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Edwin Russell Tanner Sold at Auction Prices

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    • EDWIN TANNER, (1920 - 1980), Formal Logic - 1977, acrylic on canvas, 92 x 102 (frame: 96 x 106) cm
      Dec. 03, 2024

      EDWIN TANNER, (1920 - 1980), Formal Logic - 1977, acrylic on canvas, 92 x 102 (frame: 96 x 106) cm

      Est: $11,000 - $15,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920 - 1980) Formal Logic - 1977 acrylic on canvas signed and dated lower right

      Lawsons
    • EDWIN TANNER, (1920-1980), Space Hardware, 1965, pencil and pastel on paper, 52 x 56 cm. (20.4 x 22.0 in.), frame: 71 x 76 x 3 cm. (27.9 x 29.9 x 1.1 in.)
      Jul. 21, 2024

      EDWIN TANNER, (1920-1980), Space Hardware, 1965, pencil and pastel on paper, 52 x 56 cm. (20.4 x 22.0 in.), frame: 71 x 76 x 3 cm. (27.9 x 29.9 x 1.1 in.)

      Est: $1,500 - $2,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Space Hardware, 1965 pencil and pastel on paper signed and dated lower right

      Lawsons
    • EDWIN TANNER, (1920 - 1980), Mars Mines - 1961, synthetic polymer paint and mica on board, 91.5 x 122 cm (frame: 96 x 126 cm)
      May. 28, 2024

      EDWIN TANNER, (1920 - 1980), Mars Mines - 1961, synthetic polymer paint and mica on board, 91.5 x 122 cm (frame: 96 x 126 cm)

      Est: $20,000 - $30,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920 - 1980) Mars Mines - 1961 synthetic polymer paint and mica on board signed and dated lower right; signed and titled verso

      Lawsons
    • EDWIN TANNER 1920-1980 Double Integration of the Painting's Guts is Equivalent to a Pig's Head 1976 synthetic polymer paint on canvas
      Apr. 17, 2024

      EDWIN TANNER 1920-1980 Double Integration of the Painting's Guts is Equivalent to a Pig's Head 1976 synthetic polymer paint on canvas

      Est: $40,000 - $60,000

      EDWIN TANNER 1920-1980 Double Integration of the Painting's Guts is Equivalent to a Pig's Head 1976 synthetic polymer paint on canvas signed and dated 'EDWIN TANNER. 1976.' upper left 170 x 185 cm frame: original, maker unknown, Melbourne PROVENANCE Edwin Tanner, Melbourne The Estate of Edwin Tanner, Melbourne Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne Private Collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in February 2000 EXHIBITED Edwin Tanner: Space and Spaciousness: Paintings from the 1970s, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne, 16 November - 4 December 1999, no. 9

      Smith & Singer
    • EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980), Archibalds Forever 1966
      Nov. 23, 2022

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980), Archibalds Forever 1966

      Est: $25,000 - $35,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Archibalds Forever 1966 polyvinyl acetate on hessian on composition board 120.0 x 136.0 cm signed and dated lower left: Edwin Tanner/ 1966.

      Menzies
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      Nov. 22, 2022

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: $10,000 - $15,000

      Formal Logic, 1977 acrylic on canvas, signed and dated l.r.c. 'Edwin Tanner, 1977'

      Shapiro Auctioneers
    • EDWIN TANNER, SELF PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST STUNTING, 1958
      Jul. 27, 2022

      EDWIN TANNER, SELF PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST STUNTING, 1958

      Est: $40,000 - $60,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920 - 1980) SELF PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST STUNTING, 1958 oil on composition board 122.0 x 141.5 cm signed upper right: EDWIN TANNER signed and dated lower left: EDWIN TANNER. 1958 [inverted]  PROVENANCE Shirley Tanner, Melbourne Mr Frank Galbally, Melbourne, by 1976  Savill Galleries, Sydney Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne  The Cbus Collection of Australian Art, Melbourne, acquired from the above on 9 August 1990 (label attached verso, no. 1990.32) EXHIBITED Edwin Tanner Retrospective 1976, Age Gallery, Melbourne, 18 – 29 October 1976, cat. 34 (as ‘Self Portrait of the Artist Stunting’, dated 54/58)  Five Decades of Australian Painting 1930 to 1980, Savill Galleries, Sydney, 5 May – 5 June 1989, cat. 42 (illus. in exhibition catalogue, as ‘Vice Versa Biplane’, upside down)  Edwin Tanner Works 1952–1980, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne, 15 March – 12 May 1990, cat. 30 Edwin Tanner: Mathematical Expressionist, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 12 May – 15 July 2018 on long term loan to Gippsland Art Gallery, Victoria  LITERATURE Art and Australia, Ure Smith, Sydney, vol. 9, no. 3, December 1971, p. 212 (as ‘Self Portrait as a Pilot’, illus. upside down), 222  Duncan, J., Harwood, G., Jamieson, G., and Murray, K., Edwin Tanner Works 1952–1980, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne, 1990, pp. 7 (illus.), 26  Nainby, B., Stanhope, Z., and Furlonger, K., The Cbus Collection of Australian Art, in association with Latrobe Regional Gallery, Melbourne, 2009, pp. 18, 90 (illus.), 232 Fitzpatrick, A., Edwin Tanner: Mathematical Expressionist, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 2018, pp. 23, 40 (illus.), 132 ESSAY Edwin Tanner is among Australia’s most idiosyncratic artists. A polymath, Tanner’s eclectic and diverse career progression and broad range of achievements informed his often-autobiographical paintings. During the Second World War, Tanner held the position of Engineer-in-Charge of Aircraft Design in the Department of Aircraft Production at Fisherman’s Bend in Melbourne. Although he was unsuccessful in three separate attempts to join the RAAF, Tanner eventually learned to fly a Gipsy Moth in 1945 through employment with BHP.1 The many activities of Edwin Tanner provided ample visual source material, mostly industrial, for the artworks he would later exhibit in Contemporary Art Society exhibitions in Melbourne and Sydney. Self Portrait of the Artist Stunting, 1958 is a joyous painting of the liberating rewards the artist enjoyed after years of dedicated and determined study, both as an aeroplane pilot and as a painter. Here the artist’s confidence as a painter is mirrored in its content, presenting himself as an accomplished pilot freewheeling in the void. There is humour in the fact that Tanner signed the painting twice, in opposite orientations, indicating that the image can be read in 360 degrees, following the plane’s own loop-the-loop. Self Portrait of the Artist Stunting is a freeze-frame of a confident, death-defying aeronautical trick, painted with a befittingly spare and unapologetic gesture outlined on a flat and neutral ground.   Tanner existed outside of mainstream currents. His paintings were characterised by a muted palette, a strong black outline, elongated and anonymous figures and scenes with a dry sense of humour, the satirical bite of which occasionally attracted negative public reception. Like the young Melburnian painter, John Brack, Tanner’s distinctive graphic style was formed early and is likely to have been stimulated after seeing the work of French expressionist Bernard Buffet, whose work he saw featured in the travelling exhibition French Painting Today in September 1953. Although Tanner emigrated to Australia with his family as a small child, the Welshman always remained on the outside of Australian culture, looking in. His artworks reflect this observational distance and impersonal exactitude, their emotive quality hidden instead in plain sight. The muted colour modulations of his minimal backgrounds and the cheeky humour of his stylisation, which reveals a portrait of this artist in his astounding multifaceted complexity.  1. Fitzpatrick, A., Edwin Tanner: mathematical expressionist, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 2018, pp. 120 – 122 LUCIE REEVES-SMITH  © Estate of Edwin Tanner

      Deutscher and Hackett
    • EDWIN TANNER, A HORSE, A HORSE, MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE (RICHARD III), 1977
      Feb. 22, 2022

      EDWIN TANNER, A HORSE, A HORSE, MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE (RICHARD III), 1977

