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• Auction House:
  Deutscher and Hackett
• Sale Name:
  Two Important Private Collections: Modern / Traditional
• Sale Date:
  08 Dec 2021 ~ 7pm (AEDT)
• Lot #:
  9
• Lot Description:
  Frederick McCubbin
  (1855 - 1917)
  The Clearing, Mt. Macedon, c.1904
  oil on canvas board
  35.5 x 25.5 cm
  signed lower left: F McCubbin
  Related Work/s: The Hillside, Macedon, 1904, oil on canvas, 51.2 x 76.4 cm, private collection, illus. in Clark, J., 'A Happy Life': Frederick McCubbin's Small Paintings & Oil Sketches, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1991, p. 17
• Provenance:
  Private collection, Adelaide; Thence by descent; Private collection, Adelaide
• Exhibited:
  Exhibition of Past Australian Painters Lent From Private South Australian Collections,' Adelaide Festival of Arts, John Martin & Co. Limited, Adelaide, 8 – 29 March 1974, cat. 80 (label attached verso, as ‘In the Dandenongs’)'; Three Varied Exhibitions Of Fine Australian Traditional Art,' Bugle Galleries, Adelaide, 24 February – 30 March 1976 (as ‘Dandenong Hillside’)
• Notes:
  When Frederick McCubbin moved to Macedon in 1901 he entered upon, as his son Alexander later wrote, 'the most fertile and vigorous period of his life.’1 Some of his best and most popular works soon followed including his masterpiece, 'The Pioneer' 1904, 'an established favorite' within a short time of its acquisition in 1906 by the National Gallery of Victoria through the Felton Bequest.2 When 'Childhood Fancies' 1905 (private collection) was first exhibited, the art critic for 'The Age' wrote enthusiastically, 'McCubbin has never painted a more happily inspired picture .’3 And in 'Lost' 1907, (National Gallery of Victoria), another gem from this period, both the narrative and the early morning light filtering through the Macedon bush captured the public's imagination. McCubbin devoted himself enthusiastically to the subjects around him - 'The bush up our way looks more charming than ever', McCubbin wrote to his friend Tom Roberts in 1904. 'Pictures everywhere.’4 As the gifted interpreter of the secluded glade, he delighted in capturing the play of light in the subtlest of colours, of lyrical moments of childhood and the heroic endeavours of the early settlers of Victoria, the triptych format as much in veneration of the bush itself as of the pioneers. Significantly, McCubbin named their family Macedon home 'Fontainebleau' after the forest in France, neighbouring the village of Barbizon and its school of 'plein air' painters, especially McCubbin's favourite, Corot. Devoting himself to painting in the open air, he even dug a trench in the ground so that he could reach the canvas tops of 'The Pioneer'. Now in the middle years of his art, his style became broader and vision fresher in response to painting out-of-doors directly from the motif, as readily seen in 'The Clearing, Mount Macedon', c.1904. The smoothly painted tight style of earlier years gave way to the freer, textured brushstroke and palette knife. These transitions are clearly visible in the comparison of Macedon landscapes such as 'A Bush Scene' 1903, in the collection of the Art Gallery of Ballarat, and two works close to the painting on offer - 'The Hillside', Macedon 1904, private collection, Melbourne, and 'Sunny Glade'.5 In these later paintings the brushstrokes are applied with such verve that they seem to dance in spontaneous response to the scene. The focus of attention had now moved from the figure to the enchanting play of light, as in 'Sylvan Glade, Macedon' 1906, in the Bendigo Art Gallery. In radiant sunlight or in shade, each of these paintings captures the characteristic qualities of his beloved bush at Mount Macedon, one of his most fruitful paintings grounds. 1. McCubbin, A., 'Biographical Sketch of the Life of Frederick McCubbin', in MacDonald, J., 'The Art of Frederick McCubbin', Lothian, Melbourne, 1916, p. 65; 2. 'Mr. McCubbin's Exhibition of Pictures', 'The ''Age', Melbourne, 17 May 1907; 3. 'Exhibition of Arts and Crafts', 'The ''Age', 20 November 1905, p. 5; 4. Letters to Tom Roberts, vol. II, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, A2479, 7 November 1904; 5. For 'The Hillside, Macedon' see Clark, J.,' 'A Happy Life': Frederick McCubbin's Small Paintings & Oil Sketches', National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1991, p. 17, p. 12 (illus.), and for 'Sunny Glade', Sotheby's, Sydney, 25 August 2002, lot 13 DAVID THOMAS
• Estimate:
  A$30,000 - 40,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.