Sydney
LONG
Australia
1871
–
London
1955
England, Europe 1910-21; Australia 1921- 22; England 1922-25; Australia 1925-52; England from 1952
30.0 (h) x 24.9 (w) cm
1/60 , published state , edition of 60 , no manufacturer's mark
Signed lower right below plate-mark in black pencil, 'Sydney Long'. Titled lower centre below plate-mark in black pencil, 'Rose Bay 1908.' Inscribed with edition details lower left below plate-mark in black pencil, '1/60'.
Reference: Mendelssohn (1979), 77; Paul (1928), 67 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra NGA 1977.9.85 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.
This picturesque scene presents a nostalgic vision of eastern Sydney. It was based on a painting shown in the ‘Society of Artists exhibition’ 1909 (213). From the left, a post-and-rail fence runs down the crest of a hill as Holstein-Friesian dairy cows graze in the shade of large, leaning trees that frame the tableaux.
The etching depicts the harbourside suburb of Rose Bay before the region was consumed by urban sprawl in the 1920s. In 1908 Rose Bay was a sparsely developed landscape with golf courses and parklands, while Chinese market gardeners took up leases in the low-lying areas.
A copy of this print was first shown in 1927 at the ‘Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Australian Painter–Etchers’ Society’, Sydney, 30 May – 18 June (27). The day after the exhibition’s opening a critic declared, ‘Mr Long’s breadth of style, forcefulness, and brilliant technique’ is exemplified in his Rose Bay 1909 (SMH, 31 May 1927). The following year a critic exclaimed, ‘“Rose Bay, 1910” will provoke interest because of the changes since brought about in that part of Sydney’ (SMH, 12 December 1928). The discrepancy in the date appearing in the title of the work in these accounts is interesting given that the National Gallery of Australia’s version is inscribed, ‘Rose Bay 1908’, while the Art Gallery of New South Wales’s version, printed in brown ink, is inscribed ‘Rose Bay 1909’.
Emma Kindred
This picturesque scene presents a nostalgic vision of eastern Sydney. It was based on a painting shown in the ‘Society of Artists exhibition’ 1909 (213). From the left, a post-and-rail fence runs down the crest of a hill as Holstein-Friesian dairy cows graze in the shade of large, leaning trees that frame the tableaux.
The etching depicts the harbourside suburb of Rose Bay before the region was consumed by urban sprawl in the 1920s. In 1908 Rose Bay was a sparsely developed landscape with golf courses and parklands, while Chinese market gardeners took up leases in the low-lying areas.
A copy of this print was first shown in 1927 at the ‘Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Australian Painter–Etchers’ Society’, Sydney, 30 May – 18 June (27). The day after the exhibition’s opening a critic declared, ‘Mr Long’s breadth of style, forcefulness, and brilliant technique’ is exemplified in his Rose Bay 1909 (SMH, 31 May 1927). The following year a critic exclaimed, ‘“Rose Bay, 1910” will provoke interest because of the changes since brought about in that part of Sydney’ (SMH, 12 December 1928). The discrepancy in the date appearing in the title of the work in these accounts is interesting given that the National Gallery of Australia’s version is inscribed, ‘Rose Bay 1908’, while the Art Gallery of New South Wales’s version, printed in brown ink, is inscribed ‘Rose Bay 1909’.
Emma Kindred
This picturesque scene presents a nostalgic vision of eastern Sydney. It was based on a painting shown in the ‘Society of Artists exhibition’ 1909 (213). From the left, a post-and-rail fence runs down the crest of a hill as Holstein-Friesian dairy cows graze in the shade of large, leaning trees that frame the tableaux.
The etching depicts the harbourside suburb of Rose Bay before the region was consumed by urban sprawl in the 1920s. In 1908 Rose Bay was a sparsely developed landscape with golf courses and parklands, while Chinese market gardeners took up leases in the low-lying areas.
A copy of this print was first shown in 1927 at the ‘Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Australian Painter–Etchers’ Society’, Sydney, 30 May – 18 June (27). The day after the exhibition’s opening a critic declared, ‘Mr Long’s breadth of style, forcefulness, and brilliant technique’ is exemplified in his Rose Bay 1909 (SMH, 31 May 1927). The following year a critic exclaimed, ‘“Rose Bay, 1910” will provoke interest because of the changes since brought about in that part of Sydney’ (SMH, 12 December 1928). The discrepancy in the date appearing in the title of the work in these accounts is interesting given that the National Gallery of Australia’s version is inscribed, ‘Rose Bay 1908’, while the Art Gallery of New South Wales’s version, printed in brown ink, is inscribed ‘Rose Bay 1909’.
Emma Kindred
