Out of the Shadows: The Mezzotints of Graeme Peebles

♦

Gordon Craig

Visual Arts Department Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology

This thesis is presented as part of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Arts (Research) 2005 Keywords

Peebles, Graeme; Young, Bill; art; printmaking; mezzotint; Melbourne; Point

Lonsdale; Eucumbene; metaphysics. Abstract

Out of the Shadows: The Mezzotints of Graeme Peebles investigates Victorian printmaker Graeme Peebles’ engagement with the mezzotint medium since the early 1970s.

Over fifty works from the artist’s oeuvre of nearly 300 mezzotints are examined to demonstrate Peebles’ high quality technical skills and his unique approach to subject matter. This has ranged from enigmatic, surrealist-inspired subject matter to landscapes of the Lake Eucumbene region in the Kosciusko National Park, which range from the ominous and foreboding to the romantic and sublime.

In this thesis I explore the intellectual groundwork on which much of Peebles work is based. In doing so I am redressing the imbalance between the popularity of

Peebles’ work and the lack of critical writing about his art. While his work has been widely collected (see for instance the list of Public Collections that contain holdings of Peebles’ work, on page 96), to date his work has not received the attention as deserved by a master of their chosen medium. In reviewing his work in such a manner I believe that Peebles deserves greater recognition in contemporary

Australian Art.

In conjunction with this thesis I have curated an exhibition bearing the same title, which was displayed at the QUT Art Museum, Brisbane, 12 March – 30 May 2004. It then toured to the Latrobe Regional Gallery, Warrnambool Art Gallery, Geelong

Gallery, Gold Coast City Art Gallery and Perc Tucker Regional Gallery. A 16-page colour catalogue was also produced to accompany the exhibition.

Out of the Shadows: The Mezzotints of Graeme Peebles

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Keywords 2

Abstract 3

Table of Contents 5

List of Illustrations 6

Statement of Original Authorship 8

Author’s notes and acknowledgments 9

Introduction 11

Chapter 1 Mastering the Technique: Early works 13

Chapter 2 Metaphysical Works and the Drapery Landscapes 29

Chapter 3 Point Lonsdale 49

Chapter 4 Eucumbene 67

Conclusion 81

Appendix 1 Mezzotints: An Overview 83

Appendix 2 Printmaking in Australia: An Overview 87

List of Works Comprising the Exhibition 89

Chronology 93

Public Collections 97

Bibliography 99 List of Illustrations

Unless stated otherwise, works of art are by Graeme Peebles.

ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Abandoned workings, 1975, mezzotint 14 2. Works on Paper by RMIT Fine Art Students, exhibition catalogue, Crossley Gallery, Melbourne, 1975 14 3. Schadenfreude, 1978, mezzotint 17 4. Self portrait as a religious leader, 1980, colour mezzotint 18 5. Cimabue (c1240-c1302), the Basilica Santa Croce crucifix, Florence 18 6. Winter of my contempt, 1983, colour mezzotint 21 7. Photograph of the Exford Hotel, Melbourne, 2004 21 8. They mute horses, don’t they?, 1979, hand-coloured mezzotint 23 9. Ecce homo, 1980, hand-coloured mezzotint 24 10. The remnants of the Last Supper, 1981, colour mezzotint 26 11. Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606-69), The three crosses, 1653, drypoint and burin 26 12. Yves Tanguy (1900-55), Je vous attends (I await you), 1934, oil on canvas 30 13. Death of Damiens I-V, 1982, five mezzotints, some hand-coloured 33 14. Marat we’re marching on, 1984, colour mezzotint 34 15. Intimacy, 1983, colour mezzotint 35 16. They come in all shapes and sizes, 1984, colour mezzotint 35 17. Albert Tucker (1914-99), Images of evil no.21 (Night hospital), 1945, oil on plywood, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 36 18. The human comedy, 1987, colour mezzotint 36 19. Altarpiece, 1984-87, Nine colour mezzotints, some hand-coloured 38 20. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), The Annunciation, c1472-75, oil and tempura on panel, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence 38 21. Artist’s notes with hand colouring legend for Altarpiece 38 22. Is God a paintbrush?, 1987-89, hand-coloured mezzotint 40 23. My bathtub full of memories, 1987, colour mezzotint 41 24. Get out of the bath, Proust!, 1989, hand-coloured mezzotint 41 25. The study for the Charge of the Light Brigade, 1990, hand-coloured mezzotint 42 26. The Charge of the Light Brigade, 1990, hand-coloured mezzotint 42 27. John Brack (1920-99), The battle, 1981-83, oil on canvas, gift of John and Helen Brack 1992, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 43 28. John Brack (1920-99), The block, 1954, oil on canvas, presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria by Dr Joseph Brown, AO, OBE, Honorary Life Benefactor, 1999, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 44 29. Stairway to heaven, 1992, mezzotint 45 30. Halls Gap, 1984, colour mezzotint 46 31. Mt Buffalo, 1989, colour mezzotint 46 32. Wilsons Prom, 1984, colour mezzotint 46 33. The You Yangs, 1982, colour mezzotint 46 34. Death of a shag, 1989-90, hand-coloured mezzotint 50 35. Lobster quadrille, 1989-90, mezzotint 50 36. Budgerigars, 1990-92, hand-coloured mezzotint 51 37. Rabbit trap, 1992, hand-coloured mezzotint 51 38. Point Lonsdale back beach, 1989, hand-coloured mezzotint 53 39. Brett Whiteley (1939-92), Almost once, 1968-91, black butt timber and fibreglass, gift of the artist 1991, Art Gallery of New South Wales 53 40. Lifeboat (State I), 1992-94, hand-coloured mezzotint 54 41. Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), The raft of the Medusa, 1818-19, oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris 54 42. Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), Liberty leading the people, 1830, oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris 54 43. Beacon, 1993, colour mezzotint with hand-colouring 56 44. Lighthouse – night, 1994, colour mezzotint with hand-colouring 56 45. The wreck of the Ozone, 1993-94, mezzotint 58 46. Photograph of the Ozone wreck, 2004 58 47. Benito’s spot, 1992-93, colour mezzotint with hand-colouring 59 48. Photograph of the cypress tree which inspired Benito’s Spot, 2004 59 49. Starboard marker, 1994, hand-coloured mezzotint 60 50. Photograph of guiding post in Port Phillip Bay, 2004 60 51. René Magritte (1898-1967), La condition humaine (The human condition), 1933, oil on canvas, gift of the Collector’s Committee 1987, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC 61 52. Sideroads, 1994, hand-coloured mezzotint 61 53. Peter Tyndall (born 1951), detail: A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/someone looks at something... Untitled Painting No. 19 (Painting in a landscape - Sidney Nolan), 1975, oil on canvas 61 54. Metaphysics free zone, 1994, hand-coloured mezzotint 62 55. Island, 1995, colour mezzotint 63 56. Tree house, 1995, colour mezzotint with hand-colouring 64 57. Harbour, 1996-97, colour mezzotint 65 58. The rock at the end of the pier, 1997-98, colour mezzotint 66 59. Falling rocks, 1996, colour mezzotint 66 60. Clouds Eucumbene, 1996-97, mezzotint 67 61. Map of Kosciusko National Park 68 62. Moonlight at Eucumbene, 1997-98, colour mezzotint 69 63. Providence Reach, 1998, colour mezzotint 71 64. Snake Island, 1998, colour mezzotint 71 65. Three Mile Dam, 1998, mezzotint 72 66. Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Luxe, calme et volupté, 1904-05, oil on canvas, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris 73 67. Boot Point, 1998, mezzotint 73 68. Thunderhead at Eucumbene 1997, mezzotint 74 69. Lawrence Daws (born 1927), The burning train, 1972, colour screenprint 74 70. Storm over Eucumbene, 1999, mezzotint 75 71. James Gleeson (born 1915), The message arrives, 1995, oil on canvas 75 72. Light shaft, 2001, mezzotint 76 73. Cabbage soup, 2001, hand-coloured mezzotint 76 74. Mrs Simpson, 2001, hand-coloured mezzotint 76 75. Example of a Mrs Simpson trout fly 76 76. Irving Penn (born 1917), Duchess of Windsor, New York, 27 May 1948, 1948, gelatin silver photograph 77 77. Natura morto, 2000-03, five-plate colour mezzotint with hand-colouring 78 78. Dropping cloud, 2002-03, colour mezzotint 79 79. Video still of clouds at Lake Eucumbene 79 80. Skyhook, 2003, colour mezzotint 79 81. Photograph of Graeme Peebles and Bill Young checking printing proofs at Bill Young Studios, Melbourne 91 Statement of Original Authorship

The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree or diploma at any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made.

Signed:

Date: Author’s notes

Only the first word is capitalised in the titles of works of art, which appear in italics.

The exception to this being when proper names are used within the title of the artwork (for example They come in all shapes and sizes and The remnants of the

Last Supper). Dates follow the titles with the year/s of production listed in brackets.

Titles of work in other media such as literature and film have capitals on all key

words. Works of art reproduced in the thesis are mezzotints by Graeme Peebles

unless otherwise specified.

The spelling and punctuation of Australian locations are taken from the Reader’s

Digest Atlas of Australia (1994), 2nd edition, Sydney: Reader’s Digest Pty. Ltd.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my Supervisor, Mark Pennings, and my Associate Supervisor,

Victoria Garnons-Williams, for their valuable feedback and advice; Graeme Peebles for his unwavering support of the project; and Bill Young, Laurie Petersen and Geoff

Ricardo for providing some insight into Graeme’s work. Many other people have been supportive of my project, including David Hawke, Stephen Rainbird, Robyn

Daw, Alison Kubler, Arryn Snowball, Stuart Purves at Australian Galleries, Murray

White formerly of Australian Galleries, William Robinson, Lawrence Daws, Helen

Brack, Ellen Thompson, Callum Campbell and Pamela See, as well as numerous other individuals whose enthusiasm about printmaking helps foster the art form.

Dedicated to my late father, James Alexander Craig (1935-2000), whose own unquenchable thirst for knowledge has been my inspiration. Introduction

Graeme Peebles has been producing mezzotints for over twenty-five years. He worked as a lecturer in art (primarily at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, or

RMIT) for some ten years before devoting himself full time to this career. His work is held in numerous public collections across Australia and the world. Peebles is admired by many artists, curators and collectors as a consummate professional and an artist of unique insight and ability. Although a graduate of RMIT, Peebles is largely self-taught in his medium of choice, as no-one in Australia has provided him with serious training and tuition in the mezzotint.

The thesis Out of the Shadows: The Mezzotints of Graeme Peebles and its accompanying exhibition investigates the artist’s output over a period of nearly thirty years. For the first time Peebles’ oeuvre can be seen in the context of his ongoing artistic development. This thesis examines his various styles and investigates the influence of European and Australian art, history and literature on Peebles’ work. It follows the artist’s gradual evolution in style and subject matter from intellectually rigorous (and sometimes obscure) metaphysical-based still-lifes to contemplative, sublime landscapes. His progress as an artist and a technician is traced from his earliest reproduced work (Abandoned workings (1975), which appeared on the cover of the 1975 exhibition ‘Works on Paper by RMIT Fine Arts Students’ at

Crossley Gallery, Melbourne), through to recent works that were exhibited at

Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne in late 2003.

Chapter 1 - Mastering the technique: Early works

In 1973 Graeme Peebles began his studies at RMIT. At the time Australian painting was big, both in terms of popularity and size. On the back of the National Gallery of

Victoria’s famous 1968 exhibition, ‘The Field’, Australian painting was riding a wave of popularity, and large, abstract works dominated contemporary shows.1 It was in this artistic atmosphere that Peebles entered RMIT where he enrolled in painting, but by his second year he switched to printmaking. While painting had been the

‘showstopper’ and the talk of the town at the time, printmaking in Melbourne was also strong and many important artists were working in various printmaking media.

RMIT had a particularly strong printmaking curriculum that was guided by talented and enthusiastic lecturers such as Tate Adams and George Baldessin. Lithography and etching were two printmaking disciplines that were particularly popular at RMIT

(and in Melbourne generally), but it was the archaic, velvety tonal medium of the mezzotint that attracted Peebles’ attention.

Initially, Peebles undertook an experimental engagement with mezzotints. After seeing a mezzotint by Japanese printmaker Yozō Hamaguchi (1909-2000) in

Anthony Gross’ 1973 book Etching, Engraving and Intaglio Printing, Peebles sought further information about the technique from RMIT lecturer Tate Adams. Adams gave Peebles a mezzotint rocker and the artist began to learn how to prepare a plate. As he did not have access to any expert instruction on the medium there was much trial and error. His first few plates were technically underdeveloped and the prints are dominated by grey tones and reveal little detail. The preparation of a plate for mezzotinting requires the repeated rocking of the entire plate many times over

(up to 100 rockings), yet in his early attempts the artist only rocked the plate a

1 ‘The Field’ was the inaugural exhibition at the new site of the National Gallery of Victoria in St Kilda Road. The building is now home to the National Gallery of Victoria’s ‘NGV International’.

1 handful of times. As a result the plate would hold very little ink, and became unworkable.2 Peebles persisted however and his enthusiasm and rapidly improving skills soon led to an enhancement in the quality of his work. Some of these early efforts were included in the exhibition ‘Works on Paper by RMIT Fine Arts Students’ at Crossley Gallery in 1975, and his mezzotint Abandoned workings (1975) was reproduced on the cover of the exhibition catalogue.

Peebles believed that mezzotints were the type of prints that most closely resembled painting, so for him the change to printmaking did not indicate a rejection of painting but a compromise ‘between’ the two media. He also endorsed printmaking as a more democratic technical process because of its capacity to produce multiples which enables it to reach a wider audience. The oft-quoted ‘Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’ by Walter Benjamin (1935) discusses the concept of the multiple in some detail, and his essay has been used by scholars and academics to support the somewhat utopian proposition that this type of a work of art could be available to anyone. While most people working in editioned or multiple works do not adhere to this philosophy, a work in an edition of twenty or thirty certainly has the potential to reach a wider audience than a one-off, unique piece.

Left: Abandoned workings, 1975; right: Works on Paper by RMIT Fine Arts Students catalogue

2 For more information on the mezzotint process, refer to Appendix 1.

2 Abandoned workings is typical of Peebles’ early forays into mezzotinting. The image is simple and uncluttered, and the artist’s ability and precision as a mark-maker is evident. The image consists of an animal’s skull formed around and over scaffolding. The work is also characterised by one of Peebles’ trademarks: dark humour. The skull operates as a metaphor for building and demolition (the death of

Melbourne’s older character through an ongoing building, redevelopment and beautification program). The title in fact reflects the artist’s distain for buildings that had been left in a state of disrepair and dereliction. The skull reinforces this point as a representation of death, and in this instance the death of the Melbourne of

Peebles’ formative years.

Shortly after graduating from RMIT Peebles was granted a Churchill Fellowship.3 He used this to travel to Europe in 1976-77 and took the opportunity to visit numerous cultural institutions including the British Museum and the print room of the Victoria &

Albert Museum. Here he was able to study mezzotints from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and ‘spent days looking at the John Martin prints.’ (Peebles 2002b) Peebles also continued to refine his mezzotint technique and spent some three months at the New Crane Studio, a London printmaking workshop.4 He also travelled to mainland Europe and spent considerable time in

Italy.

The connectedness between the church and art that Peebles saw in Italy (and much of Europe) was a catalyst in shaping the religious perspectives seen in his early works of art. Unlike Australia, the vast majority of churches in Italy have masterpieces of Western art either hanging on the walls, or more often, painted

3 Peebles had no expectations that his application would be successful, and as a result he had not properly prepared himself for a lengthy stay overseas. (Peebles 2002a) 4 British artist Ken Oliver established New Crane Studio in 1974. It was an artist-run etching workshop.

3 directly onto the walls. Peebles admired cities like Florence where art is part of everyday life and has been a major factor in defining the city and its history.

