Media Contact Media Miranda Brown T 0491 743 610 Release E [email protected] Frederick McCubbin— Whisperings in wattle boughs 4 September to 28 November Entry fees apply Geelong Gallery continues to celebrate Oh, gaily sings the bird! and the its 125th anniversary with a program of wattle-boughs are stirr’d exhibitions and events highlighting the And rustled by the scented breath institution’s significant contribution to of spring; the life and culture of the region. Oh, the dreary wistful longing! Oh, the faces that are thronging! The centrepiece exhibition of the Gallery’s Oh, the voices that are vaguely anniversary is Frederick McCubbin— whispering! Frederick McCubbin A bush burial 1890 Whisperings in wattle boughs, opening on oil on canvas 4 September. This exceptional exhibition McCubbin was also inspired by real life Geelong Gallery Purchased by public subscription, 1900 celebrates the first major work to enter events such as the disappearance of Photographer: Andrew Curtis the Gallery collection in 1900: Frederick twelve-year-old Clara Crosby in 1885 who McCubbin’s A bush burial (1890). That was lost in bushland in the Yarra Valley acquisition was made possible through for three weeks and is thought to be the public subscription, and this moment subject of McCubbin’s painting of the in the Gallery’s and community’s history following year, Lost (1886, National Gallery will be marked by bringing A bush burial of Victoria). In exploring the narrative of into close dialogue with a tightly focussed the child in the bush, McCubbin posits the selection of other iconic McCubbin setting as one of potential danger, but also paintings, in which he redefines the one of unencumbered exploration, mystery, Australian bush and the human subjects wonder and magic, through works such as within it. Child in the bush (1913, National Gallery of Australia), What the little girl saw in the bush Frederick McCubbin—Whisperings in (1904, Private collection), and Bush idyll Frederick McCubbin wattle boughs brings together three of (1893, Private collection). Down on his luck (detail) 1889 McCubbin’s key ‘pioneer’ subjects, Down oil on canvas Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth on his luck (1889, Art Gallery of Western Another aspect to this in-focus exhibition State Art Collection Purchased 1896 Australia), A bush burial and The pioneer is the inclusion of portraits of one of the (1904, National Gallery of Victoria); key subjects in McCubbin’s enduring great the first time these iconic works have narrative pictures, his wife Annie, the model been exhibited together in Geelong. The for A bush burial and The pioneer. The exhibition also includes significant works captivating Portrait (1893, National Gallery from public and private collections that of Victoria) is an essential representation reveal McCubbin’s enduring fascination of his muse. Similarly, the rarely publicly with the colour and nature of the bush. displayed A fine day and a good breeze (1907, Private collection) shows Annie The exhibition title acknowledges in an outdoor setting depicted candidly the inspiration McCubbin took from undertaking household chores. A number the poetry of Adam Lindsay Gordon of other family members and friends (1833–1870), the unique beauty of the appear in exhibited works: for example, Australian bush and the rich stories that the artist’s son Louis in The wood sawyer emerge from it (in the suggestive form (c. 1905, Shepparton Art Museum), and of whisperings). The intimately-scaled friend Patrick Watson in Bush sawyers painting, Whisperings in wattle boughs (1910, Private collection) who was also (1896, Private collection), is named after a model for The pioneer. These two sawyer- a work by the widely admired Australian themed paintings expand on the grand poet, dating to around 1867. The poem’s pioneering narrative to focus in on the opening stanza reads: labouring activities that were essential to settling the land. Geelong Gallery T +61 3 5229 3645 55 Little Malop Street [email protected] Geelong VIC 3220 Australia geelonggallery.org.au Page 1 of 2 Media Contact Media Miranda Brown T 0491 743 610 Release E [email protected] The inclusion of Tom Roberts’ The artist Lisa Sullivan camp (1886, National Gallery of Victoria) Senior Curator presents McCubbin himself as subject: ‘From iconic nationalistic statements he and fellow artist Louis Abrahams were the and intimate compositions that models for this key work that reinforces draw the viewer into the dense bush the importance of the bush to this group of setting, to later works in which the artists as a site of creativity and immersion subject becomes as much the dappled (Abrahams is also the younger male subject light effects within the bush as the in A bush burial, and the model for Down landscape itself, Frederick McCubbin— on his luck). These friendship and familial Whisperings in wattle boughs presents threads also extend to locations of personal a tightly focused thematic exploration significance for McCubbin that feature in of the Australian bush as a key subject his paintings including the Box Hill region in the artist’s oeuvre, through paintings (the setting for works such as Lost and spanning almost three decades.’ Down on his luck) and the family property Fontainebleau near Mount Macedon Exhibition entry fees (purchased in 1901) where The pioneer was set, along with later works such as Adult $16 | Concession $12 | Member $10 Afterglow (Summer evening) (1912, National Child $7 | Groups over 10 $14 Gallery of Australia). The latter work is an Companion card holder & Children under 5 free | Family $40 Frederick McCubbin example of another of the exhibition’s Lost 1886 sub-themes: that of the bush idyll, or the Senior’s discount applies on oil on canvas Tuesdays only $12 National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne bush as a setting for creativity, inspiration Felton Bequest, 1940 and relaxation. Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Dual entry to McCubbin & Archie 100— see website for details Jason Smith Director and CEO ‘The exhibition follows on from two of Exhume the grave— our recent Geelong-curated scholarly McCubbin and contemporary art and highly successful ticketed 14 August to 28 November exhibitions Land of the Golden Fleece— Arthur Streeton in the Western Districts Drawing largely from the Gallery’s and Fred Williams in the You Yangs. The collection, the complementary exhibition celebrates a picture in the exhibition Exhume the grave—McCubbin collection that has become a nationally and contemporary art brings together beloved icon by one of Australia’s most works by artists who have—since the important and popular historical artists’. early 1980s—responded to McCubbin’s key paintings. Juan Davila and Jill Orr to A bush burial, Polixeni Papapetrou to Lost, Robert Hague to Down on his luck, and Anne Zahalka to The pioneer. Free entry Frederick McCubbin—Whisperings in wattle boughs Exhibition partners Dimmick Charitable Trust Indemnification for the exhibition is provided by the Victorian Government Catalogue partner Learn program partner Geelong Gallery T +61 3 5229 3645 55 Little Malop Street [email protected] Geelong VIC 3220 Australia geelonggallery.org.au Page 2 of 2.