MELBOURNE.- Charles Blackman is one of Australia's most important living artists and is renowned for his images that explore the duality of life. In 1956 Blackman heard Lewis Carroll's extraordinary and bizarre tale of Alice in Wonderland. Inspired by this and also influenced by the effect of the failing sight of his wife, Barbara, Blackman produced a series of 46 major works, over a 12 month period. The story of Alice moving through a tableau of irrational situations, constantly frustrated, paralleled Barbara's own experiences as her eyesight progressively worsened.

The paintings blend iconic motifs from Carroll's fantastic journey into the imagination with Blackman's personal life. The results are challenging images that are simultaneously amusing and disquieting.

Many of the works in the series have not been seen for many decades and several will be repatriated to Australia for the exhibition. Charles Blackman: Alice in Wonderland celebrates the 50th anniversary of the series and will reunite the majority of works for the very first time.

The paintings, titled Alice’s Journey and Drink Me, were discovered in Western Australia and Queensland respectively, where both were privately owned.

This means that the NGV now has 44 of the 46 in the Alice in Wonderland series and again, are appealing to everyone to help them in this quest to uncover the final two paintings which will allow the Gallery to exhibit the full series for the very first time.

One of the owners, who wishes to remain anonymous, was alerted by media coverage of the NGV’s appeal to Australians far and wide to come forward with any information on four Charles Blackman paintings that have not been seen in public for many years. The painting has been in the owner’s private collection since the 1970’s.

The four paintings were all created between 1956 and 1957 and are part of Blackman’s Alice in Wonderland series. Very few paintings in the series are held in public Galleries and all have become very sought after in recent decades. It is believed the works are owned by private collectors around Australia.

The two remaining works the NGV is searching for are titled Curiouser and curiouser (1956) and Alice among the trees (1956). Three of the four paintings have not been seen publicly for approximately 25 years.

The discovery of Alice’s Journey is particularly exciting, as it is the largest of the four works, measuring almost three metres in length. Completed in 1957, it is also one the most striking and represents a culmination of the series.