Danila Vassilieff
Danila Vassilieff
Australian 1897–1958
An accident I saw 1948
oil on board
Geelong Gallery
Gift of the AG Morant Estate, 2005
This painting and frame were conserved with the support of Geelong Gallery Conservation
Life’s simple pleasures and struggles were the main inspiration for Vassilieff’s street scenes of the 1940s and ’50s. Here, the artist documents the aftermath of an accident in a characteristically bold palette, generating a sense of intrigue by capturing a small neighbourhood dog on the scene: potentially another witness to—or cause of—the tumult of a few moments prior.
This painting is one of twelve works by Danila Vassilieff originally loaned to the Gallery in 1979 by the estate of AG (Tony) Morant. Vassilieff met Morant, a local mechanic, in 1957, when he moved to Melbourne to take up a position teaching art at Eltham High School. They became good friends, with Vassilieff bequeathing several works to Morant before his death in 1958.
Conservation report
Download the Conservation report to take a closer look at the painting treatment completed by Sabine Cotte and frame treatment completed by Louise Bradley in 2020.