Certainly the artistic and religious history of Italy made a lasting impression on the young artist. A considerable number of his prints directly refer to Italian artists and artworks, and particular symbolic devices and motifs that are derived from Italian renaissance art recur in his prints. He greatly enjoyed his time in Italy and he subsequently returned on several occasions.

In 1980 Peebles held his first solo exhibition in Melbourne at Crossley Gallery and he also entered his mezzotints in numerous print prizes. In this year he won the

Mornington Peninsula Art Centre Acquisitive Prints Exhibition with Elegy to necrophilia (1980), and the Albert Hall Purchase Prize at the Queen Victoria

Museum and Art Gallery with Ecce homo (1980).5 His early work portrayed the thematic and metaphysical style that would dominate his practice throughout the

1980s and early 1990s (and occasionally reappears today). Fruit and vegetables, domestic objects, childhood items, bones and skulls were commonly employed motifs at this time.

Throughout this period his work was loaded with vanitas-style imagery.6 This type of imagery is generally associated with Dutch still life paintings of the seventeenth century, known as pronkstilleven (sumptuous still life). These paintings sometimes comment on the vanity of pursuing and amassing material wealth, while others are decadent objects to be marvelled at in their own right. Working under the general

5 The Mornington Peninsula Art Centre is now named the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. The acquisitive exhibition referred to in the text has had various name changes over the years. The 1980 exhibition was the fourth such exhibition. Six prints were acquired from the exhibition of 105 works, to the value of $670. The gallery received some 221entries for the 1980 exhibition. Peebles’ print Island (1996) was acquired in the ‘1996 12th Biennial Prints Exhibition’. In 1996 acquisition funds of $8,000 were used to purchase 16 prints from an exhibition of 115 works, drawn from over 450 entries. 6 Vanitas is a type of 17th century still-life painting which means ‘empty’. The paintings refer to the transience of life and the insubstantiality of earthly existence. Various objects in paintings (skulls, clocks, partially consumed food) symbolise the concept. (Wight 1999)

4 principles of this Dutch tradition, Peebles introduced icons and concepts from history, literature and art (which are sometimes reflected in the prints’ titles). At this time still life was certainly not a dying genre, as artists such as Jim Dine and Brett

Whiteley were producing their own still lifes and receiving recognition for it.

In this early period Peebles produced several outstanding mezzotints including

Schadenfreude (1978). This work depicts two dead chickens hanging upside down.

The simplicity of form masks the forcefulness of the content, which is generated by the expression of pain and hopelessness on each of the birds. The animals resemble foetuses, which is a potent contradiction given that their lives had been terminated. In this image the attitude of schadenfreude is imposed on viewers as they contemplate a potential meal from the slaughtered animals, for the birds’ presentation is that of an animal cooked and strung up ready for sale, as is often seen in Asian delicatessens.7 The composition is also imbued with an Italian influence as is revealed by the emblematic crucifix, which is formed by the horizontal bar from which the chickens hang and the vertical section of a window frame that bisects the image.

Schadenfreude, 1978

The chickens reappear in Self portrait as a religious leader (1980) and a later work,

Lifeboat (1989). Self portrait as a religious leader is based on a crucifix in Basilica

7 ‘Schadenfreude’ is a German word that does not have a direct English translation. ‘Schaden’ meaning ‘damage’ or ‘harm’, and ‘freude’ meaning ‘joy’, it refers to a malicious pleasure derived from another’s pain or misfortune. The website h2g2 (2000) describes the word schadenfreude as follows: ‘Perhaps the greatest word in any language, Schadenfruede has become the defining emotion of the 20th century. From the German, Schaden (damage), and Freude (joy), it means the enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others. It is the easiest, and often the most fulfilling, enjoyment available.’

5 Santa Croce, Florence, which was produced by the Italian artist Cimabue (c1240 - c1302).8 Peebles utilises this famous image from art history to satirise Christian religion.9 The ‘self portrait’, while not an accurate depiction, represents the artist as the crucified Christ. In Christianity the events of the Crucifixion made Christ a matyr, the saviour of humanity. In portraying himself in the pose of such a revered Christian icon, Peebles was making a grand statement about himself and the work of artists.

At best he was being satirical and irreverent, and at worst iconoclastic and insulting.

Left: Self portrait as a religious leader, 1980; right: Cimabue’s crucifix

Flanking Christ at either end of Cimabue’s cross are portraits of the Virgin Mary on the left and Joseph on the right.10 In Peebles’ appropriated image however, these

8 Cimabue’s real name was Cenni di Pepo. The crucifix was damaged in the destructive floods in Florence in 1966 and has subsequently been restored. 9 It should be noted that Peebles was not brought up in a particularly religious house, however some of his friends were raised in quite rigid Catholic families. His ‘attacks’ on Christianity was not a result of a personal rebellion for the young artist. He had an appreciation of the dogma of Christianity but had at no point subscribed to it. 10 Francis Bacon commented on Cimabue’s Christ figure as being ‘worm-like’ (Sylvester 1987), and particular stylistic similarities can be drawn between Bacon and Peebles. Peebles however has stated that he has ‘never considered him to be of great influence’ (Peebles 2005). Whereas Bacon was primarily concerned with the figure, Peebles rarely depicts

6 figures are replaced with dead chickens. This act lampoons religion as well as making a statement about his parents, himself and his family. Joseph and Mary are highly regarded in Christianity, and in certain beliefs Mary is the most important biblical person. By placing his own mother in this exalted position, Peebles appears to propose a derisive attitude towards religion. The Virgin Mary is an extremely sacred Christian figure, a ‘pure’ woman whose immaculate conception of Jesus is virtually the cornerstone of Christianity, particularly Catholicism. Peebles’ mother becomes the Madonna, and as the Madonna she has been acerbically ridiculed as a chicken. 11

Self portrait as a religious leader can be interpreted in several ways. Does the inclusion of chickens and their associations with cowardice reflect the artist’s view of religion and the way it deals with day-to-day life? Are the chickens merely props like rubber chickens that suggest the portrayed situation is nothing more than a circus act? Perhaps this jibe at Christianity may also even reflect the artist’s sense of immortality/omnipotence at the time (as the title suggests). By the age of twenty-five

Peebles had received a Churchill scholarship, had travelled extensively through

Europe and had experienced some commercial success and institutional recognition. These are major events in a young artist’s career and would have bolstered his confidence. Perhaps he also saw himself as a type of spiritual leader, or conversely as the stereotypical ‘suffering artist’.

An apple that is missing a section is the dominant icon in the foreground of this work, and operates in several ways. There appears to be a direct connection to the

figures in his work. Moreover, Bacon’s subjects were distorted and somewhat grotesque, while Peebles opts for realistic transcriptions of various emblemata. 11 This scrutiny of Peebles’ mother does not reflect his own opinion of her. While he is close to his parents and admires his mother, several prints that Peebles produced seem to reflect upon her negatively. For example, a work from 1990 is titled My mother’s in the mad house, that’s why I’m in love.

7 Biblical story of Adam and Eve and their exile from the Garden of Eden. (The apple has also functioned as a vanitas symbol of death, or of the passing of time.) If indeed the artist was dealing with this fable, where does the ‘fault’ or ‘betrayal’ lie?

With Christ? With Christianity? With the artist? Peebles is being deliberately ambiguous in this instance. Self portrait as a religious leader also provides an early example of the artist’s depiction of fruit and vegetables, symbols that were heavily utilised by him as a metaphoric tool in the style of seventeenth century vanitas imagery.

The chequer-board upon which the crucified figure rests is another reference to

Italian Renaissance art. The pattern draws the viewer’s eye to the central figure while also functioning as a perspective device. There may be associations with chess or draughts, which would imply that art may all just be a game. The chess analogy may also refer to a match of wit, cunning and strategy in which the artist’s intentions become apparent through an ongoing and active engagement with the work. It also connotes wealth and grandeur, for a chequered marble floor is a symbol of ‘high society’. As is the case with many of Peebles’ prints, the meaning of the work and the artist’s intention is left unresolved.12

Interestingly, Self portrait as a religious leader is one of only two works in which the artist has depicted people. The other work is Winter of my contempt (1983), which portrays the interior of the Exford Hotel in Russell Street, Melbourne. Peebles was a regular visitor to the hotel and knew many of the individuals portrayed in the work. In reference to this image he has stated, ‘The title is a play on the Shakespearian line

“Now is the winter of our discontent”. The “contempt” derives from a particular set of

12 The background also includes rocking horses, which were first used in another image lampooning Christianity, Four horsemen of the Apocalypse (1979). In this work God’s wrath is represented by the four horsemen, but these are reduced to childhood playthings. This suggests that concepts of God’s omnipotence is absurd and is not to be taken too seriously.

8 circumstances… I think the image is mostly about isolation.’ (Cross 1984:8)

Although several individuals inhabit the image and are located next to each other, all appear lonely and isolated – a set of circumstances that is ironic given the multitude of people who participate in modern city living. While the print is dominated by the interior architecture of the hotel, the figures are the key elements as they are manifestations of Peebles’ notion of isolation. This is reinforced by his use of vegetables which act as surrogates for people and some human dilemmas. The foreground is like a stage on which the vegetables perform, mirroring the figures in the background. Like the people portrayed, these items are isolated from their environment, and thus assume a human element. The tables frame the produce, and similarly the figures are generally framed by the columns and arches of the building. This adds to the feeling of entrapment, and may be an allegory about life in general. Another inference is that some people who waste their lives in this way are

‘vegetables’.

Left: Winter of my contempt, 1983; right: The Exford Hotel today

The image also pays homage to Italian artist Georgio de Chirico (1888-1978), whose work is noted for its large archways and sense of danger and isolation. De

Chirico was an originator of pittura metafisica, a style of painting that began in the

9 early twentieth century. Pittura metafisica often involved the deployment of several repeated icons, exaggerated perspectives and the portrayal of haunting, lonely public spaces. An obvious connection exists between the subject matter and style of de Chirico’s work and Winter of my contempt, and de Chirico’s haunting ambience appear in several other prints. Isolation is an ongoing theme in Peebles’ work and may have reflected his own feelings of remoteness in an art world in Melbourne that did not necessarily appreciate an ‘obsolete’ medium that few other artists utilised.

* * *

Childhood objects such as the rocking horse appear in They mute horses, don’t they? (1979), a work that deals with the innocence of childhood and indeed the loss of that innocence. The title is a play on words from the 1935 Horace McCoy novel and 1969 movie They shoot horses, don’t they? The book is set in a dance hall marathon in 1930s USA. The Great Depression led to high unemployment and poverty. Desperate for money, couples entered dance marathons to win a large sum of cash. Based on the universal concept of the survival of the fittest, the story involves couples endlessly ‘dancing’. In reality, however they are not dancing but attempting to maintain perpetual motion, meandering back and forth in an effort to absolve themselves of financial hardship. The dancers quietly continue until they could not go on, their shuffling only ceasing through exhaustion. Similarly, the print depicts rocking horses futilely rocking back and forth and going nowhere, with their muzzles bound shut. Not only have they been confined, they have also been silenced. The rocking horses will apparently continue to sway back and forth endlessly, and are trapped in an interminable momentum.13 In this work we also see

13 While such comparisons can be drawn between Peebles’ print and the novel and movie, Peebles has stated that there is no correlation between them. The play on words is merely a pun derived from the rocking horses in the image having their muzzles bound. (Peebles 2002b)

10 suspension and tethering devices, which are reminiscent of the sculptural work of

W. Arthur Thomas.14

They mute horses, don’t they?, 1979

* * *

In Ecce homo (1980) Peebles pays homage to British artist John Martin (1789-

1854). Peebles was quite influenced by this artist, and in the background of the print

he places an image derived from Martin’s woodcut The opening of the seventh seal

(1836). ‘The opening of the seventh seal’ is a part of a biblical story giving an

account of the final judgment of humanity. The opening of each of the seven seals

brings with it some form of disaster, and the seventh seal brings violent

earthquakes. Martin sought to represent hell by an earthquake that is erupting in a

large underground cavern, and this image forms the backdrop in Peebles’ print. The

foreground contains religious imagery, but it is not, as the title suggests, a traditional

representation of Christ with a crown of thorns. Rather, stems of rose bushes act as

a metaphor for this item. The stems have been bound together, and occupy the

space in the immediate foreground of the image.

14 Thomas also worked within the genre of metaphysics and included vanitas-style iconography, particularly referencing death. However Peebles was unaware of Thomas’ art (Peebles 2005).

11 The ‘crown’ is a synecdoche, as the

spectator is faced with only a partial view

of it. This reflects an Eastern art concept,

where an image is considered not only in

terms of what is represented, but also by

what may exist outside the picture plane.

Ecce homo, 1980 Peebles followed a similar process in presenting just a detail of his crown of thorns. In place of Christ on a cross, we are presented with a head of corn (another use of vanitas iconography). The husk has been peeled back, exposing the flesh of the plant. The state of the corn indicates that it has been removed from the plant and is destined to decay. It thus denotes the passing of time, the finality of death and the mortality of all living things. With its skin peeled back, the subject is also vulnerable. Like Christ on the cross, it is at the mercy of the elements. Corn is also a staple food item, and Christianity a staple religious belief (a food for the mind, perhaps). Christianity was a particularly fruitful source for Peebles’ work, and his ongoing appropriation of religious imagery was a regular grist for his parodic gestures.

Ecce Homo is also the title of Friedrich Nietzsche’s (1844-1900) final book, which was written only weeks prior to his descent into madness. It was subtitled How One

Becomes What One Is and contains chapters/essays with titles including ‘Why I Am

So Wise’, ‘Why I Am So Clever’ and ‘Why I Write Such Good Books’. The book is an extremely unusual autobiography. The title alludes to the story of Pontius Pilate when Christ is brought before him with his crown of thorns. In front of the Jews

Pilate states, ‘Ecce homo!’ (‘Behold the man!’) Nietzsche attempted to parody

Christianity, while also audaciously comparing himself to God. While it may be unfair to compare Peebles to Nietzsche (particularly given Nietzsche’s subsequent mental illness, and the misrepresentation of his writings in the twentieth century), there is an

12 affinity between them.15 The ‘why I am so wise/clever’ comparison to Peebles is

valid. The youthful arrogance sometimes displayed by people in their mid-twenties

(which often accompanies a person’s first true taste of success and independence)

is apparent in several of his works from this period, and there is a certain smugness

involved in taking aim at an easy target like organised religion. This might be seen in

combination with a certain sense of superiority that surrounds Peebles and his work.

Undoubtedly, Peebles’ absolute commitment to the medium itself and his investment

in acquiring a high level of technical skill bolstered his own sense of artistic

achievement and credibility.

About this time Peebles spent many hours searching through the Victorian Markets in order to study the form and contours of fresh produce. (Cross 1984:7) His absolutely precise and clinical eye found its ideal subject in the delicate and intricate natural forms found at a greengrocer. They are also subjects that have a long and venerable history of being depicted in art and have been loaded with meanings and connotations. This suited Peebles’ use of themes based around religion, vanitas- style representations of life and death, and in later works, sexual suggestiveness.

Certain types of produce, asparagus for example, have also been ‘mainstays’ for mezzotinters such as Hamaguchi. Their particular forms and shapes translate favourably to the mezzotint medium, and often appear in international mezzotints.

They are also habitual subjects for Peebles.

One particular print of note from this period is Remnants of the Last Supper (1981).

The foreground of the image features an animal skull, and also contains an impressive array of produce including a cut pumpkin (symbol of death/carnage),

15 The worst misrepresentation Nietzsche received was from the Nazi regime. Hitler took Nietzsche’s writings out of context and made inappropriate analogies between his own concept of an Aryan race and Nietzsche’s concept of the ‘ubermensche’ (see Nietzsche’s book Thus Spake Zarathustra for an explanation of ‘ubermensche’).

