Every year, modernist Eric Thake would send his friends a hand-made Christmas card. Original linocut prints, these cards have since become canonical, each observing a changing nation through one its most distinct voices. They also speak to Thake’s innerworld, with this particular work coming from the collection of his friend, revered writer and curator Ursula Hoff.

‘The Wrong Horse’ stems from an observation that made Thake laugh – the habit horses have of standing end to end. He first drew this design on a trip up North then, ten years later, converted it into a linocut. The work is a tragic idiom; like a literary satirist, Thake infuses a common sight with pathos and humour.

Represented across numerous public collections, including at the National Gallery of Australia, ‘The Wrong Horse’ is a museum-quality work. It speaks to Thake’s remarkable vision, Australian modernism and the friendship between an artist and scholar. With strikingly excellent provenance, it is a prize for collectors of modernist art.

Eric THAKE (1904 - 1982)
'The Wrong Horse' 1955
linocut on paper
Image Size: 15 x 20 cm
Dimensions: 15 x 40 cm
Overall sheet sizes, scored to fold.
Signed: Signed, dated, and titled lower right: “The Wrong Horse” Eric Thake 1955
Inscribed reverse sheet, ink: To Ursula / with Best Wishes / for Xmas + 1956. / Eric and Grace Thake
Comes with Letter of Provenance

Impressions of this work are at the:
Art Gallery of New South Wales, accession number: DA52.1967
Art Gallery of Western Australia, accession number: 1971/0Q19
National Gallery of Victoria, accession number: P125-1974
National Gallery of Australia, accession number: 73.257.15

Condition: Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to the paint surface.
 
© The Artist or Assignee