Bust Of Prime Minister Ben Chifley
1946/2015. Bronze, stamped “cire perdue [lost wax], Meridian Melbourne”, signed and editioned 4/7 on base lower right, 47 x 32 x 27.5cm. Ben Chifley was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. “As a returned serviceman completing his fine art and graphic diploma at the Ballarat School of Mines, he [Palmer] was commissioned to sculpt the Prime Minister, Ben Chifley. Having previously modelled the bust from photographs, the young artist was given a sitting of 45 minutes… on September 12, 1946, by a tired Prime Minister on a general election campaign. Chifley, without his pipe, laconically commented to the sculptor: ‘You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.’” Ref: Obituary by Sheridan Palmer, daughter of artist, The Age, 31.1.2001.
Item #CL179-21
Price (AUD): $12,500.00 other currencies