      Est: $60,000 - $80,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920 - 1980) A HORSE, A HORSE, MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE (RICHARD III), 1977 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 168.0 x 183.0 cm signed and dated upper left: EDWIN TANNER, 1977  signed and dated lower right: EDWIN TANNER 1977  PROVENANCE Realities Gallery, Melbourne (label attached verso)  Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne National Australia Bank, acquired from the above in July 1979 (label attached verso) EXHIBITED Edwin Tanner, Realities Gallery, Melbourne, 30 May – 21 June 1979, cat. 16  Edwin Tanner, Murray Crescent Galleries, Canberra, 1980, cat. 26  The Seventies: Australian Paintings and Tapestries from the Collection of National Australia Bank, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 15 October – 28 November 1982 The Seventies Exhibition: Selected Paintings from the National Australia Bank Collection, MacLaurin Hall, The University of Sydney, Sydney, 6 September - 1 October 1989, cat. 33 Edwin Tanner Works 1952 – 1980, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne, 15 March – 12 May 1990, cat. 83 Penetralia: Art & Psychoanalysis in Melbourne, 1940 – 2004, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, 30 June 2004 - 7 August 2004  Edwin Tanner: Mathematical Expressionist, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 12 May - 15 July 2018  LITERATURE Eagle, M., ‘Archibald prize got an artist to his peak’, The Age, 7 June 1979, p. 2 McCaughey, P., ‘Flying, cycling engineer who loves to paint’, The Age, 9 June 1979, p. 23 Lindsay, R., The Seventies: Australian Paintings and Tapestries from the Collection of National Australia Bank, The National Bank of Australasia, Melbourne, 1982, pl. 89, p. 102 (illus.)  Duncan, J., Edwin Tanner Works 1952–1980, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne, 1990, p. 28 (illus.) Edgar, R., ‘'Visionary' artist who enraged public servants celebrated at TarraWarra’, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 4 May 2018 Fitzpatrick, A., Edwin Tanner: mathematical expressionist, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 2018, pp. 25, 26, 107 (illus.), 134  RELATED WORK Ozymandias, 1960, oil on composition board, 84.0 x 91.0 cm, private collection Drawing for A Horse, A Horse, My Kingdom for a Horse (Richard III), 1965, pencil on paper, 39.0 x 29.0 cm, in the collection of Robin Greer ESSAY In 1967, at the age of 46, Edwin Tanner was affected by a stroke following the physical effects of a car accident suffered some years earlier, and this decline in physical health endowed his already gnomic art with existential malaise.1 Subjects of isolation, exile and existential questioning were pervasive throughout his art of the 1970s, often conveyed through recurring motifs of a bird and horse. This was, for Tanner, a sudden and brief return to representation after years of dry abstraction. Revisiting compositions first conceived more than ten years earlier, A Horse, A Horse, My Kingdom for A Horse (Richard III), 1977 is a masterpiece of Tanner’s late works, poignantly expressing the artist’s lassitude and frustrations, as always illustrated with incisive wit and literary allusion. Open-ended and philosophical, Tanner’s paintings stood apart from the mainstream currents of modern art in Australia, and despite the best efforts of critic Patrick McCaughey, is only now receiving the wider commercial and institutional appreciation he so deserved during his lifetime.   Floating in the sky above a limitless blue ocean is a disembodied horse’s head (mechanical? or concrete?) upon which sits a scarlet robin. Tanner reprises in this painting an image that first originated from a horse’s carcass he encountered on a trip to Thirroul to visit his parents in 1952. The startling encounter became a drawing – Dead Cert, 1952 (private collection), and in 1960, Ozymandias, a painting featuring the horse’s head, although now decapitated and crowned with a bird. The carrion bird is angular and menacing, appearing to be crowing atop the horses remains, which lie on the ground far from its body, just visible in the distance. Both Ozymandias and A Horse, A Horse… bear titles with clear literary references, with both written works addressing the vanity and absurdity of human wishes: the former refers to a sonnet by Percy Shelley and latter, the most famous quote from Shakespeare’s drama, Richard III. As the poetic last words of the king before he dies on the battlefield, have come to signify an expression of extreme frustration and helplessness in the face of defeat, with dire circumstances elevating a once mundane possession (a horse) to a prized tool capable of saving his life. As Ray Edgar suggested in a newspaper review in 2018: ‘for Tanner, the horse is less a traditional object of artistic veneration than a symbol of brutal truth… symbolic of empires lost (perhaps even the futility of art), it has gravitas yet simultaneously floats freely in an abstract field of blue’.2 Interestingly, the 1965 pencil sketch for A Horse, A Horse is inscribed with a line from Shelley’s Ozymandias: ‘the lone and level sands stretched far away’ and the words ‘pre-stressed concrete’, indicating the industrially engineered basis of Tanner’s horse figure.   A Horse, A Horse, My Kingdom for a Horse, was exhibited in Edwin Tanner’s last exhibition before his premature death in 1980; a retrospective exhibition of works from the previous two decades, held in Melbourne’s Realities Galleries. While Mary Eagle wrote dismissively of this painting, Patrick McCaughey immediately countered two days later in the same publication admiring the ‘handsome selection’ of artworks and noting in the paintings a ‘plangent theme… of the human as victim of his environment – tangled and snared in technology or lost in the deep blue spaces of air’.3 While his earlier paintings were decidedly humorous, even satirical, Tanner’s eccentricities are felt in the paintings of the 70s as isolating factors, keenly felt and thinly veiled amongst the abstraction of straight lines and flat expanses of paint.   A remarkable polymath with Welsh artistic sensibilities, Tanner couldn’t help but transform the painting plane into a design blueprint whose secrets were clear only to him, describing his works as ‘a wholly new start, a new raid on the subconscious’.4 Although at times his tongue-in-cheek social commentary inflamed public opinion, during his lifetime he remained largely neglected by the press and the art establishment, his works prized among artists and a small group of connoisseurs appreciative of the inventiveness of his unique artistic vision. Today his place has been rightfully re-established and solidified through further acquisitions by the National Gallery of Victoria; the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art; the Art Gallery of New South Wales; and most recently, a major retrospective exhibition held at TarraWarra Museum of Art, in which this painting was prominently featured.   1. Fitzpatrick, A., Edwin Tanner: mathematical expressionist, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 2018, p. 129 2. Edgar, R., ‘'Visionary' artist who enraged public servants celebrated at Tarrawarra’, Sydney Morning Herald, 4 May 2018 3. McCaughey, P., ‘Flying, cycling engineer who loves to paint’, The Age, 9 June 1979, p. 23 4. The artist, cited in Horton, M., Australian Painters of the 70s, Ure Smith, Sydney, 1975, p. 57   LUCIE REEVES-SMITH  © Estate of Edwin Tanner

