Description:

GEORGE BALDESSIN (1939-1978)
Personage with Staircase 1973
etching and aquatint, ed. A/P
signed lower right: George Baldessin
titled lower centre
editioned lower left
60 x 90cm (image); 72 x 103cm (sheet); 86 x 117cm (frame)

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Melbourne
Thence by descent

EXHIBITIONS:
George Baldessin: Etchings 1963-1974, Rudy Komon Art Gallery, Sydney, 1974 (another example)
Contemporary Australian Drawings and Prints, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 19 April - 1 June 1980 (another example)
George Baldessin Estate: Prints 1963-1978, Australian Galleries, Melbourne, October - November 1997 (then touring) (another example)

LITERATURE:
Lindsay, R., George Baldessin: Sculpture and Etchings, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1983, p. 93, cat. no. 83 (illus., another example)

OTHER NOTES:
Another example of this print is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia.

"Personage with Staircase 1973 echoes the qualities of a stage set, the staircase on the right is derived from the staircase at the Baldessin's house at St Andrews. Smoke as a free and animated entity invades Winfield-like Gothic windows, a portent of the possible destruction by fire of the house-bound personage. This etching was used as the cover illustration to the Rudy Komon catalogue of 1974."
(Lindsay, R., George Baldessin: Sculpture and Etchings, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1983, p. 92)

© George Baldessin/Copyright Agency, 2025

  • Provenance: Private collection, Melbourne
    Thence by descent
  • Dimensions: 60 x 90cm (image); 72 x 103cm (sheet); 86 x 117cm (frame)
  • Exhibited: George Baldessin: Etchings 1963-1974, Rudy Komon Art Gallery, Sydney, 1974 (another example)
    Contemporary Australian Drawings and Prints, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 19 April - 1 June 1980 (another example)
    George Baldessin Estate: Prints 1963-1978, Australian Galleries, Melbourne, October - November 1997 (then touring) (another example)
  • Literature: Lindsay, R., George Baldessin: Sculpture and Etchings, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1983, p. 93, cat. no. 83 (illus., another example)
  • Medium: etching and aquatint, ed. A/P
  • Notes: Another example of this print is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia.

    "Personage with Staircase 1973 echoes the qualities of a stage set, the staircase on the right is derived from the staircase at the Baldessin's house at St Andrews. Smoke as a free and animated entity invades Winfield-like Gothic windows, a portent of the possible destruction by fire of the house-bound personage. This etching was used as the cover illustration to the Rudy Komon catalogue of 1974."
    (Lindsay, R., George Baldessin: Sculpture and Etchings, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1983, p. 92)

    © George Baldessin/Copyright Agency, 2025

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