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. 

‘In the Melbourne Gallery “Epstein, Einstein? I can never remember!’ is a critique of the National Gallery of Victoria. In it, a visitor inspects a bust of Albert Einstein by British artist, Jacob Epstein, puzzled by who’s who – malapropism ensues. Thake was poking fun at the gallery’s seeming disinterest in modern art and ideas.

Represented across numerous public collections, including, graciously, at the National Gallery of Victoria, ‘In the Melbourne Gallery’ is a museum-quality work. It speaks to Thake’s remarkable wit, 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)
'In the Melbourne Gallery “Epstein, Einstein? I can never remember!' 1962
linocut on paper
Image Size: 22 x 15 cm
Dimensions: 22 x 30 cm overall sheet size, scored to fold
Signed: Signed and dated lower right: Eric Thake 1962; titled lower centre. Inscribed reverse sheet, ink To Ursula / with Best Wishes / for Xmas + 1963 / Eric & Grace. Inscribed reverse sheet vertically along fold, pencil EPSTEINS BUST of EINSTEIN

Comes with Letter of Provenance

Impressions of this work are at the:
National Gallery of Australia, accession number: 73.257.23
National Portrait Gallery of Australia, accession number: 2011.39
National Gallery of Victoria, accession number: P132-1974
Art Gallery of Western Australia, accession number: 1971/0Q16

Condition: Excellent

(c) The Artist or Assignee