Exhibition of paintings and drawings of New Guinea by Captain Ivor Hele: official war artist

Th i s collection o f official w a r pictures is being exhibited throughout the Commonwealth under the direction of the Depa r tmen t o f the Army. T h e catalogue has been compiled and published by the Australian Wa r Memorial, Canberra. FOREWORD Cap t a i n Ivor Hele is a o u n g South Australian wh o h a d inany important achievements to his credit before this war began. H e won the Melrose prize three times, the South Australian Centennial prize in 1936, a n d the New South Wales Sesquicentennial prize in 1938. Enlisting as a private i n the A.l.F., h M e went to the i(Idle East with the 2 / 48 t h Battalion and, though trained a n d ready to serve as a n infantryman, he cherished the hope t ha t h e wou l d get the opportunity to work as it war artist. T h i s opportunity was given h i m by General Blarney early i n 1941, and, after working with t he Australian Forces in No r t h Africa, h e came back to Australia a t t he e n d of that year to complete a series of paintings i n which lie recorded his impressions of the wa r i n Libya. Ca p t a i n Hele arrived in New Gu i ne a i n 1943, a t the time when the Aus- tralians h a d taken the offensive against the Japanese. After recording the tremendous feat of the Australian army engineers i n the construction of the Buhldog-\\Tau Road, he served wi t h a n independent company a n d a n infantry battalion operating i n the Bobdubi-Salamaua area. Wh i l e i n New Gu i n e a lie ma d e some sixty drawings, a n d six paintings in oils, and, o n his r e t u r n to Aus- tralia pa i n t ed a series of pictures in which h e sought t o epitomize his impres- sions o f these operations. T h e collection therefore illustrates the full range oh work (lone by a n artist d u r i n g a t o u r of du t y in the field as well as carefully considered works based o n his field notes.