Jorn Utzon

Jørn Utzon (1918-2008, A cartoon signed by architect of the Sydney Opera House), with a related letter revealingly (and entertainingly) annotated and initialled by him. A photocopied clipping (64 × 80 mm), mounted on a larger card (90 × 145 mm), itself mounted over a newspaper clipping laid down on an A4-sized card (overall dimensions 297 × 210 mm). In fine condition. The cartoon, by Cathy Wilcox, is captioned 'Jørn Utzon does the washing up', and shows him stacking crockery in a dish rack in the form of the sails of his most celebrated building; it is signed by Utzon across the image and mount. This item comes from the collection of an Adelaide autograph hunter who sent it to Utzon around 1994 with a request for his signature. His original letter was returned to him annotated and initialled by Utzon and is mounted on the verso of the card. He hopes Utzon is 'feeling less annoyed with Australia and Australians' (Utzon writes 'I am not' in the margin, scribbles out the word 'less', and underlines 'annoyed'). He mentions that Sydney had won the right to host the 2000 Olympic Games (Utzon writes 'congratulations'). He then requests autographs on some items he had enclosed, commenting 'I couldn't help putting in the dishwashing cartoon - it appeals to my sense of humour' (Utzon underlines 'sense of humour' and writes emphatically 'and to mine'). At the foot of the letter, Utzon writes in capital letters 'PLEASE SEND ME A COPY OF BULLETIN SOH [Sydney Opera House] 1973-93', before signing off with 'thank you + good luck J U. Utzon famously resigned from the project in 1966 due to conflict with the government of New South Wales and never returned to Australia. Rare.