Wet Day 2011
O'DOHERTY, Peter
Registration number
1613031
Artist/maker
O'DOHERTY, Peter
Printer
Printed at the Australian Print Workshop by Martin King, assisted by APW Trainee Eliza Turnbull
Title
Wet Day
Production date
2011
Medium
plate lithograph printed in 2 colours, from 2 plates, edition 40
Dimensions (H x W x D)
23.5 x 22.5 cm (image)
Credit line
Purchased 2012
City of Melbourne Art and Heritage Collection
© courtesy of the artist
Keywords
Summary
Peter O’Doherty’s lithograph ‘Wet Day’ was acquired for the Art and Heritage Collection from the Australian Print Workshop (APW) in 2012. Peter and his brother Chris (aka Reg Mombassa) were artists-in-residence at the APW in 2011, during which they developed a body of prints that were shown in the exhibition ‘Double Vision’. Peter O’Doherty drew this work directly onto the plate. It was then printed in two colours on two plates in an edition of 40 by APW senior printer Martin King, assisted by APW Trainee Eliza Turnbull.
‘Wet Day’ is an evocative depiction of this most recognisable of Melbourne trams, the W-class, on a miserable, wet day. The soft linework, close cropping and gentle reflections create not a heroic representation of this long-serving people-mover, which arrived on Melbourne’s streets in 1923, but an affectionate portrayal of the last of the loyal workhorses that continue to transport the public come rain, hail or shine.