EDGECOMBE, HENRY (1881-1954)

“Beginning Of The Sydney Harbour Bridge” (1926)
oil on canvas board
25 x 30cm
details on verso
*private collection, Sydney
 
Edgecombe was a prolific Australian artist and six-time Wynne Prize finalist.Edgecombe was a member of the Royal Art Society and commitee member of the Australian Watercolour Society. He was known for his impressive landscapes and cityscapes of Sydney and the East Coast of Australia. His works are represented in several major institutions such as the New England Regional Art Museum.In the period between 1925-1932, artists flocked to Sydney Harbour to paint the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This time represented an overlap of artistic styles; artists of the traditional school rooted in Impressionism, and artists of the emerging & controversial school of Modernism. Some of the most important paintings were produced at this time, including Grace Cossington Smith's "The Bridge In Curve" (1930) and Roland Wakelin's "The Bridge Under Construction" (1928). Paintings depicting this scene are not only far more rare (and valuable) than paintings prior to construction, or paintings after construction, these works are valuable exceptions in the oeuvre of artists generally considered affordable, such as Edgecombe. At Belle Epoque, we are lucky to have other works of this scene, from this period available by