The Spirit Of Sydney (City to Surf),1998-1999

FRANK HODGKINSON
The Spirit Of Sydney (City to Surf),1998-1999
Oil on canvas on board
400 x 3220 cm

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Artist Frank Hodgkinson, title Spirit of Sydney (City to Surf), 1998. This mural by Frank Hodgkinson, titled Spirit of Sydney (City to Surf), was commissioned for the Western Hotel in Martin Place in Sydney in 1998 and was gifted to the State of New South Wales in 2023 and now wonderfully displayed here at the International Convention Centre Sydney. The mural consists of 18 panels and is three metres high and 32 metres wide and is the largest work in the ICC Sydney collection. Frank Hodgkinson revered the artists Henry Matisse and Pablo Picasso and this is evident in this work. The title Spirit of Sydney (City to Surf), is an allegory, a story, which celebrates the famous annual fun run, the City to Surf, with the story unfolding from the left to the right. Hodgkinson takes us on a journey, starting at the firing gun on William Street in the city, passing over the pedestrian crossing and on to and past some of Sydney’s greatest landmarks. We finish heroically at Bondi Beach with the surf, fiery sun and Sydney’s quintessential blue. The work was completed at time that Sydney was enjoying the excitement of having won the Olympic Games 2000 and displays the optimism, energy and vitality of the newfound spirit of Whilst the mural was no