13 prawns (obliquely referring to Christianity), a chalice (opulence/excess), an apple

(again with a bite/section missing, referring to Adam and Eve and a loss of innocence), a bone (mortality), an eaten pear (death/decay), half a pomegranate

(pomegranates being a traditional Christian symbol for fertility), a cut cabbage

(violence) and an egg (a symbol of life and regeneration). All of these are placed on a crumpled tablecloth and are illuminated by lines of filtered light that flood the upper section and fill the background. Rembrandt’s drypoint and burin print The three crosses (1653) is marked by raking light created through strong delineation. In

Remnants of the Last Supper, Peebles recreated this effect by using straight-edged drypoint in the background. It is an extremely rare example of the artist using a technique other than mezzotint to produce a special visual effect. It is an immense still life and a precursor to the artist’s ‘drapery landscapes’. The metaphoric symbolism is also palpable as the image suggests a scene of carnage and violence with the food items having large chunks cut out of them, the overtones of death associated with the skull and the dishevelled appearance of the material on which the whole scene rests. Components have been mutilated and left to rot, yet there is little evidence as to who wreaked this havoc, or why.

Left: The remnants of the Last Supper, 1981; right: Rembrandt van Rijn, The three crosses, 1653

14 The title, however, suggests something altogether different. As with earlier works, the inclusion of religious references in this work is done in a tongue-in-cheek manner. Peebles stated that the religious references:

…happened as a response to being in Italy – looking at Renaissance art and thinking about patronage and the connection between art and religion right throughout history. It’s all very sarcastic, very anti-religion. So ‘The Remnants of the Last Supper’ is really a satire, mocking the frugality of the Last Supper. And I was impressed by Rembrandt’s ‘The Three Crosses’; and sort of paying homage to that in the lighting in the background. Otherwise it’s a fairly straight still life. The prawns and croissants were a pun on the story of the Loaves and Fishes. There’s also an ibis skull at the front of the table which is a thing I like to use a lot, like the pomegranate. (Cross 1984:7)

This is a significant work, and several institutions including the National Gallery of

Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the National Gallery of Victoria have acquired an edition of the work. It is an enormous mezzotint (the image is 60.5 x 89cm), and added to Peebles’ growing reputation as an artist of importance because of its large scale, technical proficiency and sophisticated symbolic treatment of its subject. Due to the extended time required to prepare a plate and create an image, the vast majority of artists who create mezzotints tend to work on an intimate scale. While many mezzotinters often limit themselves to plate sizes of

A4 or smaller (and often much smaller), Peebles was creating images that were several times this size. Yet, this increase in scale did not diminish the overall quality or technical skill of the image in relation to his attention to detail or the atmospheric tonality of his work. Indeed, the larger scale actually amplified these qualities. This also means that a viewer does not have to scrutinise Peebles’ work from a close viewpoint. The works can stand alone and be comfortably viewed and appreciated from an orthodox viewing distance. However, one can still find delight in the details when undertaking a closer inspection of the prints.

As has been demonstrated, the titles and themes of Peebles’ early works were often drawn from religious, historical and literary sources. The artist was very deliberate in

15 his use of these citations, and used them to great effect. The amount of time involved in preparing each plate provides Peebles with the opportunity to consider titles that he feels appropriate to the works, as well as visualising the image long before the first scraping and burnishing of the plate occurs. The intellectual connections between his chosen prints and their sources are developed over a long and sustained period. When the final execution of his images onto the plates begins, it marks the beginning of ‘freeing the image that is held within the plate’.16 Peebles rarely creates any preliminary drawings, nor does he sketch onto his plates. This means that once the inky darkness of the rocked plate is complete, he creates his chosen imagery from dark to light. Indeed, Peebles guides his images out of the shadows.

In this early stage of Peebles’ artistic career he was developing his lexicon of motifs which became the foundation of his oeuvre over the next 10-15 years. He didn’t feel the need to conform to particular genres as stylistic catholicity was a characteristic of the Melbourne art scene in the seventies, where ideologies counted for less and there was no pressure on artists at the time to form groups or be polarised into opposing camps. (Gilchrist 1974)17

16 This now somewhat clichéd concept was championed by Italian sculptor Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564), referring to his ‘freeing of subjects from the stone in which they were encased’. While such a comparison may be grandiose, it is nevertheless self-evident in Peebles’ technique. 17 Gilchrist also reported that ‘the most exciting feature of recent art in Melbourne continues to be its fragmentation, its refusal to cohere into clear and definable areas of general endeavour. One searches in vain for neat directions. [S]ince the 1960s and particularly during the past two years artists have become less orientated towards group debate and dialogue and less needful of the back-up of shared stylistic persuasions.’ (1975)

16 Chapter 2- Metaphysical Works and the Drapery Landscapes

Peebles’ formative years of art education and training had occurred a decade prior to post-modernism’s rise in Australia, when many artists were working with minimalism and hard edge abstraction. These styles however do not provide any parameters for understanding Peebles’ work. Indeed, when one considers the legacy of post-war Australian art, there are few obvious connections to Peebles’ chosen style and content. While he had undoubtedly been exposed to such art during his training at RMIT, his key instruction was realised primarily through self- training in 1976-77. Predominantly, Peebles’ prime technical inspiration has come from his exposure to European masters of mezzotint from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. His subject matter has been derived from vanitas iconography of this era, and this, combined with his exposure to early twentieth century European art, have been the tangible influences in his work.

Figuration and symbolism were central elements in post-modern art, and Peebles certainly adopted figuration in his practice. However he rejected any association with a post-modernism sensibility. Moreover, Peebles did not have to join up with a post- modern crowd in order to establish himself as an artist in the Melbourne art scene because Printmaking continued to be nurtured by a dedicated group of artists and lecturers whose ongoing support provided opportunities for the genre and encouraged young printmakers like Peebles.

Given his influences, Peebles could easily be classified as a conservative, or even a reactionary. Either categorisation sits uncomfortably when considering Peebles’ work, but his work is certainly unique. When considering that he uses an archaic medium to depict centuries-old subject matter in a contemporary context, it may be more accurate to consider him as a subversive. This seemingly emotional rejection of contemporary art practices may also be gallant, or even self-sacrificing, for working in this style may not always be in his best interests as an artist. Unexpected subject choices and conceptual sophistication however has provided Peebles with an exclusive domain in which to operate. Working outside a current mode or trend has meant that he has not been expected to follow the direction of such a trend, and this has enabled him to maintain the freedom to which he has aspired. Additionally, printmaking has often been considered the ‘poor cousin’ of painting.

Some of the Surrealists’ concepts and imagery are important for appreciating

Peebles’ work. Australian art of the post-war era was particularly influenced by the

New York scene, a great deal of which emerged as a result of European migration to the United States following the onset of the Second World War. Many artists

(including several surrealists) had been members of this migratory wave to the

United States, but they left behind several decades of work in Europe, and it was there that Peebles was exposed to important holdings of surrealist works.

Yves Tanguy (1900-55) was one migrant artist. His influence is particularly noticeable in Peebles’ prints throughout the 1980s. Tanguy’s particular

compositional designs and the

sparseness of many of his works are

mirrored in Peebles’ work. The painting

Je vous attends (I await you) (1934)

exemplifies Tanguy’s style.1 Tanguy

regularly produced indeterminate

Yves Tanguy, Je vous attends (I await you), 1934

1 Je vous attends (I await you), 1934 was included in the important 1993 exhibition Surrealism: Revolution by Night, organised by the National Gallery of Australia, and is reproduced in the accompanying catalogue. backgrounds that contain multi-planar depths and have illusions to landscape. The result is a floating effect, where objects appear to hover within the image, and it is a device that Peebles also utilised. The ensuing imagery has led to both a flatness and an illusion to depth.

The Surrealists in Europe (and later in the United States) were a closely allied group of people who appreciated and supported each other. As a result a real camaraderie existed amongst its practitioners. Surrealism in Australia did not enjoy the same artistic focus, and was never the cohesive force it was internationally.2 With the exception of a handful of artists, notably James Gleeson and Dušan Marek,

Australian artists associated with surrealism generally ‘dabbled’ rather than worked consistently with it. Peebles has also flirted with surrealism rather than being totally committed and immersed in the style. Of particular importance here is the precision and attention to detail required to produce surrealist imagery.3 On this topic Peter

Timms wrote:

These objects scarcely have an independent existence. They are part of a complex narrative carefully placed in highly artificial arrangements so that they come to represent something else. Fruit & vegetables, for example, may be arranged on a cloth to resemble a landscape. This is a world where nothing is as it seems, even a beachball can appear sinister: a world of child- like make-believe sullied by sex and death. Fish are likely to be sliced in half, vegetables are ripped to pieces by hooks embedded in their flesh (and being vegetables they neither resist nor cry out), birds are often dead and disintegrating. (1992:p.4)4

2 The 1993 exhibition Surrealism: Revolution by Night, organised and toured by the national by the National Gallery of Australia, was the first major exhibition of international surrealism to be shown in Australia. The exhibition had an Australian component and from this a separate, smaller exhibition of Australian surrealists was developed. In 2003 the exhibition Australian Surrealism: The Agapitos/Wilson Collection was displayed at the Art Gallery of South Australia before touring the country 2003-2005. It is the first major survey of Australian surrealism. 3 There are of course different branches of surrealism. Peebles’ work refers to the ‘academic illusionism’ section of the movement. There are other forms and styles, including psychic automatism, which do not rely on precision of imagery. 4 In the same article Timm’s also stated, ‘Various symbols and ideas recur in these complex works: birds, fish, fruit and vegetables, chess pieces, beachballs, model pyramids, a child’s rocking horse, eggs and many others. Yet these apparently innocent things are charged with a sense of dread. They are still and lifeless. They seem incapable of response.... And the sometimes wickedly sardonic titles of these works, which refer to history, literature and the Peebles’ references to history, literature and art history are an important part of his art. Identifying these references helps the viewer unlock otherwise obscure narratives. After reading Peter Weiss’ play The Persecution and Assassination of

Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum at Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (also known simply as Marat/Sade), Peebles created his first major series of prints titled Death of Damiens I-V (1982). It is a set of five prints that refer to the sadistic torture and death of Robert François Damiens

(1714-57), who attempted to assassinate King Louis XV. The crime of regicide

(attempted or successful) carried a horrendous sentence of death by torture, which in this case involved five separate stages of persecution. Each print symbolically represents a stage of his torture and denotes Damiens’ pain using an array of different fruit and vegetables. A conflict thus exists between the unassuming

‘innocent’ produce and the carnage of the story. As Peebles has stated,

Damiens was a French regicide who was tortured and executed in five stages. I made a print for each stage. The first print uses pomegranates; he was seared with hot pokers. The second stage uses grapes; they sprayed him with molten lead. The third stage uses split aubergines; they split his arms open. The fourth stage uses split garlic; his arms and legs were pulled off. The fifth stage uses a tied bunch of asparagus; they hung him – he was still alive. I was trying, in this series, to achieve a tension between the passivity of the objects (the vegetables) and the violence of the execution. (Cross 1984:7)

Just as Damiens was tortured so too are the fruit and vegetables, as Peebles stretches and torments the symbolic potential of otherwise bland and objects. In these works the objects are balanced on a horizon or ‘zip’ line. This is generally a thin and precarious delineation that suggests an infinite viewpoint, and again utilises the Eastern idea of giving the impression that the image extends beyond the picture plane. The zip line also gives the subject a grounding or locational and leaves it suspended in a ‘non-location’ as it is caught in a black unending void. The device

art of the past, link the artist’s personal obsessions with the symbology of cultural history.’ (1992:p.4)

Death of Damiens I-V, 1982 also alludes to the traditional still life paintings from which Peebles’ style is derived, for such paintings generally have a plain cloth-covered table occupying the lower third or quarter of the painting.

Another subject from revolutionary France was the death of Jean-Paul Marat. His murder has provided the inspiration for several works of art, most notably the famous painting Death of Marat (1793) by Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). For

Peebles however it was the events that followed Marat’s death that provided

inspiration for his work Marat we’re marching on (1984). The title is derived from a

song in the Marat/Sade play and refers to the fifteen years of Napoleon’s reign in

which there was much bloodshed, violence and loss of life. Napoleon’s time in

power followed the Reign of Terror, during which many thousands of French people

were executed by guillotine (including Marat’s murderer Charlotte Corday).

Napoleon introduced numerous changes to government that seemed to benefit

France, but primarily succeeded in strengthening his grip on power. Napoleon was

preoccupied with increasing France’s land and power base and during his reign he

commanded many battles in his attempt to create a French empire.

Peebles’ print depicts various vegetables in decapitated states, which refers to forms of punishment in the play in a manner similar to the Death of Damiens series.

Peebles presented this scene on a seemingly randomly crumpled length of material, and in doing so transformed the still life into a variation of landscape. He was therefore able to create an extremely beautiful image that has been transformed from a violent and aggressive narrative. The tension that exists between the terror of the subject and the passivity of the objects in the Damiens series is repeated in

Marat we’re marching on. This fissure between subject and object, which creates extreme contrasts, is a vital component in Peebles’ work.

Marat we’re marching on, 1984

At this time Peebles’ work began to incorporate sexual references. The striking print

Intimacy (1983) depicts an apple and a pumpkin that have each been cut in half.

The title of this print is the key to unravelling the real subject matter of the work, for the pictorial reference to female genitalia is quite apparent. As Kolenberg & Ryan wrote, ‘he often uses fruit whose shapes lend themselves to innuendo.’ (1998:148)

The artist did not restrict his choice of subject to female form, as he demonstrated in

They come in all shapes and sizes (1984). The title is an oft-quoted cliché that refers

Left: Intimacy, 1983; right: They come in all shapes and sizes, 1984 to many elements of human life, but in this instance has a particular reference to male genitalia. In overtly Freudian terms, the image contains several bananas, and these are of different shapes and sizes. In addition, some are half peeled

(‘circumcised’), and others unpeeled. While there is a puerile sentiment to the image it also comments on much grander concepts such as racial or religious equality and the utopian pursuit of a universal oneness, regardless of variations and imperfections.

The preoccupation with human genitalia was sustained in prints such as The human comedy (1987). Here, we see representations of both male and female genitalia, but with objects that appear to have been removed from their hosts. It is a setting that resembles a sadomasochistic torture scene. We see a vaginal form drawn and quartered and stretched out of shape, while a penis in the form of a bean pod has been split open and then fitfully retied in an effort to repair and prevent further damage. It has also been strung up, as if hanging from a gallows. Two small beans resembling testes sit on a zip line. The poignancy of this small image is surprising, and its violent overtone is cleverly underplayed by the intimate scale and the work’s oblique title. Comedy certainly has little to do with this subject, however the ongoing human pursuit of delights of the flesh is an altogether different matter, and one in

Left: Albert Tucker, Images of modern evil no.21, 1945; right: The human comedy, 1987 which humour (among other things) can appear in various guises.5 Like the paintings of Australian artist Albert Tucker (1914-99), the work is underpinned by conservatism. Tucker’s series Images of modern evil (also known as Night images) were painted in the 1940s and reflect social concerns at a time when Australian society was facing an uncertain future. War was raging in Europe and many

Australian men, including Tucker, were conscripted into the army. There was an increased military presence in Australia, including many soldiers from the United

States. Tucker’s paintings were a combination of moral and political critiques, based on what he saw as abuses of power, decadence and political influence. Like

Peebles, Tucker’s work was influenced by European art of the early twentieth century. In this series of paintings, it is Pablo Picasso’s work of the 1920s that most strongly informs Tucker’s art. (Uhl 1969:pp.26-27)

It seems that Peebles believes that moral and religious conservatism is limiting because it often views sex and acts of intimacy as sordid, unclean acts. The very fact that Peebles chose to directly allude to sex was in direct response to the uncomfortable feeling many individuals have when openly discussing sex and sexuality. With the exception of psychoanalytical interpretation, a person openly discussing sex is sometimes considered by the ‘Moral Right’ to be morally bankrupt

5 Sardonicism is clearly evident in Peebles’ intention with this work, and it is used to great effect. - a pervert. This sense of repression, and Peebles’ treatment of it, was recognised by Ronald Millar:

Open up the night, and dark secrets fall out. Split a walnut, and a whole sexual labyrinth appears. Rip open a pod with your thumb, panic as peas tumble out, then quickly cram them back and tie them in again with string. This is the stuff of deep dreaming; the fruits of Freud. They [also] happen to be the pictorial fruits of Graeme Peebles… (1987:16)

While Peebles was creating sexually loaded images, he was also working on the biggest project that he had undertaken to date. Altarpiece is a nine-panel piece that he completed over a three and a half year period (1984-87). Like The remnants of the Last Supper before it, Altarpiece comments on the Christian church. The nine panels are to be read horizontally and are arranged in three rows. The central image is based on Descent from the cross (early 1500s) by Mathias Grünewald (1470/75-

1528) (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna). Peebles inserts a semi-circular bunch of celery that sweeps down, and symbolises the deposition of Christ as He was lowered from the cross. The right central panel contains an inverted artichoke that has been cleaved, and this represents the crucifixion of St Peter. The left central panel depicts an apple pierced by arrows – symbolising the martyrdom of St

Anthony. All three of the central images also contain wooden beams/crucifixes that can also be interpreted as shafts of light.

