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 inner world, with this particular work coming from the collection of his friend, revered writer and curator Ursula Hoff. 

Dated 1970, ‘When in Kalgoorlie… Dial-a-prayer!’ is a comical image. A silhouette leans into a phone booth, a bag of bottles at his feet. Laconic and charming, it speaks to the sparseness of the Australian outback, its laid back but watchful sensibility. So remote is Kalgoorlie, that calling in help is to throw a prayer into the cosmos.

Represented across numerous public collections, including at the National Gallery of Victoria, When in Kalgoorlie… Dial-a-prayer! 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)
'When in Kalgoorlie… Dial-a-prayer!' 1970
linocut on paper
Image Size: 21 x 15 cm
Dimensions: 21 x 30 cm overall sheet size, scored to fold
Signed: Signed and dated lower right: Eric Thake 1970; titled lower left.  Inscribed reverse sheet, ink: To Ursula / with Best Wishes / for Xmas + New Year 71 / from / Eric & Grace

Comes with Letter of Provenance

Impressions of this work are represented at the:
Art Gallery of New South Wales, accession number: 14.1971
National Gallery of Victoria, accession number: P140-1974

Condition: Excellent

(c) The Artist or Assignee