School Ties: Early Works on Paper

About the exhibition
Works on paper by Fred Williams and Russell Drysdale were shown in this exhibition with those of their close peers: in Drysdale’s case, Peter Purves-Smith, and in Williams’—Ian Armstrong and Harry Rosengrave. Both Williams and Drysdale had studied at the Bell–Shore school, although at different times. This was an art school founded by George Bell and Arnold Shore in 1932 at the corner of Bourke and Queen Streets in Melbourne, which became a centre for modern or Post-Impressionist artists in the city. The exhibition offered an opportunity to view sketches, watercolours and preparatory works by two senior Australian painters from an early and important period of their respective development, and in the company of their contemporaries.

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^{Image: Photo of Ian Armstrong in Stanley Coe Gallery, Melbourne, 1951. Photo: Hugh Frankland}