Every year, modernist Eric Thake would send his friends a hand-made Christmas card. Original linocut prints, these cards have become canonical, each observing a changing nation through one its most distinct voices. They also speak to Thake’s innerworld, with this particular work coming from the collection of his friend, revered writer and curator Ursula Hoff.

Dated 1960, ‘She’s a beautiful pig boys, all meat and no pertaters!’ is a comical image. An impressive pig takes centre stage, surrounded by silhouetted cowboys. She is a shy beast, unexpectedly demure against the hoots that surround her.

Represented across numerous public collections, including at the National Gallery of Australia, ‘She’s a beautiful pig boys, all meat and no pertaters!’ is a museum-quality work. It speaks to Thake’s remarkable vision, Australian modernism and the friendship between an artist and scholar. With strikingly excellent provenance, it is a prize for collectors of modernist art.

Eric THAKE (1904 - 1982)
'Horsham Sale Yards: She’s a beautiful pig boys, all meat and no pertaters' 1960
linocut on paper
Image Size: 21 x 15 cm
Dimensions: 21 x 30 cm overall sheet size, scored to fold
Signed: Signed and dated lower right: Eric Thake 1960. Titled lower centre. Inscribed within card: with To Ursula / with best wishes for Xmas & 1961 / Eric & Grace
Comes with Letter of Provenance

Impressions of this work are represented at:
Art Gallery of New South Wales, accession number: DA35.1967;
National Gallery of Australia, accession number: 73.257.21; and
National Gallery of Victoria, accession number: 1423-5.

Condition: Excellent

© The Artist or Assignee