Weaver Hawkins (1893-1977), Dance of the football field (detail), 1947, from the collection of the Art Gallery NSW
Art and football. In Melbourne they go together like beer and meat pies; less so in Sydney, where a greater division is evident between the urban tribes. As playwright Benito Di Fonzo told ArtsHub: ‘Sydney artists don’t seem to embrace the violent culture of the NRL to anywhere near the same degree as Melburnians embrace AFL (something I found very odd when I first went down there). I think it’s because AFL is probably more like soccer, actually requiring more than brute strength.’
