BOOK illustrations
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The Way of the Whirlwind
1941Elizabeth Durack was a fine and imaginative illustrator — one who pushed the wide boundaries of the genre — as the eight books here, and many others, reveal.
Her professional life started as collaborator–illlustrator with her sister, Mary Durack, their first published work appearing in the 1934 Christmas edition of Perth’s The Western Mail. For the next ten years the sisters collaborated closely despite often being separated by vast distances.
When, soon after the war Elizabeth began to express herself independently as a painter she met opposition from the ... -
All-About
1935
From the start, it was acclaimed: ‘a story which should become an Australian classic ...’ The Bulletin’s 'Red Page' of November 1935 went on to say: ‘… it ranges up beside Frank Dalby Davidson’s Man-Shy and Hugh McCrae’s My Father and My Father’s Friends … it is written with that close, intimate understanding that comes ... -
The Magic Trumpet
1943 — 1946The West Australian newspaper reviewed The Magic Trumpet on October 19 1946:
‘The happy collaboration of Mary and Elizabeth Durack has produced many attractive volumes but none more aesthetically pleasing than The Magic Trumpet (Cassell & Company Ltd — London, New York, Melbourne 1946).
This is a story in graceful verse by Mary Durack and illustrated with the vivacious originality we have come to expect from her sister, Elizabeth. The verse, which has a rippling music that is full of a new-world faery atmosphere, tells of a black boy born ... -
Australian Legendary Tales
1953Acknowledged as the finest and most authentic collection of Australian life “as it was in the beginning”, Australian Legendary Tales has been in print continuously for over 100 years. The legends, first published in London in 1896, were recorded and translated from the stories of the Euahlayi people of northwestern New South Wales by K (Katie) Langloh Parker in the late 19th century.
Notable illustrators who preceded Elizabeth Durack in the 1953 edition, included Tommy McCrae, in 1896, and Nora Heysen, in 1930, both of whom employed a conventional illustrative style.
In ... -
Piccaninnies
19401940 was a productive year for Elizabeth Durack. In Sydney during the first year of her marriage and awaiting the birth of her first child she was also writing daily and collaborating with Mary in Perth; preparing illustrations for The Way of the Whirlwind; producing a weekly strip, Nungulla and Jungulla, for The Sunday Telegraph; creating illustrations and arranging the production of Piccaninnies — a light–hearted book of verse with double–page spreads of drawings.
The popularity of -
Kookanoo and Kangaroo
1963A story of a boy and his hunt for a wily kangaroo. A gentle cautionary tale for children of all cultures.
Kookanoo and Kangaroo was published by Rigby Ltd., Adelaide, 1963. It has 44 pages, with illustrations in colour and black and ... -
The Courteous Savage
1964Mary Durack The Courteous Savage — Yagan of Swan River illustrated by Elizabeth Durack (Thomas Nelson Ltd., Melbourne, 1964.)
The fly-leaf of the first edition summarises the story: “Yagan, an Australian aboriginal tribesman whose people dwelt about the Swan River in southwestern Australia … was known as ‘the black Robin Hood’, and as ‘this strange, vindictive, but always courteous savage’*, he inspired both fear and respect among the white people.
"His story is that of many a tribal leader whose homeland was invaded by new settlers … although always ready with a ... -
An Attempt to Eat the Moon
1958An Attempt to Eat the Moon and other stories (Georgian House, Melbourne, 1958) contains 15 legends from the Dordenup people of southwestern Australia. They were told to Deborah Buller-Murphy when she was living in the Margaret River area in the late 19th century. The legends are about people and places, flowers and weapons, the origin of rainbows, earthquakes and other phenomena.
The title story is about Killangoot and Warungeat, rival Bulyer, or magic men. When Killangoot threatened, one day, to fly up and eat the moon the people were greatly alarmed and called ... -
They Reached a Land
1942/43Illustrations for an original draft of the Durack family history by Mary Durack; eventually published in 1959 as 'Kings in Grass ...
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The Tale of the Crocodile
1942Illustrations for ...
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Star of Darkness
1945Illustrations for ...
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The House that Took off
1963Cover for ...