Head Study c1949
Brush and ink on paper
37.5 x 28.5 cm
Inscribed on original backing paper Head Study Max Martin and pen ink wash
Provenance: Estate of Max Martin, by descent
Exhibited: Max Martin, Royal SA Society of Arts, February 1949, probably no. 24 as The Bushranger; Max Martin, Victorian Arts Society, November, 1949, probably no 30 as Head of a Bushranger
Literature: No Singing in Gum Trees: The honest life of Max Martin by Jeremy Hill, Wakefield Press, 2023, page 25
Another version of this, titled The Last Outlaw is in the collection of Don Lock, old friend of the artist.
In the evenings, after his day’s work at Mac’s, Martin was painting. He came under the benevolent influence of the Reverend Evelyn Snodgrass,8 who was a nephew by marriage to Superintendent Hare who had led the rush of police on Jones’s Hotel at Glenrowan on the verandah of which stood the bushrangers Ned Kelly, Dan Kelly, Steve Hart and Joe Byrne. Hare was shot through the wrist and disabled on the first volley but later collected a significantly large portion of the reward for the capture of the Kelly Gang.
Refer No Singing in Gum Trees, page 25
Item #6861
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