Letter from Donald Friend to Brian Johnstone, 22 Dec 1954.
From RBHARC 7/3/38 Donald Friend Early Correspondence File.
Hill End
N.S.W.
22 De 54
Dear Brian
It was so good to get your letter & the enclosure more richly gilded & heavily jewelled than even those easter eggs that the Little White Father was wont to send out to sundry Youssoupoffs, & other favourites, all made up of jade & ormolu, topped off with a little diamond cross that when you press it, the egg opens like a lily to reveal inside a miniature portrait of the Czar & Czaritza, looking for all the world like two dear little hot cross buns: inedible, indigestible, but ready to sit, heavy on the stomach but gratifying to the soul, part & parcel of the delights of the season.
It was a nice surprise Bob's American lady coming good after all, when I was sure she would flit back to the dollar countries without a further thought. I got his letter the same day as yours, with the news. I'm very glad he's a Blake Judge this year, as again I am venturing on the thin ice of Jehovah's frozen lakes with a "Miraculous Draught of Fishes" & also a "Flight into Egypt". From Fish to Pharaoh in one wild dash of the brush.
The Sydney show went off astonishingly well, tho' the Vestals of Bligh Street at first seemed madly cold toward me, & one felt that the sales were a sort of vulgar accident to which they only warmed when the shower of gold became an avalanche. They had taken utterly no interest nor care in the framing, which was abysmal - just sent off the whole batch to be done as a job lot by Parkers (?). I was furious about some of the one's that instead of being ordinary were just plain shocking. However, this was made up for by 3 or 4 superb frames I had done in London & Italy.
One picture that I had sent down was banned altogether, on Moral Grounds. La Swanton icily said 'No, I felt it was not Us - Certain things you know. There just might be Unpleasantness. Perhaps it would do for those Brisbane people you show with …'
I answered: "I quite see your point. Yes, it is rather special. Actually I had thought of it for the Johnstone Gallery but it is not modern enough for their Brisbane clients. I'll keep it for the Sydney Group, which after all sets a standard which all the smaller galleries follow in the long run …" We then smiled very sweetly at one another. She was furious. I got the best write up he has ever written from Paul Haefliger, Cook & Gleeson very favourable, the "Mirror" woman absolutely mad with rage at my satyric picture of her attacking the Blake pictures.
Love to you both for this hellish time of year
as ever
Donald
Last updated: 10th January 2008
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