Our Changing Cities, 1957 / oil painting by William Edwin Pidgeon

ML 1278

fonds

1957

Graphic Materials, Paintings

985702

1 painting - oil on board - visible image 120 x 100 cm, in frame 143 x 123 cm

William Edwin Pidgeon (1909-1981), a painter, cartoonist, illustrator, sculptor, and art critic, was born in Paddington, Sydney. Pidgeon, also known as 'wep', won the Archibald Prize three times (1958, 1961 and 1968), as well as several prizes in the Australia at War exhibition in 1945, but is probably best known for his work as an illustrator on the Australian Women's Weekly.

In 1925, aged 16, he became a cadet artist on the Sydney Evening News, later drawing for the Daily Guardian, the Sydney Sun, Sunday News and the World. He made his name with a comic strip In and Out of Society, and with his illustrations to the humorous column written by Lennie Lower, published in the Australian Women's Weekly. A member of the 14 Group, he painted landscapes and seascapes, and was well known as a portrait painter and book illustrator. Pidgeon was also art critic for the Daily Telegraph for some years.

References:
Library correspondence file.
Concise Dictionary of Australian Artists / by Gwenda Robb and Elaine Smith. Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1993.

A view looking east across Hickson Road, Sydney, showing buildings and vehicles along Hickson Road in the foreground, with the rear elevation of Caltex House (Kent Street, Sydney), apparently under construction, in the background. In the lower left foreground 'BAN H-BOMB' is painted on a low wall. In the lower right foreground a sign showing a small red star within a white circle appears on the roof of a low rise building. The painting is framed in a wooden frame.

The construction of the 21 storey Caltex House, Sydney's first concrete-framed skyscraper, was completed in October, 1957, three months ahead of schedule.

Reference:
Finding a Common Interest: the Story of Dick Dusseldorp and Lend Lease / by Lindie Clark. Port Melbourne, Vic.: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Copyright status:: In copyright - Life of creator plus 70 years
Rights and Restrictions Information:: All commercial use of works by William Edwin Pidgeon should be referred to his nominated copyright collecting agency - VISCOPY
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW and Courtesy Estate William Edwin Pidgeon

The Mitchell Library holds a small collection of works by Pidgeon, mainly portraits, as well as a collection of photographs of the exhibition 'Our Changing Cities', held at Caltex House in 1957, which includes photographs of this painting.

Signed and dated at lower left 'pidgeon 57'. On back of painting 'pidgeon' inscribed in ink above 'our changing cities'. 'Caltex Art Prize' inscribed on Artarmon Galleries label attached to back of painting.