectors of iconic Australian art, as well as all of us in need of a spark.

Garry SHEAD (1942 - )
'Rembrandt and Muse' c. 1995
oil on canvas
Image Size: 45 x 60 cm
Dimensions: 69 x 84 cm
Signed: Signed lower right
Comes with Letter of Provenance

Condition: Excellent

(c) Garry Shead / Copyright Agency 2024