Immediately above the central image is a depiction of the Annunciation that is

derived from The Annunciation (c1472-75) by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) (Uffizi

Gallery, Florence). Peebles depicts a cut pumpkin as the Virgin, while the Archangel

Gabriel is represented by a feathered construction and fishing tackle. The pumpkin’s

orange flesh is offset by the blood-red of the seed-filled centre. In the foreground are

an Easter egg and a lilac, which are traditional Christian icons.

Top: Altarpiece, 1984-87; centre: Leonardo da Vinci,

The Annunciation, c1472-75; bottom: Peebles’ hand-colouring notes for Altarpiece The bottom centre image depicts a garfish tied and bound with fishing line and tackle, and represents St Peter under Christ. The four outer corner images have various fishing tackle constructions along with skulls, fruit and Christian symbols that appeared in Peebles’ earlier work. The centre row is dominated by a monochrome cyan-black, but top and bottom rows contain coloured highlights, including the use of an ultramarine made from lapis lazuli. Ultramarine was used in painting during the

Renaissance, particularly on the clothing of the Virgin. (Peebles 2003b) It is a truly monumental work. While artists such as Mike Parr and Graham Fransella have produced very large, multi-panel prints in recent years it was rare in the mid-1980s.

For many artists time and financial constraints have limited the production of large- scale prints, and they are almost unheard of in the realm of mezzotinting because of the lengthy time required to prepare a plate.6

Another important feature of this and later works is the unique compositional design, particularly the use of a foreground in each panel. In this work Peebles’ positioning of his chosen objects/subjects shifted from a zip line floating in a void to a nondescript, footpath-like location. While this may not appear to be a major development, it in fact marks the beginning of the artist’s move towards landscape imagery.

Altarpiece was followed by Is God a paintbrush? (1987-89), another work based on

Christianity that ‘utilises traditional Christian allegorical imagery and symbolism with punning and idiosyncratic inventiveness.’ (Cross 1990:14)7 The use of fruit and vegetables to suggest sexual elements are again exploited, and other objects such as bones, cigarette butts and feathers reinforce the enigma of the title’s question.

6 When considering mezzotinting as compared to other intaglio techniques. 7 Is God a paintbrush? won the Advance Bank Award at the 21st Gold Coast City Art Prize in 1989. Such prints also bear similarities to the art of Edwin Tanner (1920-80) because both utilised linear components with alchemic or quasi-scientific overtones. The rocking horse makes another appearance, this time it is penned in a small corner and really cannot move anywhere now. Despite the religious ambience, the fish is removed from its traditional symbolic Christian context and is instead used as bait for a ‘spot of fishing’, a purpose that is reinforced by the inclusion of a fishing lure of a similar scale.

The lure itself may be the key

element in reading this image

and the artist’s intentions. A lure

represents a fish, but it is

definitely not a fish. Similarly a

trout fly is included in the image.

For many anglers the skilful art of

Is God a paintbrush?, 1987-89 trying to catch trout with hand- made flys represents the ultimate in fishing endeavours. Like the lure the fly is a ruse, an object of deception. Partnered with the confined rocking horse (a ‘fake’ horse), a connection is drawn between deception and restriction. Peebles therefore suggests that religion places constraints on its devotees, or even deceives them.

The viewer may also ask, ‘Are artist’s God’s messengers?’ (a traditional concept throughout history) or ‘Do artist’s control God?’ (possibly a more likely and facetious second question for Peebles). This work and its large predecessor Altarpiece also heralds the emergence of the subject of fishing in Peebles’ prints. Fishing, in particular trout fishing, plays a central role in Peebles’ more recent work.

Peebles has been enamoured with nineteenth and early twentieth century French literature. The artistic life of Paris reached its peak after the success of great painters such as Courbet, Manet, Degas, Monet, Renoir and Seurat. While these painters did not influence Peebles, the French Symbolist writers (many taking their lead from Mallarmé) have had some bearing on his work.8 Peebles especially found affinities with the writings of André Gide (1869-1951) and Marcel Proust (1871-

1922). Their particular use of metaphor and allegory has been important to Peebles, as has these writers’ attention to memory and the associations it triggers in the mind and senses. One particular work to consider in this regard is Get out of the bath,

Proust! (1989), and its study, My bathtub full of memories (1987). The titles refer to a Proustian-style section from George Orwell’s novel Keep the Aspidistra Flying

(1936) in which Orwell reflects on memory. While Proust is not directly referenced, the section of the novel is rather Proustian in its approach. The novel’s central protagonist, Gordon Comstock, is taking a bath and reflecting on his day working in a bookstore and his life in general. Hope, or the lack of it, dominates his thoughts, and the suggestion of Proust through the bathtub itself is subtle but not obscure.9

Left: My bathtub full of memories, 1987; right: Get out of the bath, Proust!, 1989

8 Peebles has stated that Georges Seurat (1859-91) was a minor influence (Cross 1984:7). However Seurat’s particular style of pointillism, where colour is broken up into pure dots with visual blending occurring through perception, has never appeared in Peebles’ prints. Indeed to attempt to do so would almost be the antithesis of the mezzotint medium. Stylistically Seurat’s work is quite planar in his translation of depth of field, which has certain affinities with some of Peebles’ work. The decades following France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) marked a significant change in French society and attitude. During this time Stephane Mallarmé (1842- 98) and Arthur Rimbauld (1854-91) wielded great influence over literary circles in Paris, and Symbolism as a writing style flourished. 9 Marcel Proust suffered from a skin irritation, and his main relief was to spend hours in a bath. Proust’s writing is heavily laden with long, descriptive text. Peebles’ reference alludes to both Proust’s way of life and his writings. Commentators have talked of Proust’s work as being impenetrable, and the same can be said of some of Peebles’ work, particularly when considering his often deliberately obscure titles. In the prints The study for the Charge of the Light Brigade and The Charge of the

Light Brigade (1990), Peebles reintroduced the rocking horse, and in these instances it acts as a more literal symbol. In these two works the rocking horses are impotent copies of powerful animals, as was the case in They Mute horses, don’t they? The futility of war is expressed by representing the famous Charge of the Light

Brigade of 1854 during the Crimean War. The British cavalry made the charge against Russian forces and of the more than 600 men who entered the charge, less than 200 returned.10 The Charge is the subject of a famous Tennyson poem of the same name, and was made into a movie in 1936 and 1968.

Left: The study for the Charge of the Light Brigade, 1990; right: The Charge of the Light Brigade,

1990

In The study for the Charge of the Light Brigade Peebles depicted seven rocking horses ‘charging’ along his trademark zip line. The depiction is akin to ‘the surreal presence of tin soldiers or a puppet play’. (Cross 1990:14) The first horse (and the flag-bearer) rears up on its sliders and is followed closely by the second horse. The remaining horses have come to grief and have ‘fallen off’ the zip line and disappear into oblivion and are seen expendable in the bigger picture of war. The Charge of the Light Brigade depicts many more rocking horses and Peebles leaves just one horse still upright on its sliders. The ‘carnage’ has been exaggerated in this image in order to highlight the absurdity of the battle. The artist used a tattered French tricoleur in both of these images, but this is neither a political statement nor a

10 Information on this subject matter is widely available. See for example the encyclopaedia website http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_of_the_Light_Brigade. deliberate misreading of history. (Peebles 2002c) Rather, it is a stylistic device and a totem that reappears in several of Peebles’ work to enhance its formal design qualities.

There are certainly parallels between the Light Brigade works and some late-career works of Australian artist John Brack (1920-99), particularly The Battle (1981-83).

Brack’s painting is a representation of the Battle of Waterloo where Anglo-Dutch and

Prussian forces obtained a victory over the French and ended Napoleon’s military career. Brack depicted the events of 18 June 1815 with pens and pencils in lieu of soldiers (red for the British, blue for the French and brown for the Prussians). The painting is a complex work and is quite personal. The choice of pens and pencils recounts some of the artist’s experiences earlier in life when listening to veterans from the First World War recount battle stories. They would often take items on the table, such as cutlery and salt and pepper shakers, and use these items to represent troops. Brack also utilised ‘irony through the artistic conceit of using still life objects (subject matter at the lowest level in the academic paradigm) to make a statement concerning a battle-piece (at the highest level).’ (Grishin 1991:499) Sasha

Grishin also claimed that ‘the whole conflict takes on something of a comic aspect, a grand farce which is played out with a singular serious-mindedness.’

John Brack, The battle, 1981-83

Playing cards also appear in Brack’s painting. Like Peebles’ earlier use of the chequer-board motif, it introduces the element of the game into his art. However the major difference is that Brack saw competitive sports as symbolic forms of war

(Heathcote 1999:51) whereas Peebles merely comments on the futility of war. Brack’s pens and pencils fall, leaving their marks like blood. Brack’s use of pencils for the infantry suggests that their role can be down-played, as the marks they leave are erasable, while the officers (represented by pens) leave an indelible mark on history.

Other works by Brack also have a certain affinity with Peebles’ mezzotints. The block (1954) (National Gallery of Victoria) is a view of an empty butcher’s shop, and

‘introduced Brack’s signature theme of pain.’ (Heathcote 1999:50) For Brack, as with

Peebles, the violence is implied rather than made explicit. The figureless painting also parallels Peebles’ still life prints where a sense of menace hangs heavily in many images, and otherwise innocuous objects are imbued with an inferred threat or danger. Brack is a key figure in Australian art, and he is of particular importance in Melbourne where his influence was particularly strong. Peebles, who considers

Brack an influence (Peebles 2005), seems to have shared Brack’s clinical and acerbic approach to subject matter. Both share a propensity for withering social commentary. In addition, both artists’ work is characterised by a cold and sparse classicism.

John Brack, The block, 1954

* * *

In 1991 Peebles was involved in the joint exhibition ‘Art Out of Australia’ at Victoria

House in London. The exhibition contained prints by Peebles and sculpture by

Anthony Pryor. The two artists were old friends, and in some ways shared styles and subject matter. Pryor was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1985. His condition steadily worsened and it was a debilitating and painful ailment. Pryor had planned to join Peebles in London for the exhibition, but his illness prevented him from travelling. When Peebles departed for London he did not expect to see his old friend again, and indeed Pryor passed away while the exhibition was in London.

In the early 1980s Pryor taught Peebles the art of trout fishing, a pastime that has become a lifetime preoccupation. The activity has infiltrated Peebles’ imagery, and it is a primary reason for his annual trip to Eucumbene, New South Wales. The annual fishing trips have also provided the inspiration for the majority of his recent output. In the monograph Anthony Pryor: Sculpture and Drawings, Peebles reflected on his friendship with Pryor and the fishing experiences the two shared. There was a directness, urbanity and generosity to Pryor that particularly struck a chord with

Peebles, and Stairway to heaven (1992) is a tribute to his late friend. It features an

array of icons from Peebles’ oeuvre. These include split fruit, beans, a rocking

horse, feathers, an egg, a beach ball, fishing flys and other lures, matches, cigarette

butts, bones and a lobster claw.

Following the death of a close friend or

family member, people often ‘take

stock’ of their lives. Stairway to heaven

recounts Peebles’ work, and brings

together over a decade’s worth of

imagery into a single print. It is also the

title of one of the most famous songs

Stairway to heaven, 1992 by the rock group Led Zeppelin. Pryor

also used the title for several of his own sculptures. Peebles’ image alludes to a

series of very personal box-shaped sculptures that Pryor created and gave to

friends (Peebles being one of the recipients). The step-like image also reinforces the various stages of life and reiterates the ‘taking stock’ concept. (Peebles 2002c).

Stairway to heaven also marked a crucial point for Peebles as landscape was thereafter to become an increasingly dominant theme in his works.

Drapery Landscapes

Peebles also produced a small body of work in the 1980s that can

be described as ‘drapery landscapes’. These works are actually

still lifes, but are composed in such a way as to become an agent

for metaphysical landscapes. Marat we’re marching on is one of

these works, but unlike the others it does not refer to the

Australian landscape. Peebles produced a

number of prints in this style, including: One

lost cherry (1980); The You Yangs (1982);

Halls Gap (1984); Wilsons Prom (1984) and

Mt Buffalo (1989). In each of these, folds of

material act as surrogates for hills and

mountains, and fruit and vegetables

represent natural formations such as

rocks. The You Yangs continues the

landscape tradition in Australian art of

producing images of this majestic group

of mountains that rise from flat land to

the west of

Melbourne. Like

Fred Williams,

Arthur Boyd and

other artists

Top to bottom: Halls Gap, 1984, Mt Buffalo, 1989, Wilsons Prom, 1984, The You Yangs, 1982 before him, Peebles chose this iconic geographic formation as a subject for his work. He produced just one print of the You Yangs, yet it is a strong image that shows an appreciation for the Australian artistic tradition. Wilsons Prom is probably the best known of this group of works, but Halls Gap is the most accomplished. The imagery moves away from the relative flatness of its companion images to depict a steep and dangerous landscape. The rugged landscape is offset with rocks of aubergine and the sky has a faint, mottled tone that suggests a mountain mist rolling in over Halls Gap in the Grampians National Park. These works are precursors to later landscape images, however the later works find their own communicative voice in nature itself rather than relying on the use of symbolic or metaphoric devices. Chapter 3 - Point Lonsdale

In 1986, having returned from a trip to Italy, Peebles stayed at Point Lonsdale for several months. Shortly thereafter he permanently moved to the area. The house he first lived in looks across an area that is a protected wildlife reserve, but before this time a train line was installed to carry produce from Queenscliff to Geelong.1 This train line is still in use, though only for a small tourist steam train on weekends. The train line was clearly visible from the artist’s home, and insinuated itself into Peebles’ work as a permanent zip line across the scene.

The train line is relatively minor in scale, yet in many works from the mid-1980s the zip line breaks the continuity of the landscape and the environment around it in quite a dramatic way. While the zip line was already a feature of many of Peebles’ prints, it took on a greater significance when it became a motif of his daily view. This pictorial device continued to appear in a number of his still life works after 1986

(including Get out of the bath Proust and The charge of the Light Brigade).

Nonetheless, the focus of Peebles’ perspective shifted within a few years of living at

Point Lonsdale to include his environmental surroundings. Although he had created

mezzotints of implied landscapes through the Drapery Landscapes, his work had

been primarily concerned with still lifes without backgrounds.

Living at Point Lonsdale inspired a major change in direction for Peebles’ work. The

print Death of a shag (1989-90) depicts the remains of a deceased waterbird. It is a

somewhat gruesome image and emerges from an event when Peebles was fishing

on the Point Lonsdale pier one morning. A fellow fisherman hooked a cormorant

with a squid jig, a rather brutal piece of fishing equipment that is covered in razor

sharp spines designed to lodge into the body of a squid after it has eaten the bait or

1 Peebles has since moved to another house in an adjacent street.

1 lure. The fisherman pulled the cormorant up onto the pier, and the jig was stuck right down the bird’s throat. He cut the bird’s throat while Peebles held the animal down.

