Exhibition of paintings, drawings and sculpture by Australian Official War Artists

W I L L I AM DOBELL. Emergency Loading at Night. V. M U R R A Y GRIFFIN. 23. SELF-PORTRAIT. Pencil Drawing. This portrait, which has been lent to the Australian Wa r Memorial for the exhibition, is the only work of Murray Griffin that can be shown. Mr. Griffin was appointed to work with the 8th Aus- tralian Division in Malaya and Served in that theatre of war from November, 1 941, to February, 1942, when he was taken prisoner at the fall of Singapore. During his three months' service in Malaya he completed a number of pic- tures, which were packed ready for trans- port to Australia, but apparently did not leave the country, and their fate is unknown. Some idea of Mr. Griffin's approach to his work, and to the subject matter of his pictures, may be gauged from the fol- lowing extracts taken from his letters to the Australian Wa r Memorial:- 20th Jan., 1 9 4 2 .—" I find it very difficult to get interested in anything but men—men sweating, men toiling, men cursing, and men suffering. To me they are the symbol of the whole war—the symbol of life. "I'm trying to paint now a fairly small picture (201n. x 171n.) of the "rubber" at dusk or dawn, a sentry, Tommy gun in hand, an alert, tense expression on his face. H e has just given the 'Halt,' and is waiting for a reply. Is it some creature of the jungle, or is it a party of Japs. creeping up on the camp? Will he shoot and give his position away further, or will he wait? I can feel with that chap— I know the 'eeriness' of the rubber in the half-light. "I've nearly finished the 'Padre' picture—a group of 10 to 2 0 of our boys, tin-hatted, bare torsos, smoking, rifles ready and respirators handy, listening to the padre among the rubber trees, with the last rays of the setting sun on 'em. . . . 'The Leave Trucks' picture is just about finished, too. . Contains a lot of figures and numerous trucks, not to mention half Singapore in the distance. Then also very nearly finished is the 'Road to Mersing,' a road curving away into the distance through gigantic jungle; on a bridge in the foreground are four sentries with long capes on. . . 26th Jan., 1942.—"I've just packed 10 more canvases in two sets—one (larger canvases) rolled and the smaller in a wooden box I made. A few of them I should have liked to work on more, but dare not keep them —they may not get out of Singapore as it is. I have kept my two largest canvases here—they do not satisfy me yet, and I'll take the risk. . 2nd Feb., 1 9 4 2 .—"My little jungle picture is going w e l l . . . . . . . . . . m still getting plenty of pencil sketches—notes, rather. The first lot of sketches done direct helped me get a good feeling for the country and the aspect of our lads.. C A P T A I N I V O R HELE. 24. G E N E R A L S I R T HOMA S BLAMEY, G.B.E., K.C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. This portrait was .painted in the Middle East in August and September, 1941. A t the time, General Blamey was Deputy Commander-in-Chief, M. E. Forces, and G.O.C. Australian Imperial Force in the Middle East.