BEFORE-and-after images
of a painting by Frederick McCubbin reveal a fertile land turning to dust, like
the dreams of generations of Australian farmers.
The finished painting, called
The North Wind, shows a rural family with a horse and carriage on the
move — possibly to escape a drought — and enduring a hot, dusty wind.But X-ray analysis by the National Gallery of Victoria’s conservation department shows McCubbin originally painted a more pleasant, inviting scene.
The underpainting reveals distant hills on the landscape. And instead of a mother and infant in the carriage there is a farmer, possibly with a load of some sort of produce.
The changes of composition suggest McCubbin was thinking about the Aussie battler on the land, a theme he would famously develop in more sombre pictures such as The Pioneer,below.
“It may have been a more lush, prosperous landscape, perhaps with a farmer taking goods to market,” said Michael Varcoe-Cocks, the head of conservation at the NGV.
“It shows us a moment in McCubbin’s career where he is thinking about the Australian spirit, but also through the eyes of the impressionist moment.”
The North Wind is being cleaned and repaired in a conservation project that has also raised questions about McCubbin’s signature on it.
The painting had been cropped down from its original size, and the signature and date — 1891 — appear to have been added later, possibly by McCubbin’s son Louis.
A more accurate date for the painting, Varcoe-Cocks said, would be 1888-89, in keeping with McCubbin’s style at the time. The centenary of European settlement was also a year of significant drought.
Varcoe-Cocks and conservator Raye Collins are removing discoloured varnish to restore the picture’s high-key impressionist colours, and repairing earlier restorations.
The work is supported by the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Art Conservation Project.
“It’s like looking through a veil of time,” Varcoe-Cocks said, adding that about a quarter of the picture had been cleaned. “The discolouration of dirt and varnish is like a filter that affects the colours below. We want to remove those layers and show it in a fair way. You can see it’s going to be a dramatic change.”
The North Wind was bought by the Felton Bequest in 1941 — on the recommendation of Keith Murdoch, then the president of the NGV Trustees.
Work is due to be completed by the end of the year, when The North Wind will go on display.
Picture: Stuart McEvoy
By MATTHEW WESTWOOD
With thanks to The Australia (Pay Wall)
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