      Deutscher and Hackett
    • EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Little Man 1962
      Oct. 03, 2021

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Little Man 1962

      Est: $12,000 - $18,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Little Man 1962 oil on board with collage signed and dated upper left: EDWIN TANNER 62 105 x 121cm PROVENANCE Leonard Joel, 'Australian, New Zealand, British and European Historical & Contemporary Paintings', Melbourne, 6 November 1974, lot 420

      Gibson's
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      Sep. 28, 2021

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: $800 - $1,200

      My Horse, My Horse, 1965 pencil on paper, inscribed, signed and dated l.r.c. 'Edwin Tanner, 1965'

      Shapiro Auctioneers
    • EDWIN TANNER, SCREAM LINES, 1967
      Aug. 17, 2021

      EDWIN TANNER, SCREAM LINES, 1967

      Est: $2,500 - $3,500

      EDWIN TANNER (1920 – 1980) SCREAM LINES, 1967 pastel on paper 54.0 x 74.5 cm 76.0 x 95.5 cm (frame) signed, dated and inscribed with title lower left: Scream Lines. / Edwin Tanner 1967. PROVENANCE Private collection, Melbourne This work is located at our Melbourne Gallery © Estate of Edwin Tanner

      Deutscher and Hackett
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      Jul. 28, 2021

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: $1,000 - $1,500

      Blue Line, trying, timidly, to do a line with a cinnamon one…1967 pastel on paper, signed and dated u.l.c. 'Edwin Tanner, Australia, 1967', titled l.r.c. 'Blue Blue Line, trying, timidly, to do a line with a cinnamon one. Why can't the blue make up it's mind; cinnamon doesn't mind'

      Shapiro Auctioneers
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      May. 25, 2021

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: $1,000 - $1,500

      Gravity and Timidity are contained within "in the square": but where, precisely. Where?, 1967 pastel on paper, titled, signed and dated l.l.c. 'Gravity and Timidity are contained within 'in the square': but where, precisely. Where? Edwin Tanner, 1967'

      Shapiro Auctioneers
    • TANNER Edwin Russell (1920-1980), 'The Engineer's Workshop (Preliminary Compositional Study)' 1957., Pencil & Ink on Primed Linen, 9
      May. 16, 2021

      TANNER Edwin Russell (1920-1980), 'The Engineer's Workshop (Preliminary Compositional Study)' 1957., Pencil & Ink on Primed Linen, 9

      Est: $1,200 - $1,800

      TANNER, Edwin Russell (1920-1980) 'The Engineer's Workshop (Preliminary Compositional Study)' 1957. Pencil & Ink on Primed Linen 91x122cm PROVENANCE: The Estate of Rudy Komon, Sydney; Ray Hughes, Sydney; The Estate of Ray Hughes, Sydney. OTHER NOTES: Related works: 'The Engineer's Workshop,' 1957, oil on canvas on composition board (89x120cm), private collection, Melbourne; 'The Engineer's Workshop II,' 1957, oil on canvas on composition board (90x123.5cm) in the collection of the TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria.

