# Cedric Emanuel

Cedric Raymond Emanuel (1906–1995) was a New Zealand born Australian representational painter, illustrator and printmaker. Speaking at the 1995 Retrospectives exhibition of Emanuel's works, New South Wales Governor Rear-Admiral Peter Sinclair pointed to the artist's speciality in drawing and painting "scenes of yesteryear, and of buildings and locations that are national heritage items". He was an important Australian visual historian, "for almost seventy years" sketching and painting the "rapidly changing scenes of Australia from the outback to the inner suburbs of Sydney".

## Early life and education

Emanuel was born on 1 July 1906 in Gisborne, New Zealand. He moved to Australia when he was four. After attending school in the Sydney suburbs of Killara and Bondi, he studied art under Dattilo Rubbo at the Royal Art Society and Julian Ashton at the Julian Ashton Art School. He later learned etching under Sydney Long.

## Career

During the 1920s and 1930s he worked as a commercial artist and during his leisure hours worked to improve his skills in sketching, painting and etching. He was a sports enthusiast, especially in swimming, surfing, boxing, wrestling and Rugby football.
During World War II he served as an Aerodrome Defence Officer with the Royal Australian Air Force in New Guinea and was an "unofficial war artist" there. A collection of his drawings from those years were published in his South Pacific Sketchbook (Prentice-Hall, 1945).
In the postwar decades Emanuel worked primarily as a freelancer, creating "sketches in watercolour or ink depicting various aspects of Australia". These were published in 49 books (by 1990) issued by major Australian publishers including Rigby Limited, Angus & Robertson and Cassell Australia, and with text by authors such as Geoffrey Dutton, Philip Geeves, Ruth Park, Olaf Ruhen and Tess van Sommers. His sketches also appeared as "cards, scenic folios, calendars and wrapping paper" for the wider public.

## Exhibitions

Emanuel's first exhibition was in 1938 and was "successful" and the National Gallery of New South Wales purchased two. In 1942 his work was included in "an exhibition of Australian art that travelled the United States". He exhibited in most Australian states over the years, including at the Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney in 1988. In 1995 there was a retrospective exhibition of his work at the Sydney Jewish Museum.

## Awards

* 1938: Etching Award in Sesqui-centenary National Art Competition
* 1981: Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his services to art

## Holdings of his work

Examples of his work are held in the National Gallery of Australia, the State Galleries of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, and the Australian National University In New South Wales examples are also held by the Newcastle Art Gallery, the Mitchell Library, a number of local council libraries and in a number of private collections. For example, for the centenary of Captain Cook's arrival in Botany Bay Emanuel himself published a limited edition of a collection of relevant black and white drawing in a volume Historic Sydney 1970; the 930/1000 copy is held in the State Library of NSW.

## Personal life

Cedric Emanuel married Bella "Billie" Oppenheim in 1938 and they had two children, Janese and rugby international David.
He died in Sydney on 1 March 1995.