Burnt ferns
(1968)
Medium
gouache
Measurements
57.2 × 76.8 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
Gallery 12
Level 2, NGV Australia
About this work
After a devastating fire in and around Upwey in the Dandenong Ranges, Fred Williams observed the scarred landscape. He had seen burnt patches of forest that he thought had no hope of regenerating, but then noticed green shoots growing from the charred remains of plants. As he wrote in his diary, this ‘just shows the nature of our Australian environment, and how accustomed it is to adjusting – how fire is probably a natural part of the cycle here’.
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in mauve paint (in image) l.l.: Fred Williams.
Accession Number
AC8-1980
Department
Australian Prints & Drawings
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest