Title

Thought. [by Murray Griffin].

Author

Bunbury, Alisa.

Source

[Not applicable]

Publication date

1998

Type

About the work

Language

English

Country of context

Australia

Full text

Thought.

Griffin produced only three prints which directly show the influence of his time in South-East Asia. Although not created or sold as a series, Blue sarong, Indian girl [cat.77] and Malay mother [cat.78] are now known as the Asian triptych. This series demonstrates Murray’s exquisite combination of colour, tone and ink application. Griffin has gloried in depicting the varying physiques and costumes of the Malayan population. While in no way restricting the number of colours employed, Griffin had limited his usage to distinct areas. In Blue sarong, it can be seen particularly in the plethora of folds in the blue sarong, and the anatomical definition of the man's muscles, caught by the light, applying the russet only in the deeply shadowed areas. This is juxtaposed with the solid background with only an abstract geometric border.

This format reveals the influence of a stylistic technique frequently employed in Japanese prints, in which a single figure is placed against a blank vertical background. Many of Griffin's paintings produced at the time have a similar format. Griffin had not permitted himself to depict the indigenous population while he was a prisoner in Changi, except in their contact with POWs. After his release, he painted a number of images influenced by his time overseas. While revelling in the exotic subject matter, these works are also likely to have been a form of catharsis. By presenting peaceful everyday scenes of a place where so many had suffered, he may have assuaged his war-time memories. The prints were not popular in the 1950s, probably due to lingering racism after the war.

© Alisa Bunbury, 1998.