The Reading of the Document, 2017

oil on canvas

138 x 102 cm

Price on application — enquire

Provenance: Direct from artist, SA Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW
Artwork story: In November 1938, after the Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, and vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses killing close to 100 Jews, the first person to lead a protest march in the entire world was Yorta Yorta Aboriginal activist William Cooper. In this imaginative work, William Cooper is depicted reading the document presented to the German consulate in Melbourne and heard by an audience of Jewish people and a group of his tribesman. The the pink and grey cockatoo (galah), chosen to provide a geographical context, hears his call to action and spreads the word. Though not welcomed at the time, William Cooper's letter was finally accepted by the German consul-general 70 years after the event, in 2012.

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1954 – 2022

oil on canvas

138 x 102 cm

Price on application — enquire

Provenance: Direct from artist, SA Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW
Artwork story: In November 1938, after the Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, and vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses killing close to 100 Jews, the first person to lead a protest march in the entire world was Yorta Yorta Aboriginal activist William Cooper. In this imaginative work, William Cooper is depicted reading the document presented to the German consulate in Melbourne and heard by an audience of Jewish people and a group of his tribesman. The the pink and grey cockatoo (galah), chosen to provide a geographical context, hears his call to action and spreads the word. Though not welcomed at the time, William Cooper's letter was finally accepted by the German consul-general 70 years after the event, in 2012.