Bicentennial Anzac Day march

Depicts a large crowd gathered in a city street watching the Anzac Day march in 1988, the Bicentennial of white settlement in Australia. In the right foreground (pictured in a wheelchair) is a veteran of the First World War, 2922 Private Harold Leslie Pryor of the 5th Pioneer Battalion AIF. The two figures in the immediate foreground on the left reflect the broad appeal the parade has for different generations. The young boy and old woman reflect the stark reality that as the years pass, and those who served in the world wars die, the responsibility of commemoration falls to the younger generations. Beilby's preoccupation with the everyday, the ordinariness of life, was an undercurrent theme in his painting of the Bicentennial Anzac Day march. It reflects the event itself as much as it does the long-held tradition of commemorating Australia's servicemen and women. The moment frozen in time catches the young boy pointing at the First World War veteran and turning his head to someone outside of the picture plane. Equally caught is the veteran waving to the crowd and a photographer checking his camera. It is a snap-shot of a specific moment, one of universal significance.

David Dare Parker (official war photographer during the Second Gulf War) has identified the photographer on the left, in brown, as Joe Whelan of the 'West Australian' newspaper and the photographer in the centre, in black, as Ross Swanborne. Also depicted are banners for Signal units from the two world wars. Pryor represents Australian Signallers during the First World War. Behind him is a Pipe and Drum band, followed by Second World War divisions; only the 6th and 7th are clearly distinguishable and the other banners are slightly obscured.

The artist, Marcus Beilby, lives and works in Perth. This commemorative painting was completed over a period of 9 months and is the result of detailed observations made at the time of the march from photos and newspaper records. Beilby has travelled and studied widely; his main influences being proponents of the social-realist style.