Leonard Hessing (1931 - 2004)

VENUS ON LANDSCAPE, 1961

oil, charcoal, pastel and plaster on composition board

127.0 x 118.0 cm
134.5 x 125.0 cm (frame)

signed and dated centre right: L Hessing 61
signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: L. HESSiNG / “Venus on / Landscape”/ 1961

Australian Galleries, Melbourne
South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne
Harold E. Mertz, Texas
The Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, The University of Texas, Austin, a gift from the above in 1972 (label attached verso)
Christie’s, Melbourne, 28 June 2000, lot 33
The Cbus Collection of Australian Art, Melbourne, acquired from the above

Leonard Hessing, Australian Galleries, Melbourne, 27 October – 6 November 1964, cat. 5
The Australian Painters 1964 – 66: Contemporary Australian Painting from the Mertz Collection, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 10 March – 16 April 1967, cat. 45
on long term loan to Geelong Art Gallery, Victoria

Nainby, B., Stanhope, Z., and Furlonger, K., The Cbus Collection of Australian Art, in association with Latrobe Regional Gallery, Melbourne, 2009, pp. 97, 221

This work is located in our Melbourne Gallery

Condition:
This work is very good, stable and near original condition.
The central area of the work features raised textured plaster with black paint.
A few tips of the plaster elements have minor losses, which have occurred over time and can be viewed in the online catalogue image enlargement.
These are minor, not visually distracting, and could very easily be corrected by a conservator, if required.
Under ultraviolet light inspection, there is no evidence of past restoration.