I am currently working on an exhibition of Jeffrey Smart’s paintings (1940-51) as part of the Master of Stillness joint exhibition with Samstag Museum this coming October. It’s the first Adelaide generated retrospective of this South Australian trained artist curated by Barry Pearce. Research always heightens your senses whether you are searching generally or specifically; so imagine my delight as I cleaned out a cupboard at Carrick Hill and found a Smart related artifact – sadly there are no works of his in the collection.
In a clutch of art booklets my eye alighted on The Faber Gallery monograph on Klee, with an introduction and notes by Herbert Read. Inscribed on the inside cover, in Smart’s hand, was a dedication to Bill and Ursula Hayward (see illustration).
This was given as a gift by Jacqueline Hick and Jeffrey Smart probably in recognition of the hospitality, support and encouragement the Haywards had provided for the young Australian artists who were living a fairly down and out life style in post war London ( see Smart’s autobiography Not Quite Straight – pp190-200). The book cost six shillings which would have been a fair old whack for the two artists at the time but more than this, it was a gift worthy of their generous patrons.
My second encounter with serendipitous research results came from a bottle of Hall’s Cloves Flavoured Cordial (locally manufactured by George Hall & Son Ltd, Norwood, SA) recently donated as part of the education/display collection at Carrick Hill.
I had travelled to Port Willunga to interview Judith Anne Barraclough (nee Ingoldby) who had been Smart’s student and girlfriend when he was teaching in Adelaide around 1946-47. She provided a wealth of detail and talked colourfully about what was going on in Adelaide at the time. When I asked her what Jeffrey and she would drink when they visited hotels she replied that Jeff drank a hideous mixture – Rum and cloves!
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