|
1896
Painting
oil on canvas
122.0 x 223.5cm stretcher; 174.0 x 275.4 x 13.5cm frame
Purchased 1897
572
Art Gallery of NSW, Ground Level, Australian Art 19th Century Galleries, Court 9B
Further information
Frederick McCubbin was one of the key founders of the Heidelberg school of Australian impressionism - with Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Charles Conder. Like Roberts and Streeton, after contributing several paintings to 'The 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition' in 1889, he later became inspired during the 1890s to create large-scale, pioneering history subjects.
Among the best known and most popularly admired of Australian paintings, 'On the Wallaby track' was McCubbin's tribute to a generation that was almost past. In the context of a prevailing nationalist mood leading towards Federation, he chose what was at the time regarded as a characteristically Australian subject – a rural family 'on the wallaby track', performing a ritual characteristic of this life – that of boiling a 'billy' of water for tea. The title of the painting 'On the wallaby track' was the colloquial Australian term then used to describe those who lived a life constantly on the move - camping out by the roadside as they travelled from place to place, in search of work. McCubbin's painting heroises these people who worked on the land, enduring poverty and hardship - as true 'pioneers' of Australian settlement.
At the time of its first exhibition in Melbourne in 1896, this picture was seen as being a realistic depiction of the rural realities of the early 1890s Depression - a critic writing that '… it is human life. There is no attempt at idealization. The weariness of the woman and her utter lack of romance are of that same kind of fidelity to nature that Thomas Hardy gives in prose'. Despite its rather melancholy subject, 'On the wallaby track' is now viewed in a more romantic light by mainly city-dwelling Australians - nostalgic for a connection to the land that for many still epitomises the 'true Australia.
Born in Melbourne, McCubbin studied at the National Gallery of Victoria schools under eminent landscape painter Eugene von Guérard, later joining other artists who were beginning to paint in the open air, in the bush around the city outskirts. 'On the Wallaby track' was painted close to the artist's home in Melbourne using his wife, their young baby, and his brother-in-law as models. Key influences for McCubbin at this time as for his fellow artists, included the academic naturalism of Jules Bastien-Lepage and the new focus on local and everyday subjects by leading French Barbizon school artists Corot and Millet.
Bibliography
Periodical; Look; Jill Sykes (Australia); Jul 2009, 13 (colour illus.), 'Seeing art takes more than looking: Audio description tours now at the Gallery' by Laura Pia, pg. 12-13.
Exhibition catalogue; McCubbin: last impressions 1907-17; Anne Gray (Australia, b.1947); 2009, 10, 18, 36, 43, 'Introduction: Fredrick McCubbin 1855-1917' by Ron Radford, pg. 9-20.
Reference book; Art of Australia. Vol. 1: Exploration to Federation; John McDonald (Australia, b.1961); 2008, 568-569 (colour illus.), ‘Individual and national feeling’, pg. 545-610.
Periodical; Look; Jill Sykes (Australia); Feb 2007, 54 (colour illus.), 'Art, business and a Vatican contact' by Jill Sykes, pg. 54'.
Exhibition catalogue; Australian Impressionism; Terence Lane; 2007, 284, 345, 289 (colour illus.), 'National Naturalism' by David Hansen, pg. 281-287., cat.no. 15.9
Educational kit; Read-to-go Art Picture pack; Belinda Oxley (Australia); 2000, card no. 2 (colour illus.)
Book; Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales; Barry Pearce (Australia); 2000, 13, 37, 69 (colour illus.), 302, 'Introduction' by Barry Pearce, pg. 10-16; 'Golden age' by Vivienne Webb, pg. 37-38.
General/Book; Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook; Bruce James (Australia), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940); 1999, 122 (colour illus.), 'Australian Collection: Painting and Sculpture' by Bruce James, pg. 102-181.
Auction catalogue; Christie's Australia; Frederick McCubbin: Bush Idyll 1893, Sydney, 17th August, 1998; Editor Unknown; 1998, 14 (colour Illus.), 11, 14, 'Frederick McCubbin (1855-1917)' by Andrew MacKenzie, pg. 11-15., fig.no. 4
Book; Masters of the Heidelberg School; Okko Boer; 1998, 70 (colour illus.), plate no. 66
Educational/Book; Australia: Studies of Society and Environment; Sue Miles; 1996, 162
Educational/Book; In our own image: the story of Australian art; Donald Williams (Australia); 1995, 60 (colour illus.)
Book; Strange women: essays in art and gender; Jeanette Hoorn; 1994, 102 (illus.)
Scholarly/Periodical; State of the arts; Margaret Meagher (Australia); Dec 1991-Mar 1992, 36
Newspaper; The Weekend Australian; David Armstrong (Australia); 06 Jul 1991-07 Jul 1991, 4, 'Artist's mystery pioneer revealed' by Suzanne McDonnell, pg. 4
Exhibition catalogue; The art of Frederick McCubbin; Bridget Whitelaw; 1991, 60 (colour illus.), 61 (colour illus.), 133, 134, cat.no. 20. Image on pg. 61 is in detail.
