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A painting in the shape of a circle, showing the scene of a tea room in a perspective similar to the modern fisheye lens.

The Convex Mirror c 1916

By George Washington Lambert

George Lambert (1873 –1930) was an Australian artist mainly known for portrait painting and as a war artist during the First World War.

The Convex Mirror shows a group of friends reflected in a mirror. They stand in the low-beamed living-room of Belwethers, a cottage in the village of Cranleigh, in Surrey. In 1916 George Lambert visited the village when his younger son Constant became seriously ill with osteomyelitis (bone inflammation caused by infection).

Lambert himself looks out of the image in the foreground and his wife, Amy, dressed in blue, is seen in the centre of the room. Seen through a convex-shaped mirror, the room is slightly distorted and suggests a feeling of unease and anxiety. World War I had been raging for two years and illness and a death had disturbed this group of friends.

Collection Item Type:
Oil and pencil on wood
Call Number:
ML 1292
Published date:
c 1916
On display:
Exhibition Galleries
Copyright Information:

Out of copyright: Creator died before 1955

Please acknowledge: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Display Location:
Exhibition Galleries

Historical Dates

Started Saturday, 1 January 1910
Finished Friday, 31 December 1920