Originally created as Christmas cards for his loved ones, Eric Thake’s linocut prints soon drew attention beyond his mailing list. He decided to pull additional limited editions of each design, allowing his fellow Australians to collect them. Each work observed a changing nation infused with the artist’s unique sense of humour, critique and poeticism, appealing to institutions and individuals alike. 

‘Sunshine and Rain, Lygon Street’ is among Thake’s best known linocuts. It is an exemplar of his interest in shadows, silhouettes and windows – devices that connect and trouble reality. In it, Thake pictures himself gazing into a shop window on Carlton’s Lygon Street. The fantasy it holds is cast against reality, embodied by a hunched woman plodding from the store. In the shop window perfection is possible; on the street shoppers dodge a downfall. 

Represented across numerous public collections, including at the National Gallery of Victoria, ‘Sunshine and Rain, Lygon Street’ is a museum-quality work. It speaks to Thake’s remarkable wit and ingenuity, a prize for collectors of modernist, surrealist and Australian art. 

Eric THAKE (1904 - 1982)
'Sunshine and Rain, Lygon Street' 1964
linocut on paper
Edition of 40
Image Size: 20 x 14 cm
Dimensions: 31 x 23 cm
Signed: Signed, dated, titled, and numbered in pencil in margin below image: Sunshine and Rain, Lygon Street. 10/40 Eric Thake 1964
Comes with Letter of Provenance

Impressions of this work are at the National Gallery of Australia, accession numbers: 
73.257.25 and 72.211O.

Condition: Excellent

(c) The Artist or Assignee

Please note, this work of art is printed on a delicate, near-translucent piece of paper.