If Heidelberg and Box Hill were the rural destinations for Melbourne’s plein air painters in the late 19th century, Richmond, in the Hawkesbury River valley, was a favoured locale of their Sydney counterparts. About 65 kilometres north-west of the city, Richmond was easily accessible by train and had been a popular painting spot since the early 1880s, offering a landscape rich in subject matter and seasonal colour from ‘her spring attire of pink and green [to] … the more sombre robes of early autumn’ (D.H. Souter, ‘From a painter’s point of view’, Australian Magazine, 30 March 1899). Perhaps introduced to the area by his teacher, Julian Ashton, or by artist friends, Long certainly took part in painting camps there during the mid 1890s, producing works including The river (cat 7)and The valley (cat 10).

The allure of this landscape remained strong as, more than three decades later, Long returned and made it the subject of a number of paintings, including The Hawkesbury at Wisemans Ferry 1925–26. Located further along the Hawkesbury from Richmond, this is a river crossing where a ferry service has operated since the 1820s. In this view from the southern hillside, looking down towards the road to the ferry, the foreground is in dark shadow and opens into a light-filled view of a bend in the majestic river with low-lying hills beyond. The colour is low-key, subtle mauves, blues and greens in the distance, and dark greens and browns in the foreground, enlivened by occasional touches of lime green and yellow. But the most obvious feature of this work is the paint itself, which is applied in thick daubs with prominent brushstrokes. A feature that gives emphasis to the overall design of the composition, it was criticised by Arthur Streeton who, in his review of Long’s 1931 Melbourne exhibition wrote: ‘Mr Long’s …foregrounds … need some closer and more prolonged study … so that one might forget the paint and brush strokes’ (Argus, 13 October 1931).

This painting was previously dated 1930, but has been re-dated on the basis of a reproduction of it in the Sydney Mail on 11 October 1926, at the time it was displayed in Long’s exhibition at the Australian Fine Art Gallery, Sydney.

Kirsty Grant

If Heidelberg and Box Hill were the rural destinations for Melbourne’s plein air painters in the late 19th century, Richmond, in the Hawkesbury River valley, was a favoured locale of their Sydney counterparts. About 65 kilometres north-west of the city, Richmond was easily accessible by train and had been a popular painting spot since the early 1880s, offering a landscape rich in subject matter and seasonal colour from ‘her spring attire of pink and green [to] … the more sombre robes of early autumn’ (D.H. Souter, ‘From a painter’s point of view’, Australian Magazine, 30 March 1899). Perhaps introduced to the area by his teacher, Julian Ashton, or by artist friends, Long certainly took part in painting camps there during the mid 1890s, producing works including The river (cat 7)and The valley (cat 10).

The allure of this landscape remained strong as, more than three decades later, Long returned and made it the subject of a number of paintings, including The Hawkesbury at Wisemans Ferry 1925–26. Located further along the Hawkesbury from Richmond, this is a river crossing where a ferry service has operated since the 1820s. In this view from the southern hillside, looking down towards the road to the ferry, the foreground is in dark shadow and opens into a light-filled view of a bend in the majestic river with low-lying hills beyond. The colour is low-key, subtle mauves, blues and greens in the distance, and dark greens and browns in the foreground, enlivened by occasional touches of lime green and yellow. But the most obvious feature of this work is the paint itself, which is applied in thick daubs with prominent brushstrokes. A feature that gives emphasis to the overall design of the composition, it was criticised by Arthur Streeton who, in his review of Long’s 1931 Melbourne exhibition wrote: ‘Mr Long’s …foregrounds … need some closer and more prolonged study … so that one might forget the paint and brush strokes’ (Argus, 13 October 1931).

This painting was previously dated 1930, but has been re-dated on the basis of a reproduction of it in the Sydney Mail on 11 October 1926, at the time it was displayed in Long’s exhibition at the Australian Fine Art Gallery, Sydney.

Kirsty Grant