Artist Tom Roberts is perhaps best known in Australia for his iconic paintings which depict our rural life and pastoral history, such as The Golden Fleece painted in 1894 or the romantic and dangerous era of the bush-ranging years in Bailed Up. Never one to stay long at home, even after marrying relatively late in [...]
‘From the very first time I came to Broken Hill … in the middle of a dust storm accompanied by 100 degree heat, I loved the fierceness and the challenge of this area.’ Eric Minchin 1975. The founder of the Brushmen of the Bush, Eric Minchin was a man with an eye for opportunity. Minchin [...]
Hugh Schulz's art has appeared in many Australian and international books on Naive Art, this is a wonderfully expressive term for a man who was an exponent of what is commonly considered a more childlike approach to art. There is something quite enchanting about his work, as if he has turned a magnifying glass on [...]
Brushmen of the Bush. Now here's a painting group that deserved their iconic name. In 1973 five artists met in Broken Hill, New South Wales and started collaborating. The artists, comprising of Pro Hart, Eric Minchin, Jack Absalom, Hugh Schulz and John Pickup would change forever the perception of outback art both in Australia and abroad, ensuring [...]
The Australian bush has its own unique light; a natural glow that pierces through the Eucalypt branches and radiates across the land. An artist who recognised this beauty, and consciously immersed himself in these images of the outback was Tom Roberts. He was a creative who captured the vastness of rural living and the raw [...]
Born west of Geelong in 1867, Arthur Streeton’s only professional training was at the National Gallery of Victoria. He began painting city life in Sydney, then moved further afield to paint the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury river regions. He had a brilliant ability to inject light and space into his work, creating paintings that captured [...]
Iconic Australian artists. The phrase makes me think of idyllic portrayals of pastoralism, of golden fleeces suffused with sunlight, frontier settlers framed by eucalypt trees and the blue haze of a never-ending landscape. There are also the confronting depictions rendered by more contemporary artists. Of men and women, their communities, and their profound connection to [...]
Hill End. An abandoned goldrush town. Home to the ghosts of pan-shackled miners, some who won big and others who lost. In 1872 it was NSW’s largest inland settlement. Incorrectly named Forbes before Hill End was chosen and the town gazetted, it is a place that carries the memory of the wily antics of the estimated [...]
The history of the wool industry in Australia is a story of resilience and passion, rebellion and power. One company that positioned itself as a heavyweight in the Merino industry early on was F.S Falkiner and Sons. Established in the 1880s, the business went on to build an empire of sheep stations some of which [...]
This year I’ve thoroughly enjoyed remembering some of Australia’s most influential pastoral artists, painters who have left a significant imprint on Australian history through their depictions and reflections of rural life. To wrap up this series of blog posts I’m going to take a look at one final artist, well-known painter Russell Drysdale. Above [...]