Book; Frederick McCubbin 1855-1917: 'The Proff' and his art; Andrew Mackenzie; 1990, 88, 89 (colour illus.), 90, 91, plate no. 23
Book; Sunlight and shadow: Australian impressionist painters 1880-1900; Leigh Astbury (b.1950); 1989, 191 (colour illus.), plate no. 141
Book; Frontier Country; Sheena Coupe; 1989, 130 (illus.)
General/Book; Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook; Annabel Davie; 1988, 18 (illus.), 'Australian' by Barry Pearce, pg. 13-35.
Educational kit; Art & the West; Terence Maloon (Australia), Ursula Prunster (Australia); 1987, (colour illus.), 'Mythmakers'., AUS 4 card.
Educational/Book; City bushmen: the Heidelberg school and the rural mythology; Leigh Astbury (b.1950); 1985, 153 (illus.), plate no. 25
Book; Portrait of a Gallery; Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940), Jan Meek (Australia); 1984, 33 (colour illus.), 'Australian Art in the Old Courts', pg. 24-37.
Scholarly/Book; Australian impressionist painters: a pictorial history of the Heidelberg school; William Splatt, Susan Bruce; 1981, 80
Book; Frederick McCubbin; Ann Galbally (Australia); 1981, 89, 93 (colour illus.), 97, 102, 110, plate no. 18
Scholarly/Periodical; La Trobe Library Journal [vol. 6, no. 24]; John Thompson (Australia); Oct 1979, 82, 'The art of Frederick McCubbin and the impact of the first war' by Leigh Astbury, pg. 79-83.
General/Book; A treasury of Australian bush painting; Susan Bruce; 1979, 34 (colour illus.), 36, plate no. 26
General/Book; 100 masterpieces of Australian painting; William Splatt, Barbara Burton; 1973, 88 (colour illus.), 89, plate no. 41
Book; Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook; Editor Unknown; 1972, 86 (colour illus.)
General/Book; Australian painting 1788-1970; Bernard Smith (Australia, b.1916); 1971, 88, 119
Scholarly/Book; Impressionist painters 1881-1930; James Gleeson (Australia, b.1915, d.2008), John Henshaw (New Zealand; Australia, b.1929, d.2006); 1971, 88, 89 (colour illus.), 90-91, plate no. 20
Scholarly/Book; The golden age of Australian painting - Impressionism and the Heidelberg school; Alan McCulloch (Australia, b.1907, d.1992), John Henshaw (New Zealand; Australia, b.1929, d.2006); 1969, 91 (illus.)
Periodical; Meanjin; C Christesen; Spring 1956, 303, 304, 'The phases of McCubbin's art' by Ursula Hoff, pg. 301-306
Exhibition catalogue; Frederick McCubbin exhibition: to mark the centenary of the artist's birth in 1855; Editor Unknown; 1955, cat.no. 12
Book; A catalogue of Australian oil paintings in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1875-1952; Bernard Smith (Australia, b.1916); 1953, 138
Exhibition catalogue; A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting; Hal Missingham (Australia, b.1906, d.1994); 1953, cat.no. 53
Exhibition catalogue; 150 years of Australian art; Lionel Lindsay (Australia, b.1874, d.1961); 1938, cat.no. 17
Book; The story of Australian art from the earliest known art of the continent to the art of today (Vol. 1); William Moore (Australia, b.1868, d.1937); 1934, 134 (illus.), 'National life' by William Moore, pg. 122-152.
Newspaper; Age; Editor Unknown; 26 Nov 1932, 'Australian artists of the past: Frederick McCubbin' by A.C.
Exhibition catalogue; Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1899; National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874); 1899, 46 (sepia illus.), cat.no. 250. Oil Paintings-Australian, titled 'On the Wallaby Track'
Newspaper; The Sydney Morning Herald; Editor Unknown; 10 Sep 1897
Newspaper; The Sydney Morning Herald; Editor Unknown; 09 Sep 1897
Periodical; The Studio; Editor Unknown; 1896, 69 (illus.), This work is titled: 'In the bush'.
Minutes book; Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales: Minutes 1.9.1891-4.5.1898; Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia); 1891-1898, 7 September 1897, 15 December 1897
Exhibition venue
Title: Australian Impressionism
Organizer: Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
Venue: Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
Opening: 31 Mar 2007
Closing: 08 Jul 2007
Curator: Smith, Geoffrey
Lane, Terence
Title: A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting
Organizer: Art Gallery of New South Wales
Venue: Art Gallery of New South Wales
Opening: 25 Sep 1953
Closing: 25 Oct 1953
Notes: cat.no. 53
Title: 100 years of Australian painting
Organizer: Art Gallery of New South Wales
Venue: Art Gallery of New South Wales
Opening: 19 Apr 1948
Closing: 17 May 1948
Notes: cat.no. 9
Title: The Art Society of New South Wales Eighteenth Annual Exhibition (1897)
Organizer: Royal Art Society of New South Wales
Venue: Society Rooms, Union Chambers
Opening: 11 Sep 1897
Notes: cat.no. 52; £126-0-0
|