The fisherman then threw the cormorant over the pier’s edge and into the bay, but it wasn’t dead. The bird spun around in the water, its head and wing tips breaking the surface as it struggled for life before eventually drowning. (Peebles 2003a) While the print is based on a true story, the cormorant also operates as a memento mori symbol, a reminder of our mortality and the fact that death is ever present.

The event made a deep impression on the artist, and while it is one of many of

Peebles’ prints utilising a zip line, in this instance it becomes more than a compositional device. On a literal level it represents the water’s surface, but it also symbolises the edge of life. Above the line, the bird manages to struggle against impending death and stay alive. Below the line, life is lost.

Left: Death of a shag, 1989-90; right: Lobster quadrille, 1989-90

2 Another print from this period is the grisly Lobster quadrille (1989-90). The artist uses a zip line again, and depicts a lobster ‘drawn and quartered’. The body parts are held aloft on Daliesque crutches, while overhead supports and restraints of fishing line and lures hold the pieces of the animal in position.2 The title, another based on literary sources, is derived from a chapter in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s

Adventures in Wonderland.3 Peebles was struggling with the image, but at about this time the University of Melbourne was planning a large exhibition based on Alice and Wonderland, and Peebles was asked to submit a work. He returned to the plate and eventually finished the image. Unfortunately, the exhibition did not eventuate, however Lobster quadrille was complete. (Peebles 2003a) It is a morbid representation, and sits within a sub-group of Peebles’ work that examines the themes of death and decomposition, as is seen in other works such as Budgerigars

(1990-92) and Rabbit trap (1992).

At first glance Budgerigars appears to be a quaint and charming image of two rows

of budgerigars as one would see

them in a pet store. But on closer

inspection one realises that the birds

are actually in various states of

decay. Indeed, this scenario seems

reminiscent of a post-apocalyptic

movie, or a story in the vein of

Frankenstein.4 By comparison

2 Daliesque, as in the style of Spanish Surrealist artist Salvador Dali (1904-89). 3 Alice in Wonderland has been the inspiration for artworks by numerous Australian artists. It formed a basis of a major body of work for Charles Blackman and the story has also been an ongoing philosophical preoccupation for Luke Roberts.

4 The intricate detail in this print demonstrates Peebles’ incredible technical mastery of the mezzotint process, however, it also hides a mistake, and costly one at that. Peebles had not prepared the plate thoroughly enough, and when he first proofed the plate it printed a mid- grey instead of jet-black. He had to re-rock the plate and start again. Luckily, the image was still visible through the re-rocking, so it was a matter of ‘tracing over’ his earlier marks.

3 Rabbit trap, an image that incorporates several objects and text, is much freer in composition, Top: Budgerigars, 1990-92; bottom: Rabbit trap, 1992 and not as formally structured as Budgerigars. It is also more light-hearted, and plays with the concept of luck and the role of the rabbit’s foot as a charm. A rabbit trap, rabbit’s head and feet are mounted on stands with small display plaques.

There are also two labels tied to the objects with string and state ‘not so’ and ‘lucky’.

The image draws attention to multiple associations with rabbits; for example, human brutality towards animals (such as game hunting for ‘trophies’) and the environmental disaster that ensued after introduced species such as the rabbit grew to plague proportions in Australia. In addition, a connection can be drawn back to religion as the rabbit is a traditional Christian symbol for Easter and other superstitions. It’s also a popular character in numerous childhood stories. While often considered a pest in daily life, in childhood stories rabbits are often portrayed as harmless, cute and cuddly animals (such as Peter Rabbit). They can also be represented with a larrikinism (for example Brer Rabbit), a personality trait that is often associated with Australians.

In Peebles’ image the trapping and killing of rabbits is shown as a clinical exercise.

The trap resembles a hangman’s gallows and only the skeletal remains of the rabbit’s body parts are represented. The picture serves as a commentary on human cruelty towards other creatures and also refers to medical dissection, experimentation and scientific classification. It also highlights the superiority that humankind believes it has over other creatures, even though this supposed superiority has led to pollution, overcrowding, mass destruction of the natural habitat and the extinction of hundreds of species.

(Peebles 2002a) In a strange way it is inadvertently a print that had a preliminary drawing completed for it, albeit a very time consuming and detailed one.

4 Since becoming a resident at Point Lonsdale, Peebles has expanded his contact with beach and ocean, and objects found at the beach started to appear in Peebles’ still life images in the late 1980s. In works such as Point Lonsdale back beach

(1989) for example, a shell is depicted, the kind found on almost any beach in

Australia. A crumpled cigarette butt also appears, and serves both as a symbol of human rubbish that appears on our beaches and refers to the artist’s own attempts to stop smoking. Two upright matches are also depicted, and one of them is almost entirely burnt. Not only do the matches refer to smoking, but they also bear a striking resemblance to Brett Whiteley’s Almost once (1968/1991). This is an eight metre sculpture of two erect matches, located outside the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

He also produced several maquettes of the sculpture in the 1980s, and while similarities exist between the Whiteley’s sculpture and Peebles’ print, Point Lonsdale back beach was not informed by Almost once (Peebles 2004c).

In Peebles’ work the stark blackness of the backgrounds that appeared in earlier still life compositions are replaced with an amorphous background consisting of adjacent planes of varying tones. This work signalled a change in the strategy of the artist’s mezzotints, as background imagery began to assume a more central place in many subsequent prints. It seemed to be a natural progression, as he had clearly mastered still-life based image making. In technical terms, the effect this shift had on his work was two-fold: plates now took much longer to prepare as the images had a greater amount of detail in them, and Peebles had to teach himself how to portray his chosen settings in a manner that suited his work and satisfied his own high technical standards.

5

Above: Point Lonsdale back beach, 1989; right: Brett Whiteley, Almost once, 1968/91

The landscape (and seascape) soon became dominant subject matter in Peebles’ practice. The more plates that he produced, the greater the impact of the landscape in his works. Initially, his representation of landscape was found in small, dark details of an image, but gradually these elements became larger and more brightly illuminated. His major prints Lifeboat states I and II, (1992-94), respond to The raft of the Medusa (1818-19) by Théodore Géricault (1791-1824). Peebles’ insertion of a tattered French tricoleur acts as an art-historical reference to works of art such as

The raft of the Medusa and also Liberty leading the people (1830) by Eugène

Delacroix (1798-1863). It was also favoured as an icon he had deployed in his metaphysical work. The tricolour is a highly loaded image, but the artist has claimed that it was only ever useful as a design element. (Peebles 2002c)

The Medusa was a frigate that was wrecked in 1816 off the West African coast. One hundred and fifty passengers were set adrift on a raft by the crew of the ship. When the raft was found two weeks later, there were fifteen survivors, and five died after being rescued. The whole incident was covered up by the French government when

it became known that some of the

passengers had survived because they

resorted to cannibalism, and when the

matter became publicly known it

6 sparked community outrage. Géricault combined Romanticism and Realism in this painting, and chose to depict the survivors on the raft flagging down their rescuers

(‘Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault’ 2003)

Top: Lifeboat (State I), 1992-94; bottom left: Théodore Géricault, The raft of the Medusa, 1818-19;

bottom right: Eugène Delacroix, Liberty leading the people, 1830

The dead chickens from Schadenfreude make a re-appearance in Lifeboat, and stand in place of the heroic figure waving a flag to signal to the rescue party. The basic shape of Géricault’s raft is also replicated, and in place of the mast and sail to the left of the painting, Peebles included a bird’s skull atop a construction of bones, timber and other items. The tragedy of the Medusa is referred to by Peebles through the use of emblematic devices. In place of frail and dying figures the artist depicted bones, skulls, half-eaten/decaying food and other debris. These items serve to reinforce the story of The raft of the Medusa, and situate Lifeboat as part of his ongoing series of political, historical and allegorical works that utilised vanitas imagery.

Peebles located his raft in the inky darkness of night in the print’s first state, but the

plate was later reworked to include a cloud-filled skyline and a rhythmic sea. This

work was a foray into a new style of imagery for Peebles, which involved a

monumental style that have characterised his more recent prints. Lifeboat is an

extension of an artistic challenge that Peebles has repeatedly set for himself. It is an

accumulation of career motifs that have been incorporated into his burgeoning

interest in landscape.

The work of the early 1990s also marks a fascinating conjunction of Peebles’ subject matter. He began to combine ‘studio’ style still lifes with metaphysical imagery and located these in pristine landscapes. Associated with these landscapes are the hazards of nature. Danger, and the protection from it, featured in numerous works in

7 ensuing years. Images of isolation and impending doom were juxtaposed against depictions of guiding signposts and the protective lighthouse. Peebles’ ‘guiding’ works reflect his level of comfort with his own practice. At this stage he had been working fulltime as an artist for several years and was stylistically and technically very accomplished. The artist therefore began to create a journey or narrative in which the viewer is guided through the perils of human existence. The beauty and hazards of life in and around The Rip at the mouth of Port Phillip Bay imposed themselves on Peebles’ work. As expected, such iconography was handled with

Peebles’ trademark humour and wit.

Two early forays into landscape imagery were Beacon (1993) and Lighthouse -

Night (1994). The works are similar in formal structure and content. Beacon displays his signature style: fruit, a beachball, bones, flags, shells, a road sign, channel markers (as seen in Port Phillip Bay) and cigarette butts. These items are scattered across an enormous two-tiered structure that resembles an old wooden stool, but is actually a kind of pontoon. It is a nocturnal seascape and in the crepuscular light the background remains vague, but one can discern the ripples of water of the sea.

8 Left: Beacon, 1993; right: Lighthouse – night, 1994

By the following year Peebles had formulated a particular articulation of the sky and clouds. Lighthouse – Night shows several of his favourite icons, and these are dispersed across the upper level of a lighthouse (of sorts). The lighthouse itself is not realistic; rather it is depicted as an oversized domestic light bulb sitting atop a simple structure. These transformed appearances were not intended to trivialise the importance of lighthouses but to humanise them by depicting them as variations on familiar, household objects. It also makes reference to the Point Lonsdale

Lighthouse, a particularly important edifice on the western headland of Port Phillip

Bay. It assists safe passage through The Rip, a notoriously treacherous passage of water and the only entrance into the Bay. In the foreground the rocks into which it is secured are visible, as is the water and sky as a recently set sun faintly shines upon them. Both this work and Beacon contain applied colouring, but it is in Lighthouse –

Night that this method is seen to its best advantage.5 The lighthouse and the various objects placed on it are illuminated with a strange green glow that appears to be simultaneously realistic and alien. The sky, water and rocks are also toned with a muddy roseate hue to suggest the recent setting of the sun.

Local history and particular landmarks have also appeared in some of Peebles’ work. The wreck of the Ozone (1993-94) and Benito’s Spot (1992-93) are such landmarks and relate to two local events. The Ozone was a large Port Phillip paddle steamer that was the fastest of its kind and the pride of the Bay from the late 1890s until the mid 1920s. It was scuttled as a breakwater in 1925 off Portarlington, near

5 Peebles has utilised four methods of introducing colour to his work during his career. The first is to print plates in an ink other than black, for example Self portrait as a religious leader. The second and most common is hand colouring, where the artist applies watercolour inks to small sections of his pints after they have been printed. The third and most difficult and time consuming is four-plate colour printing, where there is a separate plate for each of the three primary colours and a plate for black details. The last is the technique ‘à la poupée’ which involves adding sections of colour directly to the plate prior to printing with a ‘dolly’ or similar applicator. Peebles has increasing relied on this final method to add colour to his prints.

9 Point Lonsdale. (‘Indented Head, Victoria’ 1999) Its paddle wheel is still visible today. Peebles has used a liberal amount of artistic licence in this image, portraying much more of the wreck than is actually visible. The work of the Surrealists is often suggested in Peebles’ work, and The Wreck of the Ozone is a prime example. In this work Peebles also included an array of objects sitting on the wreckage, including lengths of spaghetti, flags, beans, matches and cigarettes, but in reality the structure is usually covered with a large number of seagulls. The concept of the

Absurd and notions of streams of consciousness and indeed the unconscious are played out through the unlikely and unnatural objects. Impossible creations such as the massively oversized spaghetti evoke De Chirico’s bananas or Dalí’s eggs. Like these predecessors, Peebles’ use of iconography evokes sensation as much as being prescriptive in meaning. Peebles’ work does not sit directly beside surrealism, rather he includes somewhat overt yet oblique aspects of surrealism into his prints.

Left: The wreck of the Ozone, 1993-94; right: The wreck as it appears today (with Melbourne faintly visible in the background)

Benito’s spot plays on local folklore about an eighteenth century pirate named

Benito Bonito, who reputedly buried his treasure somewhere in Queenscliff. Local tourist information mentions Bonito and his treasure, which still attracts fortune- seekers. (Macleod 1994:19) The story evokes Romantic notions of life in a simpler

10 time when piracy was an accepted part of life and one of the dramas of sea travel.

The print depicts a large, foreboding tree silhouetted by a sunset, and projects an animated type of presence in the scene. Peebles’ image is actually based on a well- known cypress pine visible from the road as one approaches Point Lonsdale and

Queenscliff. It is believed to have been struck by lightning, for it has a deformed, animal-like appearance.

Left: Benito’s spot, 1992-93; right: The cypress tree on which inspired Benito’s spot

In childhood stories of pirates hiding their ill-gotten gains the thieves often use symbolic landmarks as guides to re-locate the hidden treasure. Peebles’ choice of this particular tree harks back to such tales and places them in the context of local folklore. The tree also resembles a dinosaur or a creature from mythology.

Interestingly, the blockbuster movie Jurassic Park was released in 1993, and

through an aggressive marketing campaign its imagery flooded all types of media.

There may well be a link, conscious or not, between the print and the movie. One

section of the tree certainly resembles a bellowing tyrannosaurus rex’s head, and

the adjacent road sign is bent, apparently via the force of the ‘creature’s roar’. The

11 tree has been exaggerated in the print, giving it much more volume and bulk. More importantly, for the first time the entire background is treated in complete detail.

In developing his treatment of directional markers from Port Phillip Bay, Peebles produced several prints of fictitious advisory road signs. Starboard marker (1994) is ostensibly concerned with the depiction of clouds and the sea, however in the foreground there is a stylised channel marker that has been altered to include an arrow. Resting on the arrow is an oversized bean and a pair of bones. The road sign images developed from Starboard marker, and Peebles added underlying subtexts and a liberal use of the absurd to bring a humorous edge to the work. Hump (1994) shows a bright orange warning sign for a speed bump, however it is located on top of a rocky outcrop rather than by a roadside. This is primarily a landscape with the sign as a minor component, but in other prints signs dominate their respective scenes.

Right: Starboard marker, 1994; left: A typical guiding post in Port Phillip Bay

Side roads (1994) consists of a triangular advisory sign with a curved arrow and two offshoots. These indicate side roads off a main road. In this image the background landscape has been transferred onto the sign itself, and is reminiscent of René

12 Magritte’s La condition humaine (The human condition) (1933).6 In Magritte’s work,

a painting on an easel sits in front of a window, and the image on the canvas is an

exact match of the view that would be visible if the canvas was not there (or at least

the viewer assumes as much, given that the view through the window and the scene

depicted in the painting-within-the-painting are perfectly aligned). As Magritte

explained,

[T]he tree in the picture hid the tree behind it, outside the room. For the spectator, it was both inside the room within the painting and outside in the real landscape. This is how we see the world. We see it outside ourselves, and at the same time we only have a representation of it in ourselves. In the same way, we sometimes situate in the past that which is happening in the present. Time and space thus lose the vulgar meaning that only daily experience takes into account. (Torczyner 1977:156)

There is a certain similarity between the works, but whereas Magritte has opted to

treat the canvas-within-the-canvas as an illusion of reality, or a window onto the

world (placed before a window creating a sequential self-reference), Peebles used

his sign as a combination landscape and advisory panel. Unlike Magritte’s painting,

Peebles’ ‘window on the world’ does not represent an apparent continuation of the

background and so the self-referential loop is broken. An advisory sign also

functions almost like a rune, foretelling possible danger for the unsuspecting

traveller.

