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Lot Essay
"Italy! First seen in 1924 and an abiding influence in my life ever since... Two lasting impressions remain - one of the living nature of its history, particularly the arts, and the other of the importance of the artist in the fabric of Italian life and thought." (Lloyd Rees, Small Treasures of a Lifetime, Sydney, 1988, p.164)
From his first visit to Italy in 1924 and on every subsequent occasion, Lloyd Rees delighted in painting an ancient landscape with buildings that had been in existence for hundreds of years before Europeans thought of the southern continent where he lived. His enthusiasm for Italy and its architecture, both humble and grand, inspired many paintings, which were frequently based on the sketches he made during visits.
The landscape of Tuscany in particular, with Florence as its centre, set in rolling hills, dotted with ancient buildings, churches and villages, surrounded with olive groves, exemplifies the idea of a landscape cultivated for centuries. The buildings are a reminder of both ancient and Renaissance achievement. It is this landscape and these buildings that Rees honours in this painting.
Tuscany depicts no specific place but is rather a conglomerate of images drawn from his experience and his love of the Tuscan landscape and ITalian architecture. In the hilly landscape he depicts a hilltop town on the horizon, Roman aqueducts zig-zagging through olive groves, and in the foreground several ancient buildings, the most impressive a chapel topped with a domed cupola. The scene is suffused with the soft white light of the Mediterranean which has so delighted artists.
Tuscany is dated 1957, 1963 and 1972 which documents and reflects Rees' habit of working on paintings over a long period. Each year is an important one in the artist's development. In 1957 Rees developed a freer, looser method of painting, less restricted by an attempt to document a scene and more abstract in its intent. This can be seen in this 'ideal' view where the artist has made use of landscape and architectural motifs to build up a complicated composition. After a significant exhibition in Adelaide in 1962 Rees begins a period of almost wild expressionist painting, making frequent use of the palette knife but also his fingers, to apply paint that creates an extraordinarily rich scumbled effect that unifies the surface of the painting. In 1972, the year in which this painting was finished, Rees' life and work were the subject of a monograph by Renée Free. This significant book was one of the first published in the twentieth century to document a living Australian artist, and drew attention to the sophistication of Rees' work and his importance in the history of Australian art.
We are grateful to John McPhee for providing this catalogue entry.
From his first visit to Italy in 1924 and on every subsequent occasion, Lloyd Rees delighted in painting an ancient landscape with buildings that had been in existence for hundreds of years before Europeans thought of the southern continent where he lived. His enthusiasm for Italy and its architecture, both humble and grand, inspired many paintings, which were frequently based on the sketches he made during visits.
The landscape of Tuscany in particular, with Florence as its centre, set in rolling hills, dotted with ancient buildings, churches and villages, surrounded with olive groves, exemplifies the idea of a landscape cultivated for centuries. The buildings are a reminder of both ancient and Renaissance achievement. It is this landscape and these buildings that Rees honours in this painting.
Tuscany depicts no specific place but is rather a conglomerate of images drawn from his experience and his love of the Tuscan landscape and ITalian architecture. In the hilly landscape he depicts a hilltop town on the horizon, Roman aqueducts zig-zagging through olive groves, and in the foreground several ancient buildings, the most impressive a chapel topped with a domed cupola. The scene is suffused with the soft white light of the Mediterranean which has so delighted artists.
Tuscany is dated 1957, 1963 and 1972 which documents and reflects Rees' habit of working on paintings over a long period. Each year is an important one in the artist's development. In 1957 Rees developed a freer, looser method of painting, less restricted by an attempt to document a scene and more abstract in its intent. This can be seen in this 'ideal' view where the artist has made use of landscape and architectural motifs to build up a complicated composition. After a significant exhibition in Adelaide in 1962 Rees begins a period of almost wild expressionist painting, making frequent use of the palette knife but also his fingers, to apply paint that creates an extraordinarily rich scumbled effect that unifies the surface of the painting. In 1972, the year in which this painting was finished, Rees' life and work were the subject of a monograph by Renée Free. This significant book was one of the first published in the twentieth century to document a living Australian artist, and drew attention to the sophistication of Rees' work and his importance in the history of Australian art.
We are grateful to John McPhee for providing this catalogue entry.