bLOGOS/HA HA: Fish Regard in Australian Art ] The Silverfish Frame (

David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.

23 January 2017

Fish Regard in Australian Art ] The Silverfish Frame (

Lot 397 : "Goldfish" by Charles Wheeler

Description :
Charles Wheeler, Goldfish, 1911
oil on canvas
50 x 80 cm
Signed and dated '11 lower right
Original gilt wood and gesso frame

Provenance :
Purchased from the artist 1911
Louis Abraham
Collection of WH Kelly, Fed. Member for Wentworth (1903-1919)
Thence by descent to Daphne May Johnson, Darling Point
Goodmans Fine Art Auctioneers, Monday 14 September 1998
Gould Galleries;Private collection, NSW

Exhibited :
Catalogue of Paintings and Drawings by Charles Wheeler, Guild Hall, Swanston St, Melbourne, 27 April to 6 May 1911, No. 30, "Goldfish", 52 pounds 10 shillings
Athenaeum Hall, 'Paintings of Charles Wheeler' 20 June to 1 July 1922, Melbourne, 1922, catalogue No. 5
National Gallery of Victoria Loan Exhibition of Australian Paintings 1925, catalogue No. 227
VAS Heritage Exhibition, 23 May to 12 June 1985, catalogue No. 132 (illustrated)
Australian National Maritime Museum, 'Fish in Australian Art', 5 April to 1 October 2012

Artist :
Charles Arthur Wheeler OBE, DCM (4 Jan 1881 - 26 Oct 1977) was an Australian painter.
Born in New Zealand, he arrived in Australia in 1892.
He won the Archibald Prize for 1933.
In 1939 he was appointed master of painting at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School, Melbourne, Australia.