Description
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Paul Newton is a regular entrant for the hotly contested Archibald Prize for portraits, held annually in Sydney since 1922. The Archibald Prize sees hundreds of artists each year submit their work in the hope of being one of the 30-odd entrants to be hung — let alone win the Aus$35,000 first prize. For the 1999 Archibald, Paul entered portraits of Maggie Tabberer (short-listed), and Bryce Courtenay. In past years he has entered portraits by other Australian celebrities and public figures, such as radio-announcer John Laws (Packing Room Prize in 1996), super-model Kate Fischer (short-listed in 1997), eye surgeon Dr. Fred Hollows, former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, media personality John Doyle, and Governor-General Sir William Deane.
The painting shows Kit, the son of our current Phantom, seated at a desk, reading from the Phantom chronicles. Behind him, ethereal images of past Phantoms with guns blazing, swords flashing, are swirling around him. Kit reads about his forefathers yet sees the adventures that await him. A wide-eyed wonder on the youngster’s face shows acceptance as well as youthful embracing of his fate. The painting has a very special significance to Dietmar, not only because his son Louis was the model for Kit, but also the theme of the painting is a strong reminder of his own boyhood experiences with reading Phantom adventures.
This exquisite oil painting, charged with wonder and excitement, perfectly captures the world of words brought to us by Lee Falk. An absolutely beautiful piece, of which the attached digital photos are very poor copies.
About this Series
In 1997, 99.94 Editions began production of a series of limited edition art prints depicting the history of The Phantom. This company, based in Newcastle NSW Australia, is headed by Dietmar Lederwasch. Dietmar is a long-time Phantom phan and is putting his heart and soul into this enormous project. In the interests of informing Phantom Phans of what they can expect from these prints, I’ve reproduced some of their promotional material and provided preview images of the prints produced so far, and some still in preparation. Firstly, a few words to describe what this thing is all about:
“In the years to come a portrait of each and every generation of The Phantom will be released as a print by artists from around the world. Edition numbers will be reserved for those who wish to collect the entire series. Each print will be produced from the original on archival, museum quality paper which will last for many generations to come. The prints will be strictly limited to 400 Australasian copies, 400 export copies plus a 10% contributors proof run. The signature of the artist in graphite confirms the authenticity and limitedness of each print as well as confirming that the artist is satisfied with the fidelity of the print to the original. 99.94 Editions will always endeavour to produce the ultimate in limited edition collectables by using the best creative talents, the best materials and the best methods of production. All prints have so far been printed by Veritage Press at Lisarow with colour separation by Reprographics.”
