18. William James Reed 1908 - 1996
Starry Night and Country Church at Easter
Oil on board with collage
45 x 60 cm
Signed
est. $4,000 - 6,000
Fetched $2,750
Relative Size: Starry Night and Country Church at Easter
Relative size

Provenance: Ex Artist's Estate Collection

Reed's youthful ambition was to become a landscape painter but he found the pre-war mood inescapable, saying 'I realised there was a limit to the idea of doing pretty pictures.'

His recognition of the ideological and spiritual crisis facing humanity in the 1930s resulted in paintings such as Armageddon and Visitation - works now held in public collections.

Reed mentioned that he wanted to introduce elements of religious painting into his work reflecting death and destruction being committed in the name of Christianity.

He sought to portray the world we are making as well as something spiritual in his work. His use of religious imagery and the issues they raised resulted in challenging works, somewhat ahead of their time.

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