      Davidson Auctions
    • EDWIN TANNER, STUDY FOR THE ENGINEER'S WORKSHOP, 1957
      Mar. 30, 2021

      EDWIN TANNER, STUDY FOR THE ENGINEER'S WORKSHOP, 1957

      Est: $1,000 - $1,500

      EDWIN TANNER (1920 – 1980) STUDY FOR THE ENGINEER'S WORKSHOP, 1957 pen and pencil on paper 23.5 x 21.0 cm 32.0 x 29.0 cm (frame) PROVENANCE The Estate of Rudy Komon, Sydney Ray Hughes, Sydney The Estate of Ray Hughes, Sydney RELATED WORK The Engineers’ Workshop, 1957, oil on canvas on composition board, 89.0 x 120.0 cm, private collection, Melbourne The Engineers’ Workshop II, 1957, oil on canvas on composition board, 90.1 x 123.5 cm, in the collection of the TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria This item is located at our Melbourne Gallery © Estate of Edwin Tanner

      Deutscher and Hackett
    • EDWIN TANNER, (1920-1980), Canary Loop 1967
      Oct. 25, 2020

      EDWIN TANNER, (1920-1980), Canary Loop 1967

      Est: $800 - $1,200

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Canary Loop 1967 pastel signed, dated and titled lower left: Edwin Tanner 1967 Canary Loop 39.5 x 35cm

      Gibson's
    • EDWIN TANNER, GIFT HORSE, 1956 (verso: study for THE DRAUGHTSMAN)
      Jul. 15, 2020

      EDWIN TANNER, GIFT HORSE, 1956 (verso: study for THE DRAUGHTSMAN)

      Est: $18,000 - $24,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920 – 1980) GIFT HORSE, 1956 (verso: study for THE DRAUGHTSMAN) oil on canvas on board 61.5 x 66.0 cm signed and dated upper left: EDWIN TANNER. 56. PROVENANCE Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney (label attached verso, stock no. 2650) Rudy Komon, Sydney (by 1976) Ray Hughes, Sydney The Estate of Ray Hughes, Sydney EXHIBITED Edwin Tanner, Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 7 – 24 April 1959, cat. 10 Edwin Tanner, Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne, 23 June – 10 July 1970, cat. 12 Edwin Tanner Retrospective, The Age Gallery, Melbourne, 18 – 29 October 1976, cat. 80 Edwin Tanner: Works 1952– 1980, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne, 15 March – 12 May 1990, cat. 17 Edwin Tanner: Paintings 1952 – 1979, The Hughes Gallery, Sydney, 30 October – 25 November 2014, cat. 22; Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne, 12 March – 4 April 2015, cat. 5 Edwin Tanner. Mathematical Expressionist, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 12 May – 15 July 2018 LITERATURE Duncan, J., Edwin Tanner Works 1952–1980, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne, 1990, pp. 14 (illus.) 18, 25 Hemingway, B., and Nodrum, C., Edwin Tanner: Paintings 1952 – 1979, The Estate of Edwin Tanner in association with The Hughes Gallery, Sydney & Charles Nodrum Gallery Melbourne, 2014, pp. 24 – 25 (illus.) Fitzpatrick, A., Edwin Tanner. Mathematical Expressionist, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 2018, pp. 22, 103 (illus.), 132

      Deutscher and Hackett
    • EDWIN TANNER, THE ENGINEER'S WORKSHOP, 1957
      Jul. 15, 2020

