Dobell’s Cows

“When World War II broke out. Bill [Dobell] served first as a camouflage labourer, later as an artist recording the work of the Civil Construction Corps,, which built airfields and other defence projects. As a camouflagist, he was one of a group of several, later famous, artists who had been ordered to make papier- mache cows and move them around the base in the hope of fooling Japanese pilots. (said Bill, “I think the authorities underestimated the eyesight of Japanese airmen”.) For almost a year he shared a hut with fellow-artist Joshua Smith.”

Extract from Unforgettable “Sir Bill” Dobell, Dr Edward McMahon, first proof

“Some bizarre defence schemes were thought up at that time. One was to detail a number of artists then in uniform, among them William Dobell, to paint papier mâché cows, which were subsequently moved about various airfields in an attempt to make the enemy think runways were pastures or paddocks. Dobell and his associates also had to transform a huge factory into what apeared to be a market garden.”

Extract from Over-Sexed, Over-Paid & Over Here: Americans in Australia 1941–1945, John Hammond Moore, University of Queensland Press, 1981, p. 30

John Kelly: Cow Depot (IV), oil on canvas, 1994

John Kelly: Cow Depot (IV), oil on canvas, 1994

Cow Depot (IV), oil on canvas, 1994
John Russel Taylor re show in Piccadilly Gallery – a newspaper clipping linking John Kelly’s work to that of Fred Williams and Gary Larson

John Russel Taylor re show in Piccadilly Gallery

John Russel Taylor re show in Piccadilly Gallery
John Kelly: The Incident, oil on Canvas, 1993

John Kelly: The Incident, oil on Canvas, 1993

The Incident, oil on canvas, 1993

John Kelly: Half painted Cow on Trestles, oil on canvas, 1994

Half painted Cow on Trestles, oil on canvas, 1994

John Kelly "Holy Cow" Documentary

A documentary produced and directed by John Doggett-Williams about artist John Kelly entitled ‘Holy Cow’

John Kelly: Aerial View 1995 Oil on canvas

Aerial View, 1995, oil on canvas
John Kelly: Three Men and Two Cows, oil on plywood

John Kelly: Three Men and Two Cows, oil on plywood

Three Men and Two Cows, oil on plywood

Installation of John Kelly's '3 Cows in a Pile'

Installation of Australian artist John Kelly’s sculpture ‘3 Cows in a Pile’ at Goodenough College, London, England

John Kelly: Two Men Lifting a Cow, oil on canvas, 1995

Two Men Lifting a Cow, oil on canvas, 1995
John Kelly: Two Men Lifting a Cow, oil on canvas, 1995

Two Men Lifting a Cow, oil on canvas, 1995

Two Men Lifting a Cow, front page of Liberation, 2 September 1996
L’Australie à Paris, short piece in Marie France, July 1998; small image of early version of Man Lifting Cow – or rather, Men Lifting Cow

L’Australie à Paris, Marie France, July 1998

L’Australie à Paris, Marie France, July 1998
Article in The Australian, 24-25 August 2002; title is ‘Cash cow wranglers ride to move ’em out’; text plus two images of John Kelly paintings

Article in The Australian, 24-25 August 2002

Article in The Australian, 24-25 August 2002
The Age, 24 April 2003; article by Louise Bellamy titled ‘Bull market for Niagara’; the article is primarily about Niagara Galleries; at the top is an image of “one of John Kelly’s upside-down cows” paintings

The Age, 24 April 2003

The Age, 24 April 2003
John Kelly: 'Form and Function (painted bronze)', private collection, Australia

John Kelly: 'Form and Function (painted bronze)', private collection, Australia

Form and Function (painted bronze), private collection, Australia
John Kelly sculpture, Sotheby's Australia, 2018

John Kelly sculpture, Sotheby's Australia, 2018

Entrance to Sotheby’s Australia show, 2018
John Kelly painting, juxtaposed with Sidney Nolan painting, Sotheby's Australia, 2018

John Kelly painting, juxtaposed with Sidney Nolan painting, Sotheby's Australia, 2018

John Kelly painting, juxtaposed with Sidney Nolan painting, Sotheby’s Australia, 2018
John Kelly painting, juxtaposed with Sidney Nolan painting, Sotheby's Australia, 2018

John Kelly painting, juxtaposed with Sidney Nolan painting, Sotheby's Australia, 2018

John Kelly painting, juxtaposed with Sidney Nolan painting, Sotheby’s Australia, 2018
John Kelly sculpture in front of Sidney Nolan's Ram in a Tree, from John Kelly: Sculptures show at Sotheby's Australia, Melbourne, 2018

John Kelly sculpture in front of Sidney Nolan's Ram in a Tree, from John Kelly: Sculptures show at Sotheby's Australia, Melbourne, 2018

John Kelly sculpture in front of Sidney Nolan’s Ram in a Tree, from John Kelly: Sculptures show at Sotheby’s Australia, Melbourne, 2018
Sotheby's with John Kelly's Man Lifting Cow maquette

Sotheby's with Man Lifting Cow maquette

Sotheby’s with Man Lifting Cow maquette
Exhibition at ACCESS Contemporary Art, 1994 – invite to the opening • the image is of the painting ‘Cow depot painted’, 1993, oil on marine ply, 118 x 178.5 cm; it depicts eight or so brown-and-white cows in a heap in an airfield setting (there's a wind sock on a pole in the distance)

Exhibition at ACCESS Contemporary Art, 1994

Exhibition at ACCESS Contemporary Art, 1994
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