6 Magritte produced several variations of La condition humaine over ensuing years.

13 Left: René Magritte, La condition humaine (The human condition), 1933; centre: Sideroads, 1994; right: Peter Tyndall, detail: A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/someone looks at something... Untitled

Painting No. 19 (Painting in a landscape - Sidney Nolan), 1975

Conceptually there is also an affinity with Peter Tyndall’s ongoing series detail: A

Person Looks At A Work Of Art/someone looks at something. Like Tyndall’s ideograms that are derived from a frame suspended on two strings, the viewer immediately ‘reads’ Peebles’ advisory signs as something familiar. Thus his subject

(in particular the advisory signs) are recognisable iconography that are similar to authentic road advisory signs. They assume a conventional meaning in the viewer’s mind before they have been fully analysed and comprehended, and much like a writer or scholar trying to proof his or her own work, the viewer begins to read the work in terms of what they cognitively believe it represents, rather than what is actually presented to them on paper. In Peebles’ print the arrow sits amid a rural landscape on the sign, while the entire sign stands against a stark black background. The image is completed by a grassy foreground and the entire field seems to sway back and forth in a strong breeze.

The last of this group is a particularly important transition image, as it points to future artistic directions. Metaphysics free zone (1994) depicts another triangular advisory sign set against a mottled, cloudy background. On the sign we see a small sample of Peebles’ icons from the past fifteen or so years. A large red diagonal cross runs over the Metaphysics free zone, 1994 tightly formed small group of bones, matches, beans and other objects. While this is not the end of Peebles’ metaphysical iconography it indicates a break from his ongoing preoccupations, and signals a conscious move towards focussing on

14 landscape. The ‘sign’ works can be seen as a resolution or summary of his earlier concerns, and by producing these works Peebles managed to close the chapter on iconography and be enveloped by the landscape.

Transcriptions of the sky and the sea became central in Peebles’ work. The metaphysical iconography, although not entirely disappearing, yields to the grandeur of nature. Like many artists, Peebles had arrived at a point in his career where he dispensed with references to the work of other artists because he refined his own

imagery and style.

Island (1995) was

produced from four

plates, one for each

of the primary

colours and one for

black. Peebles had

not previously

attempted to produce

Island, 1995 multi-plate prints, and due to the problems and intricacies encountered with image registration produced just a handful of images before abandoning the multi-plate process. It is a large image, and every single section carries intensive detail. The island in question lies directly in the centre of the image and is heavily laden with icons. The artist believes it shows his ‘interest in using various disparate objects as flotsam in a landscape/seascape environment to represent a sense of isolation.’ (Peebles 1996)

A single small bean is located on a little island in the foreground, and can be read as an analogy of Tasmania and its relationship to the rest of Australia.

15 Both islands lie amid a brown sea, while the sky in the background gradually moves from dark to light across the field of vision. It is a remarkable example of the culmination of twenty years working with the mezzotint medium, where Peebles demonstrates technical mastery and deftness with composition while combining old and new styles.

The integration of iconography and landscape is continued in Tree house (1995). In this work the majesty of nature now takes centre stage. A row of objects sits atop a makeshift platform in a drowned tree. Above the platform the sun bursts through the clouds and its brightness pervades the print. Beams of light filter down through the scene, casting just enough light to illuminate the tree, the water and the rocky background. It is a particularly sensitive image that demonstrates Peebles’ ability to judge and control the medium. The combination of old and new styles and subject matter is well handled, and the landscape dominates the work while his iconography accentuates and personalises it

(even Peebles’ tatty tricoleur is again unfurled).7 A change in scale also created a new kind of void in Peebles’ work. Whereas previously his subjects were often set again a black void,

Tree house has a void that is engendered by the emptiness of the depicted landscape.

Tree house, 1995

Peebles’ fetishised objects play a lesser role in Harbour (1996-97). They have been reduced in size to the point where many of them simply form descriptive elements in

7 Treehouse bears a similarity to a crucifix, referring to various works from the 1980s.

16 the landscape, and their symbolism is expunged in favour of the literalness of the landscape. A very bleak, cloudy sky and a ring of rocks that create a small cove are key features in this large, powerful print. The tricoleur reappears, sitting atop some old, disused jetty pylons that resemble a stool or high chair. The water in the image is captured with a great eye for detail – you can almost feel the chill of it in this overcast and miserable scene. Treehouse also treats forms that emerge out of the darkness, but Harbour, although much brighter overall, still retains a feeling of prophetic doom. The sheer mastery of the cloud treatment completely dictates the mood of the image, and without this detail it would most likely have less emotional resonance.

i

Harbour, 1996-97

The rock at the end of the pier (1997-98) is one of a few of images that directly depict elements of the Point Lonsdale/Queenscliff landscape. It is an image of the

Point Lonsdale pier shrouded in fog. Peebles was walking near the pier one morning in a dense fog. As he approached it, the fog immediately around the pier cleared.

Meanwhile a burst of sunbeams broke through the fog and clouds further out in the

17 bay. The rock (actually, there are two rocks) was not really there, nor was the oversized spaghetti that sits beside the larger rock. These elements were inventions to create interesting focal points in the image. Peebles’ technical mastery is again brought to the fore, as his control of tone and patination combine to create a realistic looking fog. The print is related to the image Falling rocks (1996), which contains rocks depicted in the same manner. It is another scene shrouded in fog, with two large boulders sitting either side of a sign warning of a large boulder falling! In this image the danger of such a scene is played down by the unlikely proximity of the

two fallen rocks to the warning sign.

These two prints are also more atmospheric and moodier than previous work, qualities that were developed as he moved further into the genre of landscape.

Left: The rock at the end of the pier, 1997-98; right: Falling rocks, 1996

18 Chapter 4 - Eucumbene

The town of Eucumbene is located in the Snowy Mountains near Mt Kosciusko, on the shore of Lake Eucumbene. It is one of several lakes and dams that were created during the twenty-five year construction of the Snowy Mountain Scheme. They were intended to facilitate the generation of hydro-electric power and to control water flow for irrigation and drought relief. The lake is stocked with varieties of trout, and is a major Australian fishing spot. Peebles has been visiting Eucumbene for several years with friends on annual fishing trips, and in 1996 began portraying the region in his mezzotints. More precisely, the artist began depicting the weather of the region.

Clouds Eucumbene (1996-97) is one of the first works that Peebles produced of the area. A small, unambitious image, Clouds Eucumbene appears almost as an experiment in capturing the dramatic, wildly changing weather that is characteristic of the region. The Eucumbene landscapes/cloudscapes also overlap with the last of the Point Lonsdale landscapes, in which

Peebles first experimented with cloud elements. Previously mentioned works such as Lifeboat (state II), Lighthouse – Night, and Starboard marker were developmental works that led to the monumental

Eucumbene prints.

Clouds Eucumbene, 1996-97

In the Eucumbene works Peebles manages to produce rather surreal images that accurately reflect the weather conditions of the regions. A sense of menace lingers in the air of prints that show rugged mountainous terrain and pristine wilderness.

Within a sublime landscape, Peebles has found what could almost be described as the seedy underbelly (or a kind of underworld) of the region. His ability to do so

1

Map of Kosciusko National Park

2 harks back to his work from the early 1980s where he imbued everyday objects with a sense of danger or dread. At Eucumbene, the weather assumes this role, and with various illustrations of clouds the viewer is offered changing emotional possibilities.

Innocuous clouds are easily distinguished from the threatening ones – some images are picturesque while others seem ready to demolish everything in their path. This is indicative of the nature of the weather in Kosciusko National Park.

Of course not all of his images are instilled with a sense of foreboding. Moonlight at

Eucumbene (1997-98) is very dark tonally, but it has a bit more whimsy than other images of the period and conveys one of the Lake’s calmer moments. The lake’s surface is highlighted by streaks of reflected light that vary in colour from red to pink to green. At the very top of the image clouds drift across the sky over a recently setting sun. They hover above a large, silhouetted mountainous ridge that meets the lake’s edge at the Golden Mean.1 Here the viewer sees the moon’s reflection as

streaks of light across the lake’s surface, and as the composition nears the lower

edge it lightens to reveal a ‘second’ horizon composed of the reflections of the

foreshore. Moonlight at Eucumbene is in many ways very similar to the artist’s work

from a decade earlier. The image is

dominated by a black void. Whereas

previously Peebles rendered carefully

positioned iconography across a zip line in

the lower section image, in this work he has

given the minor details of the print a more

fluid, gestural presence. Amid the deep

Moonlight at Eucumbene, 1997-98

1 The Golden Mean or Golden Section is a proportional ratio that dates back to Pythagoras and involves a sectioning of an image plane so that the ratio of the shorter side of a rectangle relates to the longer side in the same manner in which longer side relates to the sum of the shorter and longer sides [a:b=b:a+b]. It has been used in art for centuries and is considered a particularly harmonious division of the picture plane.

3 black the viewer sees the shifting reflection of the moonlight. Similarly with the mountain ridge at the top of the image and its mirror image below – the mountains are silhouetted and thus are not actually depicted, but rather the skyline illustrated by the illumination of the setting sun. This absence of detail creates a tension within the image, and the viewer is left to ponder what may exist in the apparent void.

The Eucumbene works vary in mood. This variation is a well established working method for Peebles. For instance in 1987 he produced The human comedy and also created My bathtub full of memories. These are starkly diverse works that address very different issues. The former is a sexual image that has overtones of sadomasochism, while the latter is much more sedate (and on first inspection, ‘safe’) and is more of a contemplative work. There is something of a similar nature that occurs in the Eucumbene series. Some of the prints are ‘oversized’ and depict the landscape and weather on a grand scale. Others are smaller, more intimate pieces that seem to be closer to the artist’s personal view of the area. All are depicted from the artist’s recollections of the particular location, yet remain relatively accurate images of their respective sites.2

Providence Reach (1998) for example is an area between Providence Arm and

Providence Portal in the northern area of the lake. Peebles’ rendering of this area adopts a panoramic format, and poignantly captures the unique quality of that landscape. The physicality of the land is literally pushed to the edges of the print, and small details provide tantalising glimpses into the land that extends beyond the view.3 The image is dominated by fog, an intangible item that often lingers at Lake

Eucumbene, and seems to be an exercise in perfecting the experiential effect of fog.

2 The titles are sometimes names given to the sites by Peebles and his fishing cohorts rather than official localities. 3 The technique of pushing details of an artwork to the edge of the picture plane was used to great effect by Brett Whiteley, particularly in his depictions of Sydney Harbour. See for example The balcony 2 (1975) (Art Gallery of New South Wales).

4 It also continues the work that went into Tree house, The rock at the end of the pier and Falling rocks. Providence Reach is a sense of a bird’s-eye view of the locality. It focuses on the water between the banks of the lake (another ‘void’), but shows the banks’ edges around the outer perimeter of the print. The Eastern concept of the image extending beyond the picture plane is again utilised and generates a feeling of claustrophobia.

In contrast, the panoramic Snake Island (1998) does not feel closed in at all. Instead there is a sense of vulnerability as hostile conditions predominate. The eerie island depicted would be quite at home in a child’s fantasy story. Yet, the work is another study of fog and inclement weather, and the moisture depicted in the scene in almost palpable. The idea behind Providence Reach and Snake Island was to have

‘a foggy, almost mystical bent to the images – no hard edges’. (Peebles 2004b) Like many of Peebles’ artworks, isolation is a dominant mood in both of these prints.

Top: Providence Reach, 1998; bottom: Snake Island, 1998

Three Mile Dam (1998) portrays a small, tightly treed peninsula with a light fog rising behind it. The sky is a covered by clouds, but these are not the hellish clouds that appear in some of Peebles’ works. Instead they are light, innocuous clouds that will not be bringing torrential rain or fierce storms. Three Mile Dam is about 50

5 kilometres north of Lake Eucumbene and was created in the late 1800s after the damming of Three Mile Creek. The area was formerly a goldfield, and this adds to the mystique of the area as one imagines that a fortune may still be lying beneath the water. It is also idyllic for those who may be looking to avoid the less inviting

Lake. The Dam is tiny in comparison to the Lake, so it is appropriate that Peebles chose a small format for Three Mile Dam.

Boot Point (1998) depicts a small cove beside a point that extends beyond either side and above the image, and revisits the Eastern concept of producing a scene that extends above and beyond the image. It is dark Boot Point, 1998 but also serene and the composition is dominated by angles that are based on a zig- zag type layout and determine its formal structure. Its structural qualities are reminiscent of Luxe, calme, et volupté (1904-05) (Musée National d'Art Moderne,

Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris) by Henri Matisse (1869-1954). It was an unexpected departure by Matisse into a style more akin to the colour theory dubbed

Divisionism, which was developed by Georges Seurat (1859-91). Seurat developed the painting style into Pointillism, for which he is best known. Matisse experimented with the style in the late 1890s but did not persist with it. The strong linear composition is the major feature of Luxe calme et volupté.4 The small cove in Boot

4 In the early 1900s Matisse was experimenting with colour. In the 1905 Salon d’Automne, the Fauvist paintings were first displayed and art critic Louis Vauxcelles coined the phrase salle des fauves (room of wild beasts). However, in the summer of 1904 fellow artist Paul Signac (1863-1935) invited Matisse to St Tropez. Matisse was inspired by the scenery to paint Luxe, calme et volupté. While it employed the bold colour that typifies Fauvism, it was a stylistic departure from his modus operandi and was painted almost as homage to his host, Signac, who painted using the techniques of divisionism and pointillism. Luxe, calme et

6 Point is almost a haven, an area where one can find protection and safety. Along the small ridge in the foreground a small section is more brightly lit that the rest of the land, and suggests the declining rays of light from the recently-set sun which faintly illuminates the horizon. Unlike other Eucumbene images, Boot Point is an imaginary location and a pictorial amalgamation of several areas within the region.

Left: Henri Matisse, Luxe, calme et volupté, 1904-05; right: Boot Point, 1998

Thunderhead at Eucumbene (1997) portrays a large storm passing over mountains.

The clouds resemble a fireball, and similar forms have appeared in the work of

Queensland artist Lawrence Daws (born 1927).5 In the 1970s Daws produced works

such as The burning train (1972) and Burning train and flesh cube (1973). The

burning train in question closely resembles Peebles’ thunderhead, and shares its

threatening presence. While in earlier prints Peebles had depicted clouds in the

context of the land, this work is about clouds. The mountain ridge below the storm

informs the viewer of the storm’s location within the landscape, and the shafts of

light penetrating through the tail of the storm add to its sense of volume. This work

returns to Peebles’ metaphysical preoccupation, however it is situated in the sublime

beauty of nature. Tension is generated, because the beauty of the storm front belies

its potentially destructive results as it tears across the landscape. The complete

absence of people creates a sense of desolation, which again emerges as a key volupté was first exhibited at the 1905 Salon des Indépendants, approximately six months before the Fauvist painting were displayed. (Turner, C. & Benjamin, R. 1995:24) 5 Lawrence Daws has also used the Golden Mean in various works over several decades.

7

Above: Thunderhead at Eucumbene, 1997;

left: Lawrence Daws, The burning train, 1972

theme. Like the work of Daws, Thunderhead at Eucumbene has a stronger philosophical grounding than first appearances might suggest.

