Sali Herman (12 February 1898 – 3 April 1993) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

-born

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n artist, one of Australia's Official War Artists for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Life and career

Herman arrived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1937 and enlisted in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

in 1941. In 1945, he was appointed an Official War Artist, painting at several places in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

such as

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

. He submitted 26 paintings to the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...

. Sali Herman was known for paintings of inner city streets and slums in Sydney. He was awarded the

Sulman Prize The Sir John Sulman Prize is one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, having been established in 1936. It is now held concurrently with the Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known art prize, and also with the Wynne Prize, at the Art Gallery ...

in 1946 for ''Natives carrying wounded soldiers'', and also in 1948 for ''The Drovers''. He won the

Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

four times; in 1944 for ''McElhone Stairs''; in 1962 for ''The Devil's Bridge, Rottnest''; again in 1965 for ''The Red House''; and in 1967 for ''Ravenswood I''.

Collections

Herman's works are held by the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

including ''Sleeping Cat'' (1983), ''Summer night, Mullerup'' (1975), ''Lane at the Cross'' (1946), and ''Yetta'' (1919); the

including ''Native compound at Lae'' (1945), ''Surrender'' (1946), and ''Back Home'' (1946); the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

including ''McElhone Stairs'' (1944), ''The Drovers'' (1947), and ''Saturday Morning'' (1948); the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

including ''Kirribilli'' (1959), and ''The Law Court'' (1946); the Cbus collection; the Benalla Art Gallery; the

Newcastle Art Gallery The Newcastle Art Gallery (formerly the Newcastle City Art Gallery, Newcastle Region Art Gallery) is a large, public art museum in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. History Founded in 1945 with an art collection consisting of 123 works ...

; and the

Rockhampton Art Gallery Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

Exhibitions

Group

* Aspects of Australian Figurative Painting 1942-1962: Dreams, Fears and Desires, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney (1984), part of the 5th

Sydney Biennale The Biennale of Sydney is an international festival of contemporary art, held every two years in Sydney, Australia. It is a large and well-attended contemporary visual arts event in the country. Alongside the Venice and São Paulo biennales and ...

, painting exhibited: ''Reconstruction'' (1950) * Swiss Artists in Australia: 1777-1991 Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (1991), paintings exhibited: ''Surry Hills Backyards'' (1958), ''Fremantle Brewery'' (1963), ''Ming'' (1963), ''Surry Hills Lane'' (1965), ''The Red House'' (1966), ''Balmain'' (1968), ''B.H.P.'' (1969), ''Summer Night, Mullerup'' (1975), ''Forum, Rome'' (1976), ''Sydney 1942'' (1981), ''My World'' (1990).

References

External links