Saturday, January 11, 2020

Arthur Streeton Watercolors

Arthur Streeton (Australian 1867-1943) is best known for his oils, but he also painted in watercolor.

Arthur Streeton Vale of Mittagong, watercolour, 22x38, 1892
He painted this valley view from a precipice throughout a period of five days, climbing up the 500 feet from the valley below each day. There's a bridge with a train crossing it in the bottom center.

Arthur Streeton, Twin Bays, Vancouver
Here he explores the changing light from passing cloud shadows.



The gold and blue color schemes resemble the colors of his oil landscapes from Heidelberg, on the outskirts of Melbourne.

Arthur Streeton, Windsor Castle Watercolor, 36 x 48.5 cm
Windsor Castle is visible in the far distance of this field study.

Arthur Streeton, Ruins in Peronne, 1918
In 1918, he traveled to France to observe the aftermath of the war, and he did many watercolor studies on location.

Dr Anna Gray, a curator of a 2017 exhibit on his war watercolors, says: “He was at the forefront, being one of the few war artists who chose to depict the aftermath of the damage, eschewing scenes of action for the implication of violence.”
“60 Pounder gun off Albert Road”,
by Arthur Streeton, 1918, watercolour and pencil. 
Curators say that these paintings reveal "a lesser-known aspect of his art, one where a social conscience emerges and the landscape is no longer purely a celebration of pastoral wealth, but it also carries a lament about loss and violence."

Book: Arthur Streeton, 1867-1943
Online : 
CityNews.com: Unusual look at Arthur Streeton
Canberra Times: Arthur Streeton: The art of war

1 comment:

  1. Fantastic watercolors. To choose watercolor for a painting where you climb 500 feet each day - that's supreme confidence. I tend to think of watercolors as most conductive to spontaneity, but here, of course, one sees the hand of the master combining the best of both worlds...

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