Place | Asia: Netherlands East Indies, Halmahera Island, Morotai Island |
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Accession Number | ART23221 |
Collection type | Art |
Measurement | Overall: 37.9 x 40.8 cm |
Object type | Work on paper |
Physical description | pen and brush and ink on paper |
Maker |
Friend, Donald |
Place made | Netherlands East Indies: Halmahera Island, Morotai Island |
Date made | 1945 |
Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain This item is in the Public Domain |
Beach at Morotai
Description
Depicts a group of unidentified Australian soldiers on beach using a civilian canoe, Halmacheras Islands, Netherlands, East Indies. In 1942, Donald Friend enlisting with the AIF, was posted as a gunner to the artillery unit near Albury. In 1945, Friend was selected for appointment as official war artist. He travelled to Morotai, Labuan and Balikpapan, recording sights which confronted him and drawing in particular on the expressive potential of human form. Friend was extraordinarily prolific, producing 53 paintings and 143 drawings for the Memorial. Friend arrived in Morotai on 27 May 1945 and noted 'Down to the sea in a jeep, and a bloody awful sweating struggle to get my gear aboard...I made some sketches'.
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