Under a Modern Sun: Art in Queensland 1930s–1950s

197 Leisure and the seaside 196 Under a Modern Sun: Art in Queensland 1930s–1950s KENNETH MACQUEEN Kenneth Macqueen spent his early years in Brisbane and returned to Queensland after serving in World War One and studying at London’s Slade School of Fine Art. In 1922, Macqueen settled on a property at Mount Emlyn near Millmerran on the Darling Downs that would remain his home. While Macqueen’s subjects reflected his farming life, he painted in a style associated with Sydney Modernism, courting pattern and rhythm and eliminating extraneous detail. Despite working from the relative isolation of his farm, Macqueen exhibited regularly in Sydney and other state capitals, earning a reputation as a leading Australian artist and one of the most distinctive watercolourists of his generation. From the 1930s, Macqueen and his family holidayed on the Gold and Sunshine coasts and his oeuvre increasingly included beach scenes. Some of his best known artworks convey what he described as a ‘countryman’s yearning for the sea’ and his delight at the ‘patterned foam and the salty joyous air’ of the seaside. 1 Figures appear infrequently in these paintings as Macqueen was more interested in the designs thrown up by the ocean, or the unusual forms flanking seashores. Stranded tree trunk 1935 is a vivid example, with the anthropomorphised tree taking on vaguely surreal qualities. The bleached trunk and the stark shadows it casts, along with the glassy reflections on the water, imply the heat of the sun. Interestingly, the watercolour also references the erosion of dunes in the midground, with the tree a victim of a previous storm and the resulting attrition of soil from its root system. Note 1 Kenneth Macqueen, Adventure in Watercolour: An Artist’s Story , Legend Press, Sydney, 1948, p.3. Kenneth Macqueen , Stranded tree trunk 1935