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review noting "Drysdale’s large composition of 'cricketers' under leaden skies in the wide open spaces of burning sands dramatises the 'outback' as it has never been dramatised before." The
National Gallery of Australia claim that the work "succeeds as art by abandoning any pretence to illustrative
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When complete, Voss Smith sent
Drysdale's work through to Hutchinson in England. Hutchinson was shocked, the painting was nothing like what he had expected. Immediately Hutchinson sent a telegram back to Melbourne, firing Smith. The next day Hutchinson reconsidered and rehired Voss Smith, after
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The town of Hill End itself is not as desolate as shown in the painting, with a later visitor to Hill End remarking "Even the scattered buildings—so blank and menacing in The
Cricketers—appear as if ripped from the cover of a chocolate box."
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The painting was commissioned by Walter
Hutchinson, an English publisher, for his own collection, known as the "National Collection of British Sports and Pastimes". Looking for a picture of an Australian cricket match, Hutchinson asked his
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office to commission a well-known
Australian artist for this purpose. Leonard Voss Smith, an art dealer who often worked for Hutchinson, spoke to Drysdale who was then painting in the town of
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The painting, valued in 2004 at A$ 6,000,000, is now owned by JGL Investments, a
Melbourne-based investment company. It was last on public exhibition in 1998.
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describes the painting as "one of the most original and haunting images in all
Australian art." The
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253:. Australian Broadcasting Corporation & National Gallery of Victoria. 1999. Archived from
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94:. The painting depicts three boys set among the buildings in an empty town; two playing
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said the work is "possibly the most famous
Australian painting of the 20th century."
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The painting was a departure from earlier artistic visions of
Australia with a
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76 cm × 101.5 cm (30 in × 40.0 in)
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satisfying himself that
Drysdale was a respected artist in Australia.
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was Teddy Woolard and Roy Holloway was the model for the
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524:Cultural depictions of cricketers
98:and the other watching them. The
16:1948 painting by Russell Drysdale
347:Tate, Andrew (8 February 2009).
277:"Russell Drysdale Retrospective"
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197:. National Gallery of Australia
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215:Meacham, Steve (6 June 2009).
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514:Paintings by Russell Drysdale
375:"Village with an art of gold"
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100:National Gallery of Australia
217:"Montmartre, with eucalypts"
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329:. Metropolis Gallery
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327:"Ludmilla Meilerts"
302:"A Game of Cricket"
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508:Categories
385:2009-08-31
359:2009-09-01
333:2009-09-01
312:2009-09-01
286:2009-08-31
261:2009-08-26
227:2009-08-31
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174:References
155:realism."
129:region of
64:Dimensions
434:Paintings
381:. Fairfax
355:. Fairfax
223:. Fairfax
119:Melbourne
494:(master)
123:Hill End
72:Location
485:Related
353:The Age
160:batsman
125:in the
112:History
96:cricket
477:(1949)
469:(1948)
461:(1947)
458:Sofala
453:(1945)
445:(1941)
164:bowler
56:Medium
36:Artist
86:is a
88:1948
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