Upwey
(1965)
Medium
gouache
Measurements
49.6 × 73.2 cm (image and sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H. J. Heinz II Charitable and Family Trust, Governor and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980
© Estate of Fred Williams
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Melbourne-born Fred Williams is considered one of Australia’s finest landscape painters of the twentieth century. His works mark a great departure from traditional depictions of the Australian landscape.
After winning the 1964 Helena Rubinstein Travelling Scholarship, Fred Williams visited Europe. He returned inspired by the densely painted landscapes of French nineteenth-century painter Gustave Courbet, an influence that can be seen in the generous application of paint in the foliage of this painting. Williams and his family had moved into a small house on 2 acres of land at Upwey, in the Dandenong Ranges outside of Melbourne in 1963. With his studio situated at the base of a valley, the setting became the inspiration for the high horizon line seen in this and many other paintings.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Upwey, Victoria
Inscription
inscribed in pen and ink (in image) l.c.: Fred Williams
Accession Number
AC3-1980
Department
Australian Prints & Drawings
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest