Conversations with the Collection

Grace Cossington Smith & Anna Nowland

GRACE COSSINGTON SMITH

Grace Cossington Smith lived all her life in the same house in Sydney and the house, its interiors and environs, are an abiding subject across her long career as an artist. Her interior paintings from the 1950s are often heralded as her greatest triumph. This small snow stricken landscape was painted in Europe, during a visit in 1949-1950, before she commenced the domestic interiors. The reduced complimentary palette and mosaic style brush strokes pre-empt the later, luminous interiors. The painting carries a working sketch of a still life on the reverse of the board, testimony to the artist’s ongoing experimentation during her travels.

ANNA NOWLAND
Ravenswood School
Traces and Tracks (2010)
Painting

This artwork is an exploration of the diversity of the alpine heathland landscape, located in the Kosciusko National Park region. It examines this natural grassland area for its untouched character that yields unexpected colours, patterns and forms, creating natural lines and paths in the landscape. This outlook is affected by seasons and weather conditions that generate a complete alteration in the landscape through colour, light and dark, and structure. To present this I used acrylic and oil paints, carving, and pigmented paraffin wax, to create the traces and tracks that inform this unique environment.

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