      EDWIN TANNER, THE ENGINEER'S WORKSHOP, 1957

      Est: $30,000 - $40,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920 – 1980) THE ENGINEER'S WORKSHOP, 1957 oil on canvas on composition board 89.0 x 120.0 cm signed lower centre: EDWIN TANNER dated upper left: 57. PROVENANCE possibly: Rudy Komon, Sydney Ray Hughes, Sydney Estate of Ray Hughes, Sydney EXHIBITED Edwin Tanner: Works 1952– 1980, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne, 15 March – 12 May 1990, cat. 20 Edwin Tanner: Paintings 1952 – 1979, The Hughes Gallery, Sydney, 30 October – 25 November 2014, cat. 24; Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne, 12 March – 4 April 2015, cat. 7 LITERATURE Duncan, J., Edwin Tanner Works 1952–1980, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne, 1990, pp. 18 (illus.) 26 Hemingway, B., and Nodrum, C., Edwin Tanner: Paintings 1952 – 1979, The Estate of Edwin Tanner in association with The Hughes Gallery, Sydney & Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne, 2014, pp. 28 – 29 (illus.) RELATED WORK The Engineers’ Workshop II, 1957, oil on canvas on composition board, 90.1 x 123.5 cm, in the collection of the TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria ESSAY Edwin Tanner is perhaps one of Australia’s most idiosyncratic artists. A polymath whose unusual and diverse career progression and broad range of intellectual pursuits informed his paintings, Tanner produced works that stood well apart from the regional gestural expressionism practiced around the country during the second half of the twentieth century. Having emigrated from Wales in the early 1920s, the Tanner family worked as miners in the region around Newcastle, while young Edwin showed early aptitude for mathematics and mechanical engineering. Between 1935 and 1954, while the burgeoning artist first started showing his works at the Contemporary Arts Society in Sydney, Tanner steadily and tirelessly accumulated apprenticeships and degrees by correspondence in engineering, civil design, physics, logic, mathematics and philosophy. These accolades earned him a promotion as Chief Engineer at the construction company, S. Haunstrup & Co. Pty Ltd, in Melbourne, then at Australian Steel and Concrete the following year and eventually, the establishment of Tanner’s own engineering consultancy in 1960. This iconic and autobiographical painting, The Engineer's Workshop, 1957, was painted in the middle of these years of professional successes, on the cusp of Tanner’s artistic élan. Firmly based in a figurative reiteration of his real-world experience, The Engineer's Workshop is populated by spindly figures standing stiffly in their place of work, dwarfed by a central machine, whose rectilinear forms recall electric circuitry and remain obscure to even the most scientifically literate of viewers. With a poetic sensibility for negative space and colour, Tanner’s work here is subtle and quietly humorous. While the machine and the architectural space in which these figures stand are harshly delineated with vertical and horizonal lines, the floors and walls are painted with broad and expressive brushstrokes, creating unexpected tension within the composition. In this workshop, Tanner’s figures are marooned in a vast expanse of emptiness, standing beside an enormous machine, amongst broad brushstrokes and delicately changing hues, expectant and confused. Tanner was presciently attuned to the interdependence of man and machine, and conveyed these notions in his paintings, often endowing machines with anthropomorphic features. When introducing figures into his compositions, these were often static, if not completely reduced to geometric shapes, as can be seen in Board of Directors, 1956. An abstract work, this painting depicted public servants as little more than conductive tracks and nodes on a circuit board, making a pun on the limited individual power and the conformity that is imposed on such workers. Tanner’s works are often characterised by a flatness and strict adherence to the straight line and its associated grid format. However, his interest in philosophy, poetry and music endowed his paintings with a lyrical, if cryptic, sensibility. His paintings are often deadpan and laconic, presenting social critiques under a thin veil of metaphor. For all of Tanner’s eccentricities, he produced an astounding body of work, using a vocabulary and syntax that was purely his own. His stark matrices of straight lines divide sparse expanses of paint, transforming the painting plane into a design blueprint whose secrets are clear only to the artist. Although at times his tongue-in-cheek social commentary inflamed public opinion, during his lifetime Tanner largely remained neglected by the press and the art establishment, his works prized among artists and a small group of connoisseurs appreciative of the inventiveness of his unique artistic vision. Today his place has been rightfully re-established and solidified through further acquisitions by the National Gallery of Victoria, the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and most recently, a major retrospective exhibition held at TarraWarra Museum of Art. LUCIE REEVES-SMITH

      Deutscher and Hackett
    • EDWIN TANNER, (1920 – 1980), MARS MINES, 1961, synthetic polymer paint and mica on composition board
      Nov. 27, 2019

      EDWIN TANNER, (1920 – 1980), MARS MINES, 1961, synthetic polymer paint and mica on composition board

      Est: $15,000 - $20,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920 – 1980) MARS MINES, 1961 synthetic polymer paint and mica on composition board SIGNED: signed and dated lower left: EDWIN TANNER 1961. signed and inscribed with title verso: “MARS MINES” / EDWIN TANNER / … DIMENSIONS: 91.5 x 122.0 cm PROVENANCE: Private collection, Tasmania Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne (labels attached verso) Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 2002

      Deutscher and Hackett
    • EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980), The Board of Directors 1955-56
      Jun. 27, 2019

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980), The Board of Directors 1955-56

      Est: $35,000 - $45,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980), The Board of Directors 1955-56 oil on canvas on board 90.0 x 99.0 cm signed upper right: EDWIN TANNER. dated upper left: 55-6 Private collection, United States of America The Balnaves Collection, Sydney Edwin Tanner, Bonython Gallery, Adelaide, 1962 Edwin Tanner Retrospective, The Age Gallery, Melbourne, 18 - 29 October 1976, cat.37 (illus. exhibition catalogue) Modern Australian Painting, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne, 22 April - 8 May 2004, cat.47 Edwin Tanner: Paintings 1952-1979, The Hughes Gallery, Sydney, 30 October - 25 November 2014; Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne, 12 March - 4 April 2015, cat.4 (labels attached verso) Edwin Tanner: Mathematical Expressionist, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 12 May - 15 July 2018

