Images of Working Life

Wednesday, January 29, 1992 - 11:00

Images of Working Life

By Steve Painter

SYDNEY — An art exhibition featuring Wonthaggi miners, French peasants, Melbourne bar staff, La Trobe Valley briquette baggers, Warsaw construction workers and many more. It's Images of Working Life, a selection of Noel Counihan's art from 1933 to 1986, and it's on until February 16 at the National Trust's S.H. Ervin Gallery at Observatory Hill in the Rocks. The show was opened by former Whitlam government minister Tom Uren on January 24.

The display, organised by the Broken Hill City Art Gallery, features selections of Counihan's paintings, prints, cartoons and caricatures. One of the best-known works on display is At the Start of the March, a memory of an unemployed protest in 1932. Several are from a period he spent travelling in the provincial towns of Victoria, NSW and Queensland. Others are from later visits to France.

Originally from South Melbourne, Counihan was a political artist, having joined the Communist Party during the depression years. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $4.00 ($2.00 concession).

From GLW issue 41