Storm over Eucumbene (1999) is a cataclysmic image of storm clouds and resembles British artist John Martin’s biblical images. As mentioned in the first chapter, Martin was an important early influence on Peebles and this work recalls

Martin’s representations of Hades. The print also has more than a passing stylistic parallel to some images by Australian surrealist James Gleeson. It has a turbulent, nightmarish sky and is a dreamy and indeterminate landscape. It is evocative of

Tanguy’s landscapes and Gleeson’s backgrounds, with overtones of psychological unrest. It is also a key image for Peebles, because he moved into depicting the clouds in their own right rather than in relation to the landscape. The clouds are now

8

Storm over Eucumbene, 1999

James Gleeson, The message arrives, 1995 abstracted and the artist creates an image that is full of disquietude. Only small sections of the image give it a sense of physical groundedness. A small mountain

9

Left, top to bottom: Light shaft, 2001; Cabbage soup, 2001; Mrs Simpson, 2001; A Mrs Simpson trout fly; top right: Irving Penn, Duchess of Windsor, New York, 27 May 1948, 1948

10 ridge is evident as is the afternoon reflection off the water, but these are insignificant details. By reducing the land into a minute component of the image, Peebles creates a landscape that is almost without land, and becomes instead a cloudscape. As he has stated, ‘These prints were largely just attempts to feel my way into working fully in landscape and to see what effects I could get without making them look like traditional landscapes.’ (2004b)

By comparison Light shaft (2001) is a more placid work that has a composition similar to Boot Point. It is more linear and ordered than Storm over Eucumbene, and appears to show the calm after a storm has passed. While the sky is still cloud-filled, these clouds aren’t as threatening. They possess an aurora-like pattern, and also resemble beams of light that one sees at a concert or some sort of staged spectacular.

Peebles also produced several works about trout fishing. These include Cabbage soup (2001) and Mrs Simpson (2001). The cabbages in these prints hark back to his work of the 1980s. Cabbage soup presents an overturned cabbage leaf being used as a soup bowl, and there are various Peebles icons floating in the broth. It is a very traditional composition, and the cabbage leaf dominates a fairly non-descript background. A fishing fly also rests in front of the cabbage leaf. The title of Mrs

Simpson refers to a particular type of fishing fly that is used for trout. The image contains several such flys dotted around the foreground of the image, including a couple embedded in the brain-like cabbage. Again Peebles uses allegory and symbolism. The brain-like cabbage is a reference to the widely accepted notion of the relative intelligence of trout, yet the very fact that it is a cabbage connotes a lack of intelligence. Trout’s lower intelligence (as compared to humans) enables us to trick the fish with a synthetic fly in order to catch it. There is another historical reference to the work. Mrs Simpson refers to Wallis Simpson (1896-1986), the

11 woman for whom King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne.6 Simpson was a particularly fashion-conscious person. This included her dedication to the latest hairstyles, and for several years she wore her hair in a manner that is mimicked by the outer leaves of Peebles’ print. Cabbage soup and Mrs Simpson represent quite a departure from his recent output, but they were a necessary addition to the artist’s work. Peebles regularly enters work in overseas print awards, and he found that his more abstract Eucumbene works were not being exhibited because the judges did not find merit in them. However, the prints just discussed demonstrate the artist’s technical ability as a mezzotinter (in the traditional sense), and also help to contextualise the Eucumbene works.7

Natura morto (2000-03) is a large, five-plate image. The central image is a detailed rendition of a trout, the two on either side appear to be wider views of the lake in which the fish is located, while the outer two plates present an opaque view through clouds or fog, and distance becomes incomprehensible. The apparent change in view point from the outer plates to the centre plate gives an effect of zooming in on the subject. The trout is in fact a reversal of the 1989-90 print Death of a shag. In the water, the fish is dead; out of the water it is alive. This helps to build more tension.

The two adjacent plates are almost mirror images of each other. They depict small

Natura morto, 2000-03

6 The British public were aghast when the heir to the throne became involved with a divorced American ‘commoner’. In December 1936 when King Edward VIII abdicated, after less than a year in power, there was a public scandal. Wallis Simpson divorced for a second time in 1937 and when the couple married later that year they were effectively exiled, spending the majority of their remaining years in France and the USA. 7 The still life tradition of twentieth-century (and earlier) mezzotinting is still the expected subject matter in certain printmaking circles.

12 landscapes at the water’s edge, and each shoreline faces the other. The two outer plates ‘move towards abstracted landscape and vacuousness.’ (Peebles 2004) The artist used a sanding/polishing tool to create the abstracted effect on the two plates, which have an ethereal quality to them.

Natura morto showcases Peebles’ near-perfect technique. The central plate is especially deftly-handled. The thin tapering bones of the fish’s body are obsessively delicate, the proportion and curve to the fish’s torso accurate, and the water’s edge around the fish is so carefully rendered that it blends into the image and almost passes unnoticed. The title translates to ‘Still life’ in English, but when written in

Italian (and several other European languages) it seems to take on a much more sinister tone (‘nature’s death’).

Closely related to Storm over Eucumbene are Dropping cloud (2002-03) and

Skyhook (2003), both of which celebrate the fantastic cloud formations that appear

Top left: Dropping cloud, 2002-03; bottom left: Dropping cloud’s inspiration; right: Skyhook, 2003

13 in the Kosciusko region. While both are composite rather than directly representational images, the inspiration for Dropping cloud was captured on amateur video and shows clouds quickly descending. Hence in the image Peebles has attempted to depict a sense of perpetual motion. Tonally it is quite light (which is very unusual for the medium considering that a mezzotinter works from dark to light) and again evokes John Martin’s imagery. While the downward motion of the clouds comes through in the work, it also has connotations of flames rising upwards. This is reinforced in Skyhook, a fantastic image of an animated cloud. A large curvature drops down from a fairly undefined cloud mass, threateningly whipping its flame-like tip.8 Both of these images are predominately abstract depictions of clouds. (Peebles

2004b)

8 Peebles’ printer Bill Young believes that this image is upside down, and consequently has impressed his blind printer’s stamp inverted in the top left corner. If the print is oriented in accordance with the printer’s stamp, then it takes on the appearance of a large flame flicking up from a fairly sedate fire.

14 Conclusion

Peebles work has developed over a period of approximately thirty years.

Technically, early prints were experiments in the mezzotint medium, and some were more successful than others. His own dedication and enthusiasm maintained his interest in mezzotints and time spent in Europe solidified his resolve to continue with the medium. Over the ensuing years he has refined his technique to reach a level of precision rarely seen, both in Australia and internationally.

Since the 1970s Peebles has moved from studio-based still lifes that are steeped in metaphysics. Literature, history and art history have all influenced the nature of his subjects, but currently maintain a much diminished role in his art. Like many facets of the art world, Peebles has gradually changed his focus. Landscape, particularly the Eucumbene region in Kosciusko National Park, has now become his major source of inspiration.

Peebles occupies a unique position in Australian art. He moved from the popular field of painting into a medium that was almost obsolete. He persisted with mezzotints despite the lack of training and tuition available to him and in doing so became an expert mezzotinter. His work has changed as he has changed, particularly in regard to chosen subject matter. Peebles’ move to Point Lonsdale dramatically affected his work, as has his fishing trips to Lake Eucumbene.

In printmaking terms, Peebles’ ability and output are parallelled by artists such as

Lionel Lindsay and Tate Adams. Stylistically his work does not find easy comparisons, but when considering his persistence with various subjects it is reasonable to find similarities between him and George Baldessin, John Olsen,

William Robinson and Salvatore Zofrea. Peebles has rightfully earned the unofficial title of Australia’s foremost mezzotinter, and his influence is clearly visible in a

1 handful of younger artists that are now working with mezzotints. He continues to make mezzotints and the tour of the exhibition Out of the Shadows is facilitating the exposure his work deserves.1

1 Peebles has also been planning a collaborative mezzotint project for several years now. He intends to rock the plates and then pass them to the artists included in the project. Some artists will be proficient with intaglio printing and will be left to their own devices to create an image. Others may have no printmaking experience whatsoever, in which case Peebles will assist them through the technical aspects of the mezzotint process. It in envisaged that the project would primarily function as a print exchange between the participants, with a small number of additional copies available to the general public or collecting institutions.

2 Appendix 1 – Mezzotints: An Overview

A mezzotint is a type of intaglio print, where an image is scored into the printing plate and ink is applied across the surface to fill the worked areas. The excess ink is wiped off the surface of the plate, and together with a sheet of wet paper is fed through a high pressure rolling press. This exerts great force on both elements as the ink is forced onto the paper, and adheres to form the final image.

Etching is the most common type of intaglio printing. Most intaglio processes are essentially non-tonal, so tonality is generally implied and suggested through the use of techniques such as cross-hatching. One variation of etching is the mezzotint, which is basically an intaglio process that offers true tonality.2 Mezzotinting involves

repeatedly scoring the plate with a tool known as a rocker. The rocker kicks up

many minute burrs above the original plate surface. If the plate is printed after

scoring, it will produce an image with a rich, deep and even tone. Once a rocker has

been used to score the entire plate, selected areas within the plate are then

burnished or scraped back to produce lighter tones. The more the burrs are

flattened, the less ink they can hold and hence the lighter a tone that will be

produced from that area of the plate. Through careful control, the artist has the

ability to produce a wide variety of tones. Unlike etching, the mezzotint process uses

no chemical baths, and all results are a direct product of the artist’s hand.

Mezzotint was a product of the “Age of Reason”. During the first half of the seventeenth century Europe witnessed dramatic changes in the balance of power, the rise of nationalism, religious reformation, major population shifts, and redistribution of land and wealth. The Hapsburg dynasty declined and France emerged as the leading power on the Continent; England weathered civil war; and democratic rule began to evolve in England and The Netherlands. (Wax 1990:13)

2 Other technical processes, such as aquatint, can offer some tonality in the resulting prints, but the print generally has only one or two tones, in block sections across the image.

3 A democratising of power bases, and the subsequent development of the middle- classes, led to the development of a market for the reproduction of master paintings.

Generally these reproductions were engravings, and were executed by highly skilled craftsmen. The problem of interpreting the tonality of painting within the confines of a linear technique was a constant hurdle faced by reproduction engravers.

Eventually this problem was solved through the development of the mezzotint.

The invention of the mezzotint is attributed to Ludwig von Siegen (1609-c1680), a

German born engraver whose family relocated to The Netherlands in the early

1600s. In 1642 Von Siegen drew a sketch of his patron, Amelia Elizabeth,

Landgravine of Hasse-Kassel. From this drawing he developed an engraving, which included sections that have been identified as representing the origin of the mezzotint.

Knowledge of the process spread over the ensuing decades. In 1667 England’s

King Charles II announced that he had made an alliance with the Dutch against

France. As a result England and The Netherlands became relatively free trading partners. Due to the subsequent boom in shipping, knowledge and skills passed freely between the two countries. England eventually became the largest market for mezzotints, but the skill prospered in both countries.

France however did not embrace mezzotints for several reasons, including political ones. In France the mezzotint process was referred to as la manière Anglais, which not only incorrectly attributed the process to England but was also a slightly derogatory term, and was used to suggest that French printmaking did not need the utilise such a process. King Louis XIV was on the French throne at the time, and he exerted tremendous influence over art and politics. He encouraged a Franco-centric attitude towards all aspects of society. Line engraving had a strong tradition in

4 France and following the establishment of the Académie Royale des Beaux Arts and the Ecole de Gravures in the 1660s, line engraving was increasingly supported. The important legacy of line engraving meant that few engravers were willing to challenge the standing of the industry by experimenting with other techniques, and little advanced technology was available to them. Additionally, Louis XIV stopped the nobility from investing in trade. This effectively removed any non-Academie market options. (Wax 1990:pp.36-37)

Markets for reproduction mezzotints waxed and waned over time, until it considerably declined towards the end of the nineteenth century. Competition from other printing processes, particularly lithography, also led to a sharp decline in the production of mezzotints. Photography all but destroyed the form. Wax (1990:139) stated that ‘In its infancy the Industrial Revolution had nurtured the development of mezzotint and at its peak contributed to the collapse of the mezzotint industry into obsolescence.’

In the reproduction mezzotint market, some original mezzotints were made on a small scale, but they were not economically viable. As this market collapsed, artists had a revival of interest in intaglio printing as a creative medium. In the early-mid

twentieth century the technique moved from artisan to artist, and in the process had

to be ‘relearned’ by a new generation of mezzotinters.3

3 For a full description of the history of the mezzotint, please refer to Carol Wax’s book.

5 6 Appendix 2 – Printmaking in Australia: An Overview

The history of printmaking in Australia is as long as its colonisation - a printing press was transported with the first fleet. (Butler 2001) Early printmaking was generally used to record nature, as an enormous effort was required to depict previously undocumented flora and fauna, as well as ‘anthropological studies’ of indigenous people.

By the late 1800s, printmaking’s artistic possibilities were being explored. Nott

(1977:n.p.) cites four migrant artists as being key to etching’s revival in the late

1800s, namely John Mather, Julian Ashton, Livingstone Hopkins and A.H. Fullwood.

Each is acknowledged for their key influence in Australian printmaking, particularly

Mather and Ashton, who were both influential teachers. Etching in Australia came into its own during the first three decades of the twentieth century (Williams 1989:2), typified by artists such as Jessie Traill (1881-1967) and Lionel Lindsay (1874-1961).

Traill produced approximately 200 prints, most of which were etchings. Lindsay worked in numerous media in addition to etching, notably intricate woodcuts and mezzotints. An extremely hard-working and prolific artist, Lindsay created over 500 prints including several mezzotints.

The onset of the Great Depression significantly reduced the art market, and the production of prints slowed. After the Depression, more Australian artists began to adopt modernist styles. A group of (predominately) women printmakers emerged using relief processes of woodcut and linocut. Margaret Preston (1875-1963) and

Thea Proctor (1879-1966) are the best known of this group, both of whom have been granted their rightful position in the history of Australian Art as innovative and original artists. At the time however, their work received a luke-warm response, and patronage was limited. The onset of the World War II again saw the market slump.

7

Post-war Australia saw the arrival of numerous immigrant-artists. Some of these artists took up teaching positions in various technical schools and colleges, and through these positions they revitalised printmaking in Australia, especially in

Melbourne. Irish-born Tate Adams was one such artist: he wielded great influence as a teacher and was a strong supporter of the printed image. As well as lecturing in printmaking at RMIT, Adams also opened Crossley Gallery, which dealt almost exclusively in prints. As Burke and Davies wrote, ‘Tate Adams, the director of

[Crossley] Gallery, had once again given focus to printmaking. From the early 1950s he had been actively involved as an artist and teacher both encouraging serious printmaking and pioneering its appreciation in Melbourne.’ (1979:n.p.)

Crossley Gallery closed in 1980, and Peebles’ first solo exhibition in Melbourne was the Gallery’s last. Other venues have since risen to be major supporters of printmaking. For example the Victorian Print Workshop (now the Australian Print

Workshop) opened its doors in 1981, and Port Jackson Press has also been based in Melbourne since the early 1980s. Both operate workshop facilities and exhibition spaces.

A growing interest in digital art grew in Australia throughout the 1990s, and continues today. Many works of art in digital media are based around printmaking concepts (in fact many are printed onto paper in a traditional manner), and indeed the vernacular of prints has survived in the digital realm. Time will reveal the ongoing ebbs and flows of popularity of printmaking in Australia. Due to the relative cheapness, intimate nature and diversity of prints and techniques available, support for printmaking shows no sign of abating in Australia.

8 List of Works Comprising the Exhibition

Works prior to 1981 printed by the artist in Melbourne. Works from 1981 onwards printed by Bill Young at Bill Young Studios in Melbourne or King Valley. Dimensions are listed: height preceding width, and are measured to the nearest half-centimetre.

