Two exhibition-quality photographs of Central Australian interest by Hugo Keil ARPS
Sepia-toned gelatin silver prints, recently matted, framed and glazed (visible image size / external dimensions are 222 × 160 / 335 × 270 mm, and 168 × 214 / 287 × 325 mm respectively).
They are in fine condition, individually captioned and signed in pencil by the photographer in the bottom margin; although undated, we suggest early 1940s.
The titles are 'Glen Helen Gorge, Cent. Aust.' and 'Ellery Creek Gorge'. The Northern Territory Archive Service has an album containing twenty-five similar images, captioned but apparently unsigned. The catalogue record for that album (NTRS 3050) states that 'Hugo Keil was a photographer who worked at the Appropriation Ledger Section of the Allied Works Council in Alice Springs during the Second World War.... Hugo gave this wonderful album of Central Australian images to Phyllis Prideaux (later Johnson), which has come into NTAS as part of the Phyllis Johnson collection. Hugo took many photographs of Central Australian scenes, including images of Mount Gillen, the Hugh River, Palm Valley and the Spotted Tiger Mine at Harts Range'. The digitized newspaper archives that are the jewel in the crown of Trove contain numerous, mainly passing, references to Keil from 1924 to 1954. These include an article on his wedding in Langmeil in the Barossa Valley in August 1935 (he was the son of J. Keil of Tanunda, and already had 'a photographic business in Adelaide'), and mention of his successes at various photographic exhibitions over the years. An article in the 'Barrier Miner' (28 October 1938) makes mention of a forthcoming 'exhibition of Bromoil Prints by Hugo Keil of the Crown Studios, Adelaide', and a review in the Adelaide 'Advertiser' (21 August 1940) of The Adelaide Camera Club's exhibition of pictorial photography notes that 'Hugo Keil shows fine timber, sharply etched' in one print.
Item #134496
Price (AUD):
$550.00