John Perceval painted this view of Melbourne’s old State Theatre (now The Forum) at the height of the Second World War. His gestural brushstrokes capture the view from Flinders Street railway yards, with a steaming locomotive and train tracks bisecting the foreground of the composition. The theatre opened in 1929 and quickly assumed iconic status with its art deco architecture and 49-metre clock tower, crowned by a distinctive copper dome that was styled after a mosque in Cairo.

In Perceval’s painting the building takes on anthropomorphic qualities, its grimacing ‘face’ lit up as if on fire and the ambiguous looming structures around it imbued with a sense of menace. The grim atmosphere is emblematic of the uncertain times in which Perceval created the painting and is intensified by the nighttime setting, despite the bright city lights.