CELEBRATE ART: Ivor Hele, the productive artist

This week, discover the work of Ivor Hele, an artist of extraordinary discipline and power. He was enormously prolific and completed more commissioned works than any other artist in the history of Australian art.

Ivor Hele: The productive artist by Jane Hylton, curator and author, is a beautiful portrait of an artist, focusing on his life, his work, and his legacy.

Post written by Poppy Nwosu

I always enjoy putting together these little art posts for our blog. But this week I was  stumped. What book to choose?
Maddy, my Wakefield colleague (who is much more knowledgeable about our backlist than I, newbie that I am), pointed me in the direction of Ivor Hele: The productive artist by Jane Hylton. She says this book always gets a nice reaction from readers whenever we spotlight it.
I can only imagine that is because of the rather racy cover!

Or of course, more likely, the attention this book receives is due to the legacy of the artist himself, a man who not only won the Archibald prize five times (!) during the 1950s, but also completed more commissioned works than any other artist in the history of Australian art!
That is quite a legacy, indeed!

Ivor Hele: The productive artist by Jane Hylton

I really enjoyed discovering this art book. It is a beautiful mix of history and art, including some extraordinary photographs of the artist in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. It truly is a window into Adelaide's past, telling the story of a boy who began his journey as an artist from a very young age.
Here is a fascinating excerpt taken from the book:

In 1923, as an eleven year old boy, Ivor Hele signed and dated a watercolour seascape he had just completed. At an age when many of us are still dreaming of careers as famous movie stars, it is clear that Hele was already well conscious of his own destiny.

I wish I had been so self-assured at eleven!
The below is a photograph of Ivor Hele (fifth from right) as a boy attending Ashton's Academy of Arts, Adelaide. The book is filled with wonderful photos like this, offering a peek into Adelaide's past, as well as insight into Ivor Hele's life.

Here is another incredible shot, of Ivor Hele, photographed in the 1940s in the grounds of his Aldinga home.

And another two photographs I loved, showing Ivor Hele's Aldinga home in 1938 (top) and then again in 1993 (bottom).

Ivor Hele's portraits

I think my favourite element of this book, though, is the many portraits. There is something so fluid and alive about these pieces that really captured me.

 

The book also contains a number of sketches, and animal and landscape paintings, which are all beautiful.

Here is one that particularly caught my eye.

And of course, the book also contains some racy nudes, or, as the book's description says, 'exuberant' nudes. Apparently, Ivor and his wife (the subject of many of those nudes) swam naked at Maslins beach long before it was cool (or legal).
🙂
And now to leave you with my personal favourite. What an incredible painting. I love it so much!

I hope you enjoyed this book as much as I did! 🙂

Discover more about Ivor Hele: The productive artist by Jane Hylton on our website and remember, the best way to show your support for writers, poets, artists, publishers and booksellers is to buy books!

Ivor Hele was an artist of extraordinary discipline and power. He was also enormously prolific and completed more commissioned works than any other artist in the history of Australian art. His front-line responses to war, sketched and painted for the Australian War Memorial, the portraits that won him the Archibald prize an astonishing five times during the 1950s, his exuberant nudes (Ivor and his wife swam nude at Maslins beach long before it was fashionable or legal to do so) and his magnificent landscapes of that rugged coastline south of Adelaide – where he lived as a recluse – combine to make up a prodigious body of work. This book focuses on the non-war art in an attempt to offer a wider view of the man, his exceptional ability and his rigorous discipline. It is released to coincide with an exhibition that celebrates his life-long dedication to his art.
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