Jubilee exhibition of Australian art

T H E A R T O F T H E M I D D L E PERIOD 71. W 1 £ By L i o n c/ L/1/d1l ' H E A R T O F A C O U N T R Y is not a native growth; it has always required a John d the Baptist, or some powerful creative stimulus a nd influences that in ' historical times we can measure a nd establish. T o go no further hack than the Ir Moe Italian revival, we find that the exhuming o f Greek a n d Latin literature and / ' sculpture determined the death o f Gothic art, and shaped the spirit o f the Renaissance; / a nd to come closer to our own times, I need bu t instance the case o f Constable, most Ji~ national o f British artists, who studied the art of the Low Countries, a nd turning his back upon the brown tradition o f the day, created in the face o f green nature the landscape art of England. f l / But for the discovery o f gold a n d the advent o f Buvelot, Australian art might never . . - , 1 9 ' 4 have found a right incentive. Gold brought to Victoria swift immigration and world adventurers, so that Melbourne arose overnight from a struggling settlement to a great I I t o w n . Sudden wealth, the enthusiasm and faith o f fresh pioneers, aroused a civic pride that has never diminished in Melbourne, a nd the city fathers, in establishing a Public Library a nd Ar t Gallery the first in Australia—showed that they h a d not forgotten the essentials o f European civilisation. Sydney slept, a n d Conrad Martens, the ablest artist o f his day, languished for lack of patronage, when the accomplished Swiss painter, Louis Buvelot, arrived in Melbourne. H e h a d painted in Brazil a n d about the world, and his eye was accustomed to tree forms not conventionalised by European tradition. H e quickly grasped the character a n d true shape o f the gum tree the crux o f our landscape a nd his Pool at Coleraine and Summer Evening Near Templestowe, bought by the Melbourne Gallery, literally laid the foundations o f Australian landscape. Fo r Roberts, Streeton a nd McCuhbin—who always acknow- ledged with gratitude their debt to Buvelot—they were a revelation. H e h a d opened their eyes to the specific character o f our landscape, for the academic 'successes' chosen by Eastlake for the Gallery were utterly useless to students seeking a lead to painting from nature. I n open rebellion to the stupid copying o f pictures a t the National School, Roberts set u p a life-class, b u t finding that truth to nature could not be attained by dead paint a nd obsolete methods, on the meagre savings o f a photographer's assistant, he left i n 1883 to study in Europe, to return five years after with the gospel of the day--- direct painting from nature true to the hour and the light, a nd the magic open sesame Impressionism. Roberts inspired his fellows as only a born leader can. H e persuaded Conder to leave Sydney for Eaglemont, near Melbourne, and the following year, with Streeton, they held the now famous Impressionist Exhibition—the equivalent o f the French Salon des Refusees—which launched the Impressionist movement here. I t was a challenge and manifesto. Direct unsophisticated paint alone was responsible for truth to appearance a nd light effects, and though the little panels were low priced a t from one to five guineas, 111 TOM ROBERTS. Bailed Up. Oil they found intelligent buyers, a nd the first fight for Australian a r t had been won. But the Impressionism o f Roberts, Streeton and Conder must not be confused with French Impressionism, with which it had no connection. Aiming at the general 13 12