Samples from the RPH Art Collection

Guy GREY-SMITH  (1916 Wagin, WA - 1981 Pemberton, WA)
Windy Harbour 1973
Oil on board
89.5(H) x 120.5(W) cm
Sir Claude Hotchin Art Bequest, 1977
Royal Perth Hospital Art Collection [426]

Albert NAMATJIRA (1902 Hermannsburg, NT - 1959 Alice Springs, NT)
Skin name: Kngwarreye
Language Group: Western Aranda (Arrernte)
Glen Helen Gorge undated
Watercolour on paper
36.7(H) x 51.7(W) cm
Sir Claude Hotchin Art Bequest, 1977 [445]

Julie Dowling
Skin name: Barniga
Language Group: Badimaya/Yamatji
Icon to a Stolen Child; Fire 1998
Acrylic, red ochre, gold on canvas
40.5(H) x 27.7(W) cm
Royal Perth Hospital Art Collection [804]

In Icon to A Stolen Child: Fire Julie uses the Yamatji symbol for fire or campfire.  The work makes a direct reference to the stolen generation and the loss of the community bond and culture displacement they felt being taken away.  This image has power because of the juxtaposition of the symbol of fire as well as the Catholic iconic aesthetic of the Saint.

Fire is used in the traditional birth ceremony of her family where children are purified by placing them through smoke from a ceremonial fire.  Most stolen children were taken without this ceremony and were never "blessed" according to Aboriginal tradition.

Joanna LAMB (1972 Perth, WA)
Airport with horizontal stripes 2005
Acrylic on canvas
120(H) x 148(W) cm
Royal Perth Hospital Art Collection [895]

Max PAM (1949, Perth WA)
Tonglu - India 1973
Silver gelatin photograph (Printed by the photographer in London 1978)
24(H) x 24(W) cm
Donated by Dr Jann Marshall through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2005
Royal Perth Hospital Art Collection [989]

Copyright of the art collection images is restricted.  Reproduction is strictly prohibited.