Exhibition themes Hinkler series
In the early 1970s Boyd came across a poem written by his maternal grandmother, Evelyn Gough, The epic of Bert Hinkler: The homing bird of Bundaberg. Published in 1928, the poem celebrated the pioneering solo flight of Bert Hinkler from Britain to Australia. It caused a sensation at the time and Boyd recalled the excitement that swept through the nation and into their lives at Open Country. However, in 1933, Hinkler died after crashing his plane in the Italian Alps. The connection Boyd felt with his grandmother and with Hinkler's story informed the evocative works shown here.