Elizabeth Durack, who died in 2000, was one of Australia's most celebrated artists and her paintings are in some of the most famous art collections across the world.
This item appears to be a (very) preliminary sketch for a work of hers called 'The Kid'. The face is sketched in pencil with various 'ghostly' animal outlines, that you can see much more clearly in images of the original. It is boldly signed to the bottom right.
Framed and glazed it measures approx 20" by 15".
Sadly I have no provenance at all. The framing label dates it to pre 1995 (when the area dialling code changed from 051 to 0151) and the overall look of the frame and the label suggests the 1970's era. How it ended up in Birkenhead I have no idea!
It is, as they say, what it is.
Paper yellowed. A few scratches to the glass.
Please see all photos.
COLLECTION IN PERSON ONLY FROM BIRKENHEAD, WIRRAL, MERSEYSIDE