[Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914]. HURLEY, Frank (Australia, 1885-1962)

'Royal Penguins sunning themselves, Nuggets Beach' [Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914]

A very large vintage green-toned carbon print, on the original oversized thick card mount, recently mounted and matted using archival materials (visible image size 550 × 722 mm, external mat size 750 × 902 mm), ready for framing (or long-term storage in its custom-made Mylar sleeve).

Some tanning from the original acidic mount; some inoffensive stains in the bottom left-hand corner; expert conservation to the original mount; minimal signs of age; overall, a very good example of a powerful image.

This print comes from the original 1915 London exhibition of Hurley photographs. The printed label from the Fine Art Society, New Bond Street, London, is on the verso of the mount: 'This photograph is enlarged from a negative taken during Dr Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition ...'. The title and London catalogue number (10) are manuscript insertions in ink. The title fails to mention the elephant in the room with the penguins, namely the battered remains of the sealing ketch 'Gratitude', wrecked at Nugget Point, Macquarie Island on 10 November 1898. Provenance: we have previously offered for sale photographs from the London exhibition, with the London catalogue numbers on them, that came direct from Sir Douglas Mawson in Adelaide in the late 1930s. This item was purchased in Adelaide, and we presume with a high degree of certainty that it also has Mawson provenance.

Item #134959

Price (AUD): $12,500.00
other currencies