Abandoned workings 1975 Intimacy 1983 Mezzotint Colour mezzotint Image 46 x 30cm Image 15 x 20cm Private collection, Melbourne Gift of Bill Young under the Cultural Gifts Program, 2003 Schadenfreude 1978 QUT Art Collection Mezzotint Image 49.5 x 50.5cm Winter of my contempt 1983 Courtesy of the artist Colour mezzotint Image 84 x 89cm They mute horse, don’t they? Private collection, Melbourne 1979 Hand-coloured mezzotint Hall’s Gap 1984 Image 20 x 58.5cm Colour mezzotint Courtesy of the artist Image 44.5 x 33.5cm Courtesy of the artist Ecce homo 1980 Colour mezzotint with hand-colouring Marat we’re marching on 1984 Image 15 x 22cm Colour mezzotint Courtesy of the artist Image 48 x 88.5cm Purchased 1994 Self portrait as a religious leader QUT Art Collection 1980 Colour mezzotint They come in all shapes and sizes Image 16.5 x 11cm 1984 Gift of Bob Peebles under the Cultural Colour mezzotint Gifts Program, 2003 Image 59.5 x 87cm QUT Art Collection Courtesy of the artist

The remnants of the Last Supper Altarpiece 1984-87 1981 Nine colour mezzotints, some hand- Colour mezzotint and drypoint coloured Image 60.5 x 89cm Images 1, 3, 7, 9: 44.5 x 59.5cm; Gift of Bill Young under the Cultural images 2, 8: 44.5 x 89cm; images 4, Gifts Program, 2003 6: 89 x 59.5cm; image 5: 89 x 89cm. QUT Art Collection Overall frame size 230 x 247.5cm Gift of the artist under the Cultural The Death of Damiens I-V 1982 Gifts Program, 2004 Five mezzotints, some hand-coloured QUT Art Collection Each image 39 x 57cm Courtesy of the artist My bathtub full of memories 1987 Colour mezzotint The You Yangs 1982 Image 21.5 x 26.5cm Colour mezzotint Gift of Bob Peebles under the Cultural Image 19.5 x 57.5cm Gifts Program, 2003 Gift of Bill Young under the Cultural QUT Art Collection Gifts Program, 2003 QUT Art Collection

9

The human comedy 1987 Rabbit trap 1992 Colour mezzotint Hand-coloured mezzotint Image 12.5 x 13.5cm Image 30 x 45.5cm Courtesy of the artist Gift of Bob Peebles under the Cultural Gifts Program, 2003 Is God a paintbrush? 1987-89 QUT Art Collection Hand-coloured mezzotint Image 59.5 x 88cm Benito’s spot 1992-93 Gift of Bob Peebles under the Cultural Colour mezzotint with hand-colouring Gifts Program, 2003 Image 66 x 59cm QUT Art Collection Courtesy of the artist

Point Lonsdale back beach 1989 Beacon 1993 Hand-coloured mezzotint Colour mezzotint with hand-colouring Image 9.5 x 22cm Image 59.5 x 47.5cm Private collection, Brisbane Private collection, Brisbane

Death of a shag 1989-90 The wreck of the Ozone 1993-94 Mezzotint Hand-coloured mezzotint Image 58.5 x 89.5cm Image 59 x 71.5cm Courtesy of the artist Courtesy of the artist

The lobster quadrille 1989-90 Side roads 1994 Mezzotint Hand-coloured mezzotint Image 47 x 87.5cm Image 20.5 x 20cm Courtesy of the artist Purchased 2003 QUT Art Collection Study for The Charge of the Light Brigade 1990 Starboard marker 1994 Hand-coloured mezzotint Hand-coloured mezzotint Image 12 x 22.5cm Image 23 x 24.5cm Courtesy of the artist Purchased 2003 QUT Art Collection The Charge of the Light Brigade 1990 Island 1995 Hand-coloured mezzotint Colour mezzotint Image 31.5 x 88.5cm Image 39.5 x 59.5cm Courtesy of the artist Gift of Bob Peebles under the Cultural Gifts Program, 2003 Budgerigars 1990-92 QUT Art Collection Hand-coloured mezzotint Image 41 x 89cm Tree house 1995 Courtesy of the artist Colour mezzotint with hand-colouring Image 34.5 x 39.5cm Stairway to heaven (Tribute to Purchased 2003 Anthony Pryor) 1991 QUT Art Collection Mezzotint Image 46 x 56.5cm Harbour 1996-97 Courtesy of the artist Colour mezzotint Image 59.5 x 89.5cm Lifeboat (First state) 1991-92 Private collection, Brisbane Hand-coloured mezzotint Image 59.5 x 79cm Courtesy of the artist

10

The rock at the end of the pier 1996-98 Colour mezzotint Image 59.5 x 74.5cm Purchased 2003 QUT Art Collection

Thunderhead at Eucumbene 1997 Mezzotint Image 35 x 118cm Purchased 2003 QUT Art Collection

Moonlight at Eucumbene 1997-98 Colour mezzotint Bill Young (left) and Graeme Peebles Image 74.5 x 89cm checking proofs of Peebles’ mezzotints Courtesy of the artist

Storm over Eucumbene 1999 Mezzotint Image 59 x 89cm Purchased 2001 QUT Art Collection

Light shaft 2001 Mezzotint Image 30 x 40.5cm Purchased 2003 QUT Art Collection

Mrs Simpson 2001 Hand-coloured mezzotint Image 30 x 40cm Purchased 2003 QUT Art Collection

Natura morto 2000-03 Five-plate colour mezzotint with hand-colouring Overall image 29.5 x 167cm Courtesy of the artist

Dropping cloud 2003 Colour mezzotint Image 52 x 44cm Courtesy of the artist

Skyhook 2003 Colour mezzotint Image 46 x 51cm Courtesy of the artist

11 12 Chronology 1955 Born Melbourne, Australia 1973-75 Studied painting and printmaking at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology 1976-77 Studied printmaking in Italy and England 1977-81 Part-time lecturer in printmaking, RMIT 1980 Study tour of Italy, Austria and France 1983-86 Full-time lecturer in printmaking, RMIT 1984 Study tour of Europe 1986 Lived and worked for six months in Florence, Italy On return to Australia, moved to Point Lonsdale, Victoria to work full- time as an artist 1988 Guest lecturer in printmaking, Chisholm Institute of Technology (now Monash University), Melbourne 1991 Travelled to London for exhibition with Anthony Pryor at Victoria House

Grants/Awards

1977 Churchill Fellowship Visual Arts/Craft Board grant for purchase of studio equipment 1979 Print Council of Australia Inc. Member Print commission 1980 Winner Mornington Peninsula Arts Centre Spring Festival of Prints and Drawings Acquisitive Prize – Elegy to necrophilia, 1978 Winner Queen Victoria Museum and Gallery Albert Hall Art Purchase, Hobart, Ecce homo, 1980 1982 Winner Henri Worland Print Award, Warrnambool Art Gallery – Remnants of the Last Supper 1981 1983 Winner Henri Worland Print Award, Warrnambool Art Gallery – Cod piece 1982 Winner Diamond Valley Prize, Diamond Valley Shire (now part of the City of Nillumbik) – The You Yangs 1982 1986 Visual Arts/Craft Board grant for exhibition in Italy Print Council of Australia Inc. Patron Print commission 1987 Winner Box Hill Acquisitive Prize - The Spanish Inquisition, 1986 1989 Winner Advance Bank Award, Gold Coast City Art Prize - Is God a paintbrush?, 1989 Winner Aberdare Prize, Ipswich, View through my window, 1989 1991 Visual Arts/Craft Board grant for exhibition with Anthony Pryor in London

Exhibition History Exhibitions are listed by title, venue, and display dates (when known).

Solo exhibitions

1980 Graeme Peebles Mezzotints, Gallery Huntly, Canberra, 6-24 May Graeme Peebles Mezzotints, Crossley Gallery, Melbourne, 9 June – 4 July 1982 Graeme Peebles, Stuart Gerstman Gallery, Melbourne, 3-21 May Graeme Peebles, Works Gallery, Geelong Graeme Peebles, Wollongong Regional Art Gallery, 19 July – 16 August 1983 Graeme Peebles Mezzotints, Gallery Huntly, Canberra, 27 April – 17 May

13 1984 Graeme Peebles Mezzotints, Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne, 31 July – 17 August Graeme Peebles, Works Gallery, Geelong Graeme Peebles, Gallery Huntly, Canberra 1986 Graeme Peebles, Die Nieuve Gallerie, Vienna 1987 Momenti d’Arte Contemporanea Australiana Incisione di Graeme Peebles, Pallazo Di Pellegrini, Commune Di Barberino, Val'Delsa, Italy, 4-18 January Graeme Peebles Mezzotints, Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne, 29 August – 17 September 1989 Graeme Peebles, Grahame Galleries + Editions, Brisbane, 28 June – 23 July 1990 An Exhibition of Mezzotints by Graeme Peebles, Australian Galleries, Melbourne, 21 May – 9 June 1993 Recent Mezzotints by Graeme Peebles, Solander Gallery, Canberra, 3-25 July 1994 Graeme Peebles, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne, 25 July – 20 August 1995 Recent Mezzotints by Graeme Peebles, Grahame Galleries + Editions, Brisbane, 17 May – 17 June 1998 Graeme Peebles: Aspects of Eucumbene, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne, 2-30 September 2000 Graeme Peebles: La Maniera Nera, FYR Arte Contemporea, Florence, Italy, 18 March – 9 April 2001 An Exhibition of Mezzotints by Graeme Peebles, Grahame Galleries + Editions, Brisbane, 11 July – 18 August 2003 Graeme Peebles: The Incompleat Angler, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne, 10 October – 9 November 2004-05 Out of the Shadows: The Mezzotints of Graeme Peebles, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane, 19 March – 30 May 2004; Latrobe Regional Gallery, Morwell, 30 July – 12 September 2004; Warrnambool Art Gallery, 3 December 2004 – 23 January 2005; Geelong Gallery, 4 February – 27 March 2005; Gold coast City Art Gallery, 15 April – 29 May 2005; Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, 24 June – 24 August 2005

Group exhibitions (selected)

1975 Works on Paper: An Exhibition by the Students of the Department of Fine Art RMIT, Crossley Gallery, Melbourne, 15 September – 3 October 1978-80 2nd Western Pacific Print Biennale, Melbourne (and subsequent national tour) 1980 David Emerson, Ron Morrison, Graeme Peebles, Barry Stern’s Exhibiting Gallery, Sydney, 23 February – 14 March West German International Print Biennale, Frechen, West Germany, 12 October – 30 November Five Australian Printmakers, Singapore 7th British International Print Biennale, Bradford, Great Britain, 4 April – 2 July 1980-84 Australian Prints 1980, extensive world tour organised by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Canberra Contemporary Australian Printmakers I, exhibition toured by Print Council of Australia Inc., which toured extensively throughout USA and Canada

14 1982 Directions Now: The Mitchelton Print Exhibition 1982, Benalla Art Gallery, 30 April – 30 May; Mitchelton Winery, Nagambie, 4 June – 4 July; Shepparton Arts Centre, 11 July – 8 August 1982-84 Twelve Melbourne Printmakers, Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford, Great Britain, 25 October – 5 November 1982; Iwalewa Haus, Bayreuth, West Germany, 9 April – 15 May 1983; Hessisches Landemuseum, Darmstadt, West Germany, July 1983; University of Erlangen, West Germany October 1983; National Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand, February 1984 1984 Recent Australian Prints, RMIT Faculty of Art Gallery, Melbourne, June 1984 8th British International Print Biennale, Bradford, Great Britain, 15 April – 15 July 1986 Curwen Gallery, London 1986-88 Melbourne Printmakers, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney, 6-27 September 1986; Geelong Art Gallery, 21 November 1986 – 5 January 1987; Latrobe Valley Arts Centre, February 1987; Shepparton Art Gallery, March 1987; Albury City Art Gallery, April 1987; Wollongong City Gallery, May – June 1987; Mildura Arts Centre, July 1987; New England Regional Art Museum, August 1987; Canberra School of Art Gallery, September 1987; Ipswich Regional Art Gallery, November – December 1987; RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, 1988 1987 Intaglio Printmakers, Melbourne 1990 Interior Views, Hamilton Art Gallery, Victoria, 9 July – ? August; CEMA Arts Centre, Portland, USA, 15 September – 10 October; Bendigo Art Gallery; Mildura Art Gallery 1991 Art Out of Australia: Graeme Peebles & Anthony Pryor, Victoria House, London, 1-31 October 1991-92 Impressions in Print: Australian Printmaking in the 1990s, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, December 1990 – January 1991; Mackay Entertainment Centre, 24 April – 18 May 1991; Noosa Regional Gallery, 16 June – 14 July 1991; The Butter Factory, Logan City, 22 July – 16 August 1991; Dalby Regional Gallery, 20 September – 11 October 1991; Ipswich Regional Art Gallery, 21 October – 10 November 1991; Warwick Regional Art Gallery 13-19 November 1991;? Entertainment Centre, 6 December 1991 – 10 January 1992; Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery 8-29 April 1992 1992 Survey 13: Ian Parry, Graeme Peebles, Ray Reardon, Geelong Art Gallery, 5 June – 19 July Transformations: The Mitchelton Print Exhibition 1992, Westpac Gallery, Melbourne 1992-93 6x6: A Selection of Contemporary Australian Prints, (Thai tour) Silpakorn University Art Gallery, Bangkok, 4 November – 4 December 1992; Kohn Kaen University, Khon Kaen, 7 January – 7 February 1993; Faculty of Fine Arts Gallery, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, 18 February – 18 March 1993 1994 The Print, the Press, the Artist and the Printer… Limited Editions and Artists’ Books from the Art Presses of the ACT, Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra, October 1994 1995 The 20th Annual Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Arts Centre, 8 September – 15 October 1995 1997-99 Triennial ’97 - Cracow, Cracow, Poland, 20 June - 30 August 1997; Fair Centre, Nuremberg, Germany, 31 October – 8 November 1998; Museo d’Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July – August 1999

15 Contemporary Mezzotints, Connecticut Graphic Arts Center, Norwalk, USA Contemporary Mezzotints, Chicago, USA 1998 Mezzotints, The Detroit Institute of Arts, USA Decalogue: A Decade of Australian Printmaking, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea, 11-22 August 1999 12th Norwegian International Print Triennale, Fredrikstad, Norway, 26 August – 28 November 2000-01 Workings of the Mind: Melbourne Printmaking from 1960s to the 1990s, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane, 12 October – 19 November 2000; Grafton Regional Gallery, 6 December 2000 – 7 January 2001; Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, 18 January – 11 February 2001; Nolan Gallery, Canberra, 27 February – 25 March 2001; Bendigo Art Gallery, 31 March – 29 April 2001; Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, 18 May – 24 June 2001; Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2 September – 25 November 2001 Revealed: Harmonise - The Macau International Exhibition of Prints, Macau Museum of Art, 14 December 2000 – 5 October 2001 2001 Miniprint Finland 2001: 4th International Miniprint Triennial, Lahti Art Museum, Finland, 5 October – 25 November 2002 5th Kochi International Print Triennial, Ino, Japan, 16 March – 21 April Miniare: 2nd Montreal International Miniature Print Biennial, Quebec Printmakers Council, Canada, 11 October – 17 November 2004 Panorama, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, 17 January – 15 February Surface Tension, National Arts Club, New York, 15-29 June; Gallery 101, Melbourne, 2-22 December 2005 Surface Tension: Twenty One Australian Printmakers, Academy Gallery, University of Tasmania, 11 February - 13 March

16 Public Collections

Art Gallery of New South Wales Art Gallery of South Australia Art Gallery of Western Australia Artbank Ballarat Fine Art Gallery Bendigo Art Gallery Cannon Collection, Los Angeles Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum City of Banyule City of Brisbane City of Nillumbik City of Whitehorse Commune Di Barberino, Italy Deakin University Department of Foreign Affairs Federal Court, Hobart Federal Court, Melbourne Geelong Gallery Griffith University High Court, Canberra Latrobe Regional Gallery Latrobe University Manly Art Gallery Monash University Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery Museo D’Arte Moderna Pagani, Castellanza, Italy National Gallery of Australia National Gallery of Victoria Newcastle Region Art Gallery Parliament House, Canberra Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston Queensland Art Gallery Queensland Law Society Queensland University of Technology Art Collection RMIT University Royal Automobile Club of Victoria Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery The University of Adelaide The University of Melbourne The University of Queensland Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery University of Southern Queensland Victoria University Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery Warrnambool Art Gallery Wollongong City Gallery

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