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Hans Heysen (1877-1968)
Zinnias and Autumn Fruits 1923
oil on canvas
Reproduced courtesy of Chris Heysen

This 1923 still life was admired by the dancer Anna Pavlova, who wanted to buy it. Heysen refused to sell the painting, which he had given to his wife, and Pavlova commissioned him to do a replica. The 'replica' was similar but not an exact copy so Pavlova refused to accept it when it arrived in London.

Correspondence about these developments is included in the Heysen Papers, National Library of Australia. MS 5073 1/2045

 

November 2004 Volume XV Number 2

HEYSEN: INSPIRED BY NATURE

Nancy Robinson Flannery recalls one of the nation’s foremost pastoral artists--his abiding love of trees, and his championing of conservation

OTTO VAN DER SPRENKEl: CHINESE HISTORIAN, BOOK LOVER AND LIBRARY BENEFACTOR

Andrew Gosling reveals how Otto van der Sprenkel’s great love of Chinese civilisation lives on in the historian’s fine gifts to the National Library

AUSTRALIA DANCING IN THE WORLD

Michelle Potter describes how a valuable new arts database hosted by the National Library of Australia was the catalyst for the reunion of an acclaimed ballerina and her hitherto undiscovered second family

DEAR FATHER AND MOTHER

Judy Cannon discovers convict letters, written to families back home, that resonate with both nostalgia and optimism

AN AUSTRALIAN BLOKE: ALBERT ARLEN AND HIS MUSICALS

John Thomson sketches the career of an extraordinary musician who, with his wife and a great deal of persistence, succeeded in bringing one of Australia’s most loved musicals to the stage for the first time

FRIENDS

A regular news page about the activities of the Friends of the National Library of Australia

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