Hans HEYSEN<br/>
<em>Guardian of the Brachina Gorge</em> 1937 <!-- (recto) --><br />

watercolour over charcoal on paper on cardboard<br />
48.7 x 63.5 cm (image and sheet) 50.5 x 65.3 cm (support)<br />
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br />
Felton Bequest, 1937<br />
419-4<br />
© Hans Heysen Estate/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
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Luminous

Australian Watercolours 1900–2000

Free entry

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square

Level 3

7 May 16 – 21 Aug 16

Luminous is the first exhibition in twenty-five years to feature the National Gallery of Victoria’s outstanding collection of watercolours and gouaches. The exhibition showcases the extraordinary diversity of the medium, with works by fifty artists including Hans Heysen, Albert Namatjira, Joy Hester, Fred Williams and John Brack. The radiant colour and transparent washes of Heysen’s watercolours capture the light and atmosphere of the Australian landscape, and works by modernists Frank Hinder and Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack represent the beauty and rhythm of life in abstract compositions. Also on display are watercolours from the mid-century, when young artists experimented with the medium, mixing it with gouache and other media to create powerful effects in images that reflect the tension and trauma of the war years. The exhibition features abstract compositions by Tony Tuckson, Gunther Christmann and Robert Jacks, portraits and still lives, as well as works by contemporary artists such as Juan Davila, Jon Cattapan and Ricky Swallow.

Program Highlights
A range of public programs including talks and conversations led by curators, artists and art historians provides audiences with unique insights into Australian watercolours.

Exhibition labels

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Select Works

Hans HEYSEN
Guardian of the Brachina Gorge 1937
watercolour over charcoal on paper on cardboard
48.7 x 63.5 cm (image and sheet) 50.5 x 65.3 cm (support)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1937
419-4
© Hans Heysen Estate/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Frank HINDER
Banksia 1938
gouache and tempera over pencil
39.3 x 24.0 cm (image) 43.4 x 28.0 cm (sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
The Warren Clark Bequest, 2013
2013.557
© Enid Hawkins, daughter of the artist
William Blamire YOUNG
When the horse teams came to Walhalla (1910)
watercolour over pencil
51.1 x 67.7 cm (comp.) 51.1 x 68.0 cm irreg. (image and sheet) 55.5 x 75.6 cm irreg. (support)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Sir Harry Wunderly, 1971
A6-1971
Thea PROCTOR
The swing (c. 1923)
watercolour on silk
24.1 x 48.5 cm irreg. (image) 34.7 x 55.9 cm irreg. (sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1924
1332-3
© Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Albert Namatjira
Ghost Gum, MacDonnell Ranges, Central Australia (c. 1945)
watercolour over pencil
37.0 x 25.3 cm (image) 38.2 x 26.6 cm (sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria in memory of Emmanuel and Kamilla Mandl by Mrs Lisl Singer, Member, 1999
1999.196
© Namatjira Legacy Trust/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Joy HESTER
Man and woman in bed (c. 1952-1955)
brush and ink, ink wash and pastel
55.6 x 76.2 cm (sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1976
P123-1976
© Joy Hester Estate/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Ian FAIRWEATHER
Bike 1950
gouache and brush and brown ink
68.2 x 56.9 cm (image and sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Pollie Pyke, 1994
P95-1994
© Ian Fairweather/DACS, London. Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Kenneth MacQUEEN
Lagoon by the sea (c. 1950)
watercolour over pencil on paper on cardboard
38.3 x 48.0 cm (image and sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1951
2911-4
© The Estate of Kenneth MacQueen
Henry SALKAUSKAS
Harbour 3 1964
watercolour, pastel and charcoal
44.0 x 57.6 cm irreg. (image and sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1964
1417-5
© Courtesy of the artist's estate
Gunter CHRISTMANN
(Untitled) (Blue and gold spatter) 1974
watercolour
50.4 x 35.4 cm (comp.) 65.6 x 50.0 cm irreg. (sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of the artist, 1996
1996.622
© Estate of Gunter Christmann, courtesy Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
John BRACK
Beginning 1984
watercolour and pen and black and brown ink
88.7 x 72.9 cm (image) 96.2 x 76.8 cm irreg. (sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1986
P11-1986
© Helen Brack
Donald FRIEND
Autumn still life 1984
watercolour
56.3 x 77.6 cm (image and sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Ralph Ward-Ambler AM and Barbara Ward-Ambler through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2010
2010.496
© Donald Friend/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Fiona McMONAGLE
Untitled (2001)
watercolour and gouache over pink pencil
54.1 x 64.6 cm (image) 55.0 x 73.3 cm (sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through the NGV Foundation with the assistance of the Joan Clemenger Endowment, Governor, 2003
DC4-2003
© Fiona McMonagle
John RUSSELL
Paraggio 1912
watercolour over pencil
28.5 x 39.5 cm (image and sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with the assistance of a special grant from the Government of Victoria, 1979
A68-1980
Fred WILLIAMS
Horseman in the landscape (1967)
gouache
57.0 x 76.8 cm (image and sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H. J. Heinz II Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980
AC4-1980
© Estate of Fred Williams
Albert TUCKER
(Self-portrait) 1945
charcoal, brush and ink and wash
20.2 x 29.2 cm (image and sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1980
P3-1980
© Albert & Barbara Tucker Foundation. Courtesy of Smith & Singer Fine Art
Juan DAVILA
Buckley's return 1999
watercolour, brush and ink, gouache, coloured wax crayon, pencil, chalk, synthetic polymer paint and red wool
149.9 x 114.6 cm (image and sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1999
1999.350
Ludwig HIRSCHFELD MACK
Story of a shell 1941
watercolour over pencil

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Mrs Olive Hirschfeld, 1971
P75-1971
© Courtesy of the artist's estate