Native houses, Khan Yunus

Depicts houses in an enclosed area in the village of Khan Yunis in Palestine. The artist has indicated the colours and texture of walls. The houses are enclosed with stone walls and palm trees appear in the gardens. The houses are made of mud, with brick walls and roof tiles.
Otho Hewett (1887- 1942) served with the 9th Light Horse Regiment and 3rd Light Horse Brigade Headquarters during the First World War. Trained as a designer is South Australia, he joined the ANZAC Divisional Headquarters at Romani as a panoramic artist and sketched each battlefield on the way to Jericho. He also contributed illustrations to Kia-Ora Coo-Ee, the magazine which was written and edited by Australian and New Zealand troops serving in Egypt, Palestine, Salonica and Mesopotamia, printed in Cairo and appeared in monthly issues between March and December 1918. Returning to Australia, Hewett lived in Adelaide during the 1920s and then moved to the town of Tintinara where he lived between 1929 and 1942, working as an artist, craftsman and cafe owner. He also made furniture and musical instruments. Hewett painted an Egyptian drop scene for the Tinitinara Hall when it opened in 1931 and died in 1942.