      Menzies
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      May. 15, 2018

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: $800 - $1,200

      Delayed Return, 1971, pastel on paper, signed and dated l.l.c. 'Edwin Tanner, 1971'

      Shapiro Auctioneers
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      May. 14, 2018

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: $1,500 - $2,500

      Dial with Symbols, 1976, pastel on paper, signed and dated l.r.c. 'Edwin Tanner, '76'

      Shapiro Auctioneers
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      May. 14, 2018

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: $1,500 - $2,500

      Three Lines Avoiding Each Other Successfully, 1967, pastel on paper, titled, signed and dated l.l.c. 'Three Lines Avoiding Each Other Successfully, Edwin Tanner, 1967'

      Shapiro Auctioneers
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      May. 14, 2018

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: $1,500 - $2,500

      Gravity and Timidity are contained within "in the square": but where, precisely. Where?, 1967, pastel on paper, titled, signed and dated l.l.c. 'Gravity and Timidity are contained within 'in the square': but where, precisely. Where? Edwin Tanner, 1967'

      Shapiro Auctioneers
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      May. 14, 2018

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: $1,500 - $2,500

      Symbols, 1976, pastel on paper, signed and dated l.r.c. 'Edwin Tanner, '76'

      Shapiro Auctioneers
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      May. 14, 2018

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: $1,500 - $2,500

      Green Slips Around the Dark Invader, 1967, pastel on paper, titled, signed and dated l.l.c. 'Green Slips Around the Dark Invader, Edwin Tanner, 1967'

      Shapiro Auctioneers
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      May. 14, 2018

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: $15,000 - $25,000

      Beauty is but a Vain and Doubtful Good, 1975, oil on canvas, signed and dated l.r.c. 'Edwin Tanner, '75' Rudy Komon Gallery, Stock no. 5100

      Shapiro Auctioneers
    • EDWIN TANNER, (1920 – 1980), ECLIPSE, 1973, oil on canvas
      Nov. 29, 2017

      EDWIN TANNER, (1920 – 1980), ECLIPSE, 1973, oil on canvas

      Est: $18,000 - $24,000

      EDWIN TANNER, (1920 – 1980), ECLIPSE, 1973, oil on canvas SIGNED: signed and dated lower right: EDWIN TANNER.1973 signed and inscribed verso: CROCK No. 133. TANNER ECLIPSE DIMENSIONS: 122.5 x 137.5 cm PROVENANCE: Private collection, Melbourne, acquired directly from the artist Deutscher~Menzies, Sydney, 7 December 2005, lot 57 Private collection, Sydney

      Deutscher and Hackett
    • EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Eclipse 1973
      Sep. 24, 2015

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Eclipse 1973

      Est: $20,000 - $28,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Eclipse 1973 oil on canvas 122.5 x 137.5 cm signed and dated lower right: EDWIN TANNER.1973.signed and inscribed verso: TANNER ECLIPSE

      Menzies
    • EDWIN TANNER, (1920 - 1980), UNTITLED, 1965, oil on canvas on board
      Aug. 26, 2015

      EDWIN TANNER, (1920 - 1980), UNTITLED, 1965, oil on canvas on board

      Est: $8,000 - $12,000

      EDWIN TANNER, (1920 - 1980), UNTITLED, 1965, oil on canvas on board DIMENSIONS: 55.5 x 51.0 cm PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Melbourne.

      Deutscher and Hackett
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      Aug. 19, 2015

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: $1,000 - $1,500

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980) My Horse, My Horse, 1965 pencil on paper, inscribed, signed and dated l.r.c. 'Edwin Tanner, 1965' Hieser Gallery, Brisbane,

      Shapiro Auctioneers
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980) Engineerium interior, 35.5 x 39.5in.
      Feb. 26, 2015

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980) Engineerium interior, 35.5 x 39.5in.

      Est: £12,000 - £18,000

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980) oil on canvas laid on board, Engineerium interior, signed and dated '57, remnant of Blake Prize entry label verso, 35.5 x 39.5in.

      Gorringes
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      Jun. 26, 2013

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: -

      The hollow men 1966 signed and dated 'EDWIN TANNER 3-10/66' lower right oil on canvas 124.5 x 145.5cm (49 x 57 5/16in).

      Bonhams
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      Jun. 26, 2013

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: -

      The polar ship 1954 signed 'EDWIN TANNER' lower left oil on canvas on board 126.0 x 92.0cm (49 5/8 x 36 1/4in).

