Early Morning c. 1969

CARTER, Frank

Registration number

1768617

Artist/maker

CARTER, Frank

Title

Early Morning

Production date

c. 1969

Medium

oil on board

Dimensions (H x W x D)

39 x 52 cm

Inscriptions

l.l.c: FRANK CARTER on back in black pencil: Early morning, painted by Frank Carter, F.R.S.A, London on back on label: TO MR. E. DUNSHEA - / IN GRATEFUL APPRECIATION / OF HIS GENEROSITY TO / ST. JOSEPH’S TECHNICAL / SCHOOL, SOUTH MELBOURNE / P.F. Donnelly? / PRINCIPAL, 1969.

Credit line

Purchased, 2019
City of Melbourne Art and Heritage Collection

Keywords

Frank Carter, Early Morning, c1969, Flinders Street

Summary

British-born artist Frank Carter (1900–?) studied at the Nottingham School of Art and arrived in Australia around 1931. He trained in advertising art and was employed as an industrial designer in both England and Australia. Carter nevertheless maintained his practice as an oil painter and was particularly known for his street scenes. This painting depicts Flinders Street from its eastern end, the broad street view stretching to the city’s west. The ornate turrets of the Forum can be seen piercing the skyline mid pictorial space, while Flinders Street station rises behind a signature green-and-yellow tram at the painting’s centre. This painting and a second in the collection by Frank Carter document the inner city in the mid-century, the quiet streets a far cry from the spectacle today. This work was purchased for the collection in 2019.