Item #108648 'The Last Break' [Sydney, circa 1912]. A vintage blue-toned carbon print, unmounted as originally produced. Frank HURLEY, Australia.

'The Last Break' [Sydney, circa 1912]. A vintage blue-toned carbon print, unmounted as originally produced

The photograph has recently been hinge-mounted and matted using archival material, ready for framing (visible image size 425 × 550 mm, with minor blemishes to the edges now behind the mat); in excellent condition.

This print comes from the original 1915 Australian exhibition of Hurley photographs; this was a slightly enlarged version of the London exhibition held earlier in the same year. The full title of the Australian exhibition catalogue is 'Exhibition of Unique Photographic Pictures taken during the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. Also other Photographic Studies by Frank Hurley' (small octavo, 16 pages plus 8 full-page plates and the title-wrappers; printed in Adelaide by G. Hassell & Son). A small advertisement appeared in the Adelaide 'Advertiser' on Saturday 25 September 1915, announcing a 'South Polar Exhibit.... until October 6. This Exhibition is your only opportunity of viewing Historical Relics of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, and Frank Hurley's Unexcelled Photographic Reproductions'. The images were sourced primarily from Mawson's 1911-1914 Australasian Antarctic Expedition, but there were also several sections of non-polar images as well, under the headings 'Northern Territory, Australia', 'Java', and 'Miscellaneous'. Written in pencil on the verso of this print are the London catalogue reference number 118 and the title, as well as the Australian catalogue reference number 148. This dramatic photograph shows a wave breaking on the Sydney shoreline. Provenance: from the personal collection of Sir Douglas Mawson (with his certified estate stamp on the verso), and by descent.

Item #108648

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