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

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

-born

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Life and career

Herman arrived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 1937 and enlisted in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is 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 ...

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 the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

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 to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

. He submitted 26 paintings to the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...

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

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 (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

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

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 Biennale, Venice and São Pa ...

, 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