Russell Crowe’s movie Poker Face features one of ours!

Russell Crowe’s new movie Poker Face features one of our former paintings by Thomas Vernon Carter (Australian 1890-1976) “The Fountain”. This is a striking oil on board painting of Carlton Gardens in Melbourne circa 1954 that was purchased by Russell, the painting features as a backdrop extensively in several scenes in the movie. Russell’s production company contacted us regarding the provenance of the painting as they researched and traced it back to the Vernon family.

The back of the painting is really interesting as it has several inscriptions one being a story written by a former owner describing how they tried to track Tom Carter. It also has an exhibition label from the 1954 Victorian Artists Society as well as the original title and inscription penned by Carter. Our research at the time uncovered several other paintings by Carter dating to the 1950s, but by far this was his best example and is now destined to live on. A fitting legacy for a fine mainly unknown Australian artist.

Thomas Vernon Carter “The Fountain”

Scene from Poker Face featuring “The Fountain”