Brought to Light Australian Art 1850-1965

Despite his evident technical skills and understanding of the various intaglio methods, Williams did not become entrenched in matters of'correct' procedure or 'appropriate' technique. Perhaps as a result of having received little formal training in this regard, Williams was consistently experimenting and was occasionally sacrilegious. The sanctity of the etching plate, usually copper or zinc, was often disregarded by Williams. He would cut down his plates, allow random accidental marks to scar their surface, and, in one instance, he welcomed the holes that appeared in the plate.15 One of the few music hall prints to focus solely on the audience, Chelsea Palace 1955-56, provides us with an example of Williams's radical methods. Depicting a group of figures seated in a theatre box, this second state print is approximately half the size of the original image which showed a pair of theatre boxes. The right- hand portion of the original plate was then cut down further until only a fragment, measuring approximately 4 x 3.5cm remained, depicting two figures highlighted against the darkness of the box from which they watch the performance. This practice reflects Williams's inherently anti- traditional approach to printmaking, and his desire to produce the best art possible, even if this meant a complete change of direction to rescue an image that was failing. This was the case with Lady 1955-56, cut down fromWilliams's original image of both a singer and the lady on stage, of which almost every impression was destroyed. Williams's interest in the pictorial effects of accidentally made marks such as foul-bite, where spots or lines are caused when acid etches through an imperfect ground, saw him sometimes create them deliberately. Such apparent imperfections are seen in Performer in a top hat, The trumpeter and The song, all 1955-56. In the case of the latter work, such marks become an essential part of the texture of the print, and of the depiction of the ridiculous act of this performer, whose mechanically aided arms grew longer as he sang. In later years, the visual qualities of such accidental events would be exploited further, their appearance being translated across and influencing his work in other media. There is much humour in the music hall etchings, from the comic nature of the vaudeville performances where characters collapse on stage, one hand thrown dramatically against the forehead, or, as in 'The Boy Friend' 1955-56, where two seemingly glamorous dancers, 'in face and figure all too humanly imperfect', writhe in exaggerated unison. The impact of these images also frequently derives from Williams's depiction of physical oddities: stunted legs, extraordinarily long arms and gaping mouths. Perhaps the stunting can be explained by the perspective that Williams had of his subjects from high up in the gods at the music hall. And perhaps the emphasis given to the arms and mouths is the pictorial means by which Williams wished to convey the action or drama of the performance. Despite this element of humour, many of the figures remain isolated. Often alone on the stage, they are separated from their audience, 'remote, still and oddly melancholy'.16 Williams's depictions of these individuals are not lifelike or accurate representations, but impressions and, sometimes, less than kind characterisations. Williams is said to have regarded subject matter as largely irrelevant, as 'something he could hang his coat on'. In other words, it was merely the basis upon which he was able to bring together a series of formal elements, and so construct a picture. This emphasis on the formal aspects and process of image making, rather than the image itself, may help to explain why many of the music hall figures lack personality and individuality, other than in their physical characteristics. The very nature of intaglio prints, which are able to be corrected, modified or developed in sequential states, ideally suited Williams's pattern of visual investigation and artistic production, so that the working method which came to characterise his oeuvre found its first manifestation in these prints and the related drawings and paintings. In a similar manner, the abstraction and reductive tendencies, which feature so strongly in Williams's representations of the Australian landscape, are also part of the early music hall etchings. This can be seen in prints such as Mad pianist and Two ladies, both 1955-56, where, although the drawings seem unfinished, the fundamental pictorial elements are present and the subject or atmosphere is clearly conveyed. The emphasis on figuration in the music hall etchings may seem unusual to many viewers familiar with Williams as the twentieth-century artist who radically changed our view of the Australian landscape. Rather than seeing this significant aspect of his oeuvre as ayouthful fascination or a practice that was later cast off, it should be regarded as an essential part of his development and a precursor to his mature work, as indeed it was. The hallmarks ofWilliams's singular artistic vision are present within these etchings, if embedded somewhat more deeply behind readily identifiable subject matter. Kirsty Grant is Curatorial Assistant, Prints and Drawings (Australian Art) at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Fred Williams Chelsea Palace 1955-56 Etching, aquatint, engraving and drypoint on paper 15.2x12.2cm Purchased 1994 Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant Celebrating the Queensland Art Gallery's Centenary 1895-1995 Fred Williams The song 1955-56 Etching on paper 13x15.8cm Purchased 1994 Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant Celebrating the Queensland Art Gallery's Centenary 1895-1995 IM A G E S O F T H E M U S IC H A LL 243