Arthur Boyd

(1920-1999)

River Bank, Clouds, Midday with Set Square Rock, Shoalhaven River, NSW

Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney (label attached verso)
Private collection, Sydney


Having spent over a decade in the green landscapes of England, Arthur Boyd returned to Australia in 1971 to take up the position of Creative Arts Fellow at the Australia National University, Canberra. Towards the end of the year, Arthur and his wife, Yvonne, were invited by art dealer Frank McDonald to visit his property on the Shoalhaven River, Bundanon, on the south coast near Nowra. The invitation would be a catalyst, re-connecting Boyd to the Australian landscape and profoundly influencing his practice for the remainder of his life.

In an interview with Janet McKenzie, Boyd recalled of his first visit to the Shoalhaven area as 'We drove down from Canberra. It was an endless drive off the main road and we at last arrived very late. We stayed and it was absolutely searing hot. I went painting down by the river and it was so hot the paint ran into the sand. The first work was a very rudimentary sketch which is now at the National Gallery. After we had been there I thought the place was absolutely marvellous. When we were leaving I asked Frank McDonald if he ever came across another part of the river, or in the area, anything like Bundanon, would he let us know.'1

After returning to England in 1972, Arthur received word that the neighbouring property, Riversdale, adjacent to the Shoalhaven River was up for sale. Having been so enchanted by this region the Boyd's swiftly acquired the property sight unseen. The river and its local surroundings would provide a rich backdrop to many of his later masterpieces.

By the 1980s, Boyd's Shoalhaven Landscapes became more of a physical act as he adopted new ways in applying paint directly with his fingers, commenting that 'there's a closer connection with what you are doing and yourself than there is if you've got a brush in between. It's separating you, in a way, from your canvas'.

The present work captures one of Boyd's perennial images of the series - the grandeur of the towering Shoalhaven cliffs calmly reflected in the peaceful river below. In this particular work the toughness of the bush is dramatically softened with a sense of tranquillity, a lone swan indicating the stillness of the river.

After many years of tackling subjects such the Bride series, Nebuchadnezzar and the caged painter, Shoalhaven seemed to present a salve to Boyd's world weary eyes. He never tired of capturing the many nuances of this landscape at all different times of the day. Riverbank, Clouds, Midday with Set Square Rock, Shoalhaven River is one of the great evocations of Boyd's enduring relationship, respect and fascination with a place so important to him that he eventually bequeathed it to the nation to be preserved forever.

1. the artist in conversation with Janet McKenzie, July 1993