      Bonhams
    • EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Ship Yard oil on canvas on board
      Dec. 06, 2012

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Ship Yard oil on canvas on board

      Est: $28,000 - $36,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Ship Yard oil on canvas on board signed lower left: EDWIN TANNER. 109.0 x 94.0 cm

      Menzies
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      May. 29, 2012

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: £35,000 - £45,000

      Untitled 1974 signed 'EDWIN TANNER ,1974.' upper right acrylic on canvas 127.0 x 137.0cm (50 x 53 15/16in).

      Bonhams
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)
      May. 29, 2012

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980)

      Est: £35,000 - £45,000

      The Science Faculty 1960 signed and dated 'EDWIN TANNER 60' lower right oil on board 122.0 x 132.0cm (48 1/16 x 51 15/16in).

      Bonhams
    • EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Water Power Engineers
      Dec. 08, 2011

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Water Power Engineers

      Est: $30,000 - $40,000

      EDWIN TANNER (1920-1980) Water Power Engineers Medium: oil on canvas Inscriptions: signed and dated upper left: EDWIN TANNER /54|inscribed verso: POWER HOUSE/ EDWIN TANNER Size: 74.0 x 93.0 cm Provenance: Mr A. Herpe, Melbourne (as Power House)|Christie's, Melbourne, 23 - 24 November 1999, lot 126|John Buckley Fine Art, Melbourne (label attached verso)|Private collection, Melbourne| Exhibition: The Arts Festival, Fine Arts Exhibition, Olympic Games, The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 18 November - 15 December 1956 (as The Engineers) (label attached verso)|Edwin Tanner Retrospective, The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 19 - 29 October 1976, cat.1977 (as Water Power Engineers)| Notes:

      Menzies
    • EDWIN TANNER TWO KINDS OF IGNORANCE, 1958 83.5 x
      Apr. 20, 2011

      EDWIN TANNER TWO KINDS OF IGNORANCE, 1958 83.5 x

      Est: $28,000 - $35,000

      EDWIN TANNER TWO KINDS OF IGNORANCE, 1958 83.5 x 91.0 cm oil on composition board

      Deutscher and Hackett
    • EDWIN TANNER PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS, 1954 126.5 x
      Apr. 20, 2011

      EDWIN TANNER PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS, 1954 126.5 x

      Est: $40,000 - $55,000

      EDWIN TANNER PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS, 1954 126.5 x 114.5 cm oil on canvas

      Deutscher and Hackett
    • Edwin Tanner (1920-1980) Abstract Composition 1979 pastel
      Mar. 27, 2011

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980) Abstract Composition 1979 pastel

      Est: $400 - $600

      Edwin Tanner (1920-1980) Abstract Composition 1979 pastel signed and dated 'Edwin Tanner 1979' lower right 73.5 x 52.5cm

      Leonard Joel
    • TANNER, Edwin (1920-1980)
      Nov. 27, 2010

      TANNER, Edwin (1920-1980)

      Est: $300 - $500

      TANNER, Edwin (1920-1980), Abstract Composition, 1979.

      Davidson Auctions
    • Edwin Russell Tanner (Australian, 1920-1980) Capricorn
      Sep. 22, 2009

      Edwin Russell Tanner (Australian, 1920-1980) Capricorn

      Est: £2,000 - £3,000

      Capricorn signed and dated 'EDWIN TANNER. 1971' (lower left) oil on canvas 92 x 102cm (36 1/4 x 40 3/16in).

      Bonhams
    • Edwin Russell Tanner (Australian, 1920-1980) Taurus
      Sep. 22, 2009

      Edwin Russell Tanner (Australian, 1920-1980) Taurus

      Est: £2,000 - £3,000

      Taurus signed and dated 'EDWIN TANNER./ 1971' (lower left) oil on canvas 92 x 102cm (36 1/4 x 40 3/16in).

      Bonhams
    • c - EDWIN RUSSELL TANNER , Australian 1920 - 1980 TEST ROOM Oil on canvas
      Nov. 26, 2007

      c - EDWIN RUSSELL TANNER , Australian 1920 - 1980 TEST ROOM Oil on canvas

      Est: $40,000 - $50,000

      Signed lower right Oil on canvas

      Sotheby's
    • EDWIN RUSSELL TANNER (1920-1980)
      Apr. 19, 2005

      EDWIN RUSSELL TANNER (1920-1980)

      Est: $30,000 - $40,000

      Toe (sic) the Line, Better Blue one than Red signed and dated 'EDWIN TANNER 1976' (lower right); dated and inscribed 'Toe(sic) the Line/Better Blue one than Red/1976' on label (on the reverse) oil on canvas 167 x182.5 cm

      Christie's
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