The prow of SY 'Aurora' pushing through loose pack-ice
A very large sepia-toned gelatin silver photograph (410 × 557 mm, flush-cut on the original thick card mount), recently matted (visible image size 402 × 548 mm) using archival materials, ready for framing (or long-term storage in its custom-made Mylar sleeve).
Apart from a few insignificant marks near the bottom edge, in excellent condition.
An almost identical image, taken from the same position on the yard-arm, is reproduced in 'The Home of the Blizzard' (Volume 1, page 72). While this print does not have the Fine Art Society label on the reverse, we presume it derives from the original 1915 Australian exhibition of Hurley photographs, due to its similarity in format and presentation to items we know to be from that event. This was a slightly larger 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'. Provenance: Ainslie Roberts AM (1911-1993, surrealist painter, illustrator and photographer; president of the Adelaide Camera Club, 1944-45, and life member from 1945); by descent.
Item #122910
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