Every year, modernist Eric Thake would send his friends a hand-made Christmas card. Original linocut prints, these cards have since become canonical, each observing a changing nation through one its most distinct voices. There are notes of humour, critique and poeticism.

The first card Thake sent, ‘The Itchy Owl’ (1941) is a graphic of an owl. It exemplifies the artist’s concision and sense of humour with his owl cocked wing suggestive of a scratch. As the Second World War persisted, wanted to gift his recipients a moment of comic relief.

Represented across numerous public collections, including at the National Gallery of Victoria, this 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)
'The Itchy Owl' 1941
linocut on paper
Image Size: 17 x 13 cm
Dimensions: 17 x 25 cm overall sheet size, scored to fold
Signed: Signed and dated lower right: Eric Thake 41; titled lower left: The Itchy Owl (No inscription in card.)

Comes with Letter of Provenance

Impressions of this work are at the:
National Gallery of Australia, accession number: 73.257.1
National Gallery of Victoria, accession number: P113-1974
Art Gallery of New South Wales, accession number: DA39.1967
Maitland Regional Art Gallery, NSW, accession number: 2007.178.a

Condition: Very Good. There are a few marks across the lower section of the page and image. These seem to be stable marks and only one on the artwork's image, refer to photos. 

(c) The Artist or Assignee