Fred Jessup
Fred Jessup
Melons, 1958
Fred Jessup (1920–2007)
oil on canvas
40 x 94 cm (frame 48 x 102 cm)
signed and dated lower right
Exhibited: Fred Jessup, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 8th Apr – 20th Apr 1959, Cat no. 16
Provenance: Christies, Australian & International Paintings, Melbourne, 25/11/2002, Lot No. 274.
sold
Fred Jessup was born in Talbot, Victoria in 1920. He studied in Sydney with Dattilo Rubbo at East Sydney Technical College and served with the AIF during WWII. In 1945 he won the NSW Travelling Scholarship but due to unfavourable study conditions in Europe and need to mentally recover from the war, spent three years studying at East Sydney Technical College under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme available to ex-service personal. During that time, he became close friends with artists Margaret Olley and David Strachan. Leaving for Europe in 1948 Fred went to study in London with Victor Pasmore and Paris with Edouard MacAvoy. France became Fred’s base and in 1958 he purchased a house in Espondeilhan in the South of France where he lived for the rest of his life.
Fred visited Australia in 1959 and 1962 when his work was exhibited in the Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane and Australian Galleries in Melbourne. He later was exclusively represented by the prestigious Wally Findlay Galleries in Paris, Palm Beach and New York.
Fred's works is represented in numerous collections in Australia including the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Bendigo Art Gallery and the University of Queensland.