Australian artist Herbert Badham - Breakfast piece, 1936

There is no clever story behind this work – it’s just a quiet morning. Just breakfast - coffee, flowers, sun, a pensive gaze. This is one of my favourite paintings at the AGNSW, I am not sure why. Maybe because all the intricate details come together in a gentle, harmonious tune – the patterns of blue lines and checkers, the tender curve of her intertwined fingers, echoing the curve of the white tea towel. The little yellow daisy faces - the colour of butter and sun.

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The painting is by an Australian mid-twentieth century artist Herbert Badham. The woman is his wife, Enid. He probably just finished his coffee and got up from the table, leaving his newspaper behind. The only chink in the tranquility of the scene is that newspaper’s headline announcing Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia.

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But this small sun-filled breakfast space is a little fortress of quietude.

Herbert Badham, Breakfast piece, 1936, Art Gallery of NSW

Do you recognise the teapot and the cup and saucer set?

Herbert Badham, Paint and morning tea, 1937, The National Gallery of Victoria

Check out this fascinating essay on the NGV website about an x-ray study of the Paint and morning tea painting, which revealed another painting underneath.