Sydney
LONG
Australia
1871
–
London
1955
England, Europe 1910-21; Australia 1921- 22; England 1922-25; Australia 1925-52; England from 1952
25.0 (h) x 35.4 (w) cm
7/60 , published state , edition of 60 , watermark centre, 'VAN GELDER ZONEN [runs vertically]'
Signed lower right below plate-mark in black pencil, 'Sydney Long'. Not dated. Titled lower centre below plate-mark in black pencil, '.The Lake Avoca.' Inscribed with edition details lower left below plate-mark in black pencil, '7/60'. Inscribed lower left of sheet in black pencil, 'Price £3.3.0'.
Reference: Mendelssohn (1979), 70 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra NGA 1977.9.72 The Stephen Collection, purchased 1976. Reproduced with the kind permission of the Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia
- J.W.F. Stephen, who formed a definitive collection of the etched work of Sydney Long. J.A.C. Stephen, the artist’s son, by descent. Purchased by the Australian National Gallery, from J.A.C. Stephen, Sydney, 1977.
Across the silken shoreline of Avoca Lake, an intimate scene settles upon a wooden boathouse nestled behind the calligraphic curve of windswept trees. A ramp angles down towards the shore where two small wooden boats await the pleasures of a lake voyage. Without verbosity, an approving critic writing for Adelaide’s Register on 23 June 1927 described the ‘treatment of the trees and sky in “The Lake, Avoca”’ as ‘fine’. The landscape of the region certainly resonated with the artist, who used this etching for his Christmas card in 1935.
In response to Long’s oil painting The lake, Avoca, the poet W.H. Honey wrote in 1934, ‘A pool of azure blue – serene, festooned/ Along the sides with gently waving trees;/
A sylvan lake of beauty rare lay there’.
The picturesque Brisbane Waters inspired a number of artists, including Elioth Gruner, who travelled north of Sydney by train to Gosford Station before making their way to nearby destinations such as Avoca, Terrigal, The Entrance and Tuggerah Lakes.
A copy of the etching was first exhibited in 1926 at the ‘Sixth annual exhibition of the Australian Painter–Etchers’ Society’, Sydney, June–July (41) and in 1927 at the Royal Academy (1156, ‘The lake’). It was reproduced in Art in Australia, 18 December 1926, plate 31. Two copies of the print are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and a copies are held by the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
Emma Kindred
Across the silken shoreline of Avoca Lake, an intimate scene settles upon a wooden boathouse nestled behind the calligraphic curve of windswept trees. A ramp angles down towards the shore where two small wooden boats await the pleasures of a lake voyage. Without verbosity, an approving critic writing for Adelaide’s Register on 23 June 1927 described the ‘treatment of the trees and sky in “The Lake, Avoca”’ as ‘fine’. The landscape of the region certainly resonated with the artist, who used this etching for his Christmas card in 1935.
In response to Long’s oil painting The lake, Avoca, the poet W.H. Honey wrote in 1934, ‘A pool of azure blue – serene, festooned/ Along the sides with gently waving trees;/
A sylvan lake of beauty rare lay there’.
The picturesque Brisbane Waters inspired a number of artists, including Elioth Gruner, who travelled north of Sydney by train to Gosford Station before making their way to nearby destinations such as Avoca, Terrigal, The Entrance and Tuggerah Lakes.
A copy of the etching was first exhibited in 1926 at the ‘Sixth annual exhibition of the Australian Painter–Etchers’ Society’, Sydney, June–July (41) and in 1927 at the Royal Academy (1156, ‘The lake’). It was reproduced in Art in Australia, 18 December 1926, plate 31. Two copies of the print are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and a copies are held by the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
Emma Kindred
Across the silken shoreline of Avoca Lake, an intimate scene settles upon a wooden boathouse nestled behind the calligraphic curve of windswept trees. A ramp angles down towards the shore where two small wooden boats await the pleasures of a lake voyage. Without verbosity, an approving critic writing for Adelaide’s Register on 23 June 1927 described the ‘treatment of the trees and sky in “The Lake, Avoca”’ as ‘fine’. The landscape of the region certainly resonated with the artist, who used this etching for his Christmas card in 1935.
In response to Long’s oil painting The lake, Avoca, the poet W.H. Honey wrote in 1934, ‘A pool of azure blue – serene, festooned/ Along the sides with gently waving trees;/
A sylvan lake of beauty rare lay there’.
The picturesque Brisbane Waters inspired a number of artists, including Elioth Gruner, who travelled north of Sydney by train to Gosford Station before making their way to nearby destinations such as Avoca, Terrigal, The Entrance and Tuggerah Lakes.
A copy of the etching was first exhibited in 1926 at the ‘Sixth annual exhibition of the Australian Painter–Etchers’ Society’, Sydney, June–July (41) and in 1927 at the Royal Academy (1156, ‘The lake’). It was reproduced in Art in Australia, 18 December 1926, plate 31. Two copies of the print are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and a copies are held by the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
Emma Kindred
