JUSTIN O'BRIEN
1917-1996

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE COLLECTION, MELBOURNE

JUSTIN O'BRIEN

1917-1996
The Assumption of the Virgin (1952)

oil on canvas
signed ‘O’BRIEN’ upper right; signed and inscribed ‘“THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN” / JUSTIN O’BRIEN’ verso
76.5 x 61 cm

Provenance

Justin O’Brien, Sydney
Ivor Lloyd, London
Fine Australian Paintings, Sotheby’s Australia, Melbourne, 27 March 1988, lot 232, illustrated
Private Collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above

Exhibited

Blake Prize 1952, Mark Foy’s Art Gallery, Sydney, 12-29 March 1952, no. 40, 80 gns
Sydney Painting 1952, Macquarie Galleries Exhibition, Finneys Gallery, Brisbane, 15-25 July 1952, no. 37, ‘The Assumption’, 80 gns
Exhibition of Pictures: Justin O’Brien, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 16-29 June 1953, no. 6, ‘The Assumption’, 75 gns

Literature

James Gleeson, ‘Real Intensity Lacking’, The Sun, Sydney, 11 March 1952, p. 12
'Art. Blake Prize Reviewed', The Catholic Weekly, Sydney, 20 March 1952, p. 4
'The Blake Art Prize', The Australlian Women's Weekly, Sydney, 16 April 1952, p. 19 (illustrated)
Alan Warren, 'Religious Art in Modern Vein', The Sun, Melbourne, 16 May 1952, p. 17
'At Sydney Galleries: Justin O'Brien', Le Courrier Australian, Sydney, 26 June 1953, p. 5
'Many Gems in Art Show by Macquarie Galleries', The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, 15 July 1952, p. 2
'Strength and Symbolism in Religious Pictures', The Courier-Mail, Brtisbane, 27 August 1952, p.2
'Paul Haefliger, 'The Art of Justin O'Brien', The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney 16 June 1953