Talk:Breaking the News (painting)

Breaking the News
Painted by Longstaff in Melbourne in the NGV gallery, the figures are 75 year old Samuel Thomas a stone mason living in Fitzroy, and Sarah Dorey 33, from Castlemaine along with her daughter Alice, 4 Months. Both these people have living relatives in Melbourne [2023]. Longstaff did extensive preparation for the works in Clunes however he was not happy with the sketches nor the models. he had been given space in the NGV which was housed in the Melbourne Library building where he began looking for his final subjects. he found Samuel Thomas reading in the library and he advertised for women with a baby, it is said in his family memoir that he had a procession of mothers coming into his space until he choose Sarah

His inspiration for the works came from a single accident when he was a lad, [there is a document held by the Clunes Historical Society that supports this ] and he recalls seeing a procession headed by a massive bearded man going into a miners home, that of his cousin, Longstaff says in his memoir that the cry of the woman stayed with him for ever. He said earlier subjects could not give him the look he wanted. Sarah had lost her 5 year old child and he later said she gave him just the look on her face he was after, look closely at the painting

This is vital for the admirer to understand the mood of the painting that is so important and which achieved such acclaim. 2001:8003:4288:900:1C44:EE40:FD59:2BFE (talk) 05:48, 23 August 2023 (UTC)