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 32.0 (w) cm
undesignated impression , published state? , edition unkown? , no manufacturer's mark
No inscriptions.
Reference: Mendelssohn (1979), 67; Paul (1928), 77 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra NGA 1986.1285 Gift of T.S. Paul in memory of Dorothy Ellsmore Paul 1986 Reproduced with the kind permission of the Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia
- Collection of the artist and cataloguer of Sydney Long's etchings, Dorothy Ellsmore Paul. Gift of her nephew T S Paul to the NGA, 1986.
‘In the Bridge Avoca Long’s sense of line is illustrated at its best. This sense of line is flowing and beautiful, and suggests colour and tone as well as purity of form. The sky appears high and blue and the trees slim and pale, after the manner of young gums in the coastal region. There is nothing cold or black and white in this etching, it vibrates with sun and wind and colour’ (Paul 1928, p 4).
Long completed a number of works taking the lake at Avoca as subject. Avoca is situated on the east coast of New South Wales, an hour’s drive north of Sydney. Residential development in the seaside suburb began during the first decades of the 20th century, and the area became a popular holiday retreat for wealthy residents of Sydney’s North Shore.
Formerly known as Bulbararing Lagoon, the lake was described by a 1938 tourist guide as a ‘veritable fairy land to those who have an eye for the mystic and beautiful’. The wooden bridge that reaches across the shimmering body of water creates a strong horizontal, which balances the verticality of the long-limbed trees. The viewer’s gaze is led out towards the opening at the right of the composition, revealing a path from this elegantly rendered ‘fairy land’ towards a sun-kissed horizon.
A copy of The bridge, Avoca was first exhibited in 1926 at the ‘Sixth annual exhibition of the Australian Painter–Etchers’ Society’, Sydney, June–July (42, as ‘The bridge’). It was reproduced in Art in Australia 3, 18 December 1926, plate 30. Copies, one in sepia ink and one in black ink, are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and a copy is held by the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
Emma Kindred
‘In the Bridge Avoca Long’s sense of line is illustrated at its best. This sense of line is flowing and beautiful, and suggests colour and tone as well as purity of form. The sky appears high and blue and the trees slim and pale, after the manner of young gums in the coastal region. There is nothing cold or black and white in this etching, it vibrates with sun and wind and colour’ (Paul 1928, p 4).
Long completed a number of works taking the lake at Avoca as subject. Avoca is situated on the east coast of New South Wales, an hour’s drive north of Sydney. Residential development in the seaside suburb began during the first decades of the 20th century, and the area became a popular holiday retreat for wealthy residents of Sydney’s North Shore.
Formerly known as Bulbararing Lagoon, the lake was described by a 1938 tourist guide as a ‘veritable fairy land to those who have an eye for the mystic and beautiful’. The wooden bridge that reaches across the shimmering body of water creates a strong horizontal, which balances the verticality of the long-limbed trees. The viewer’s gaze is led out towards the opening at the right of the composition, revealing a path from this elegantly rendered ‘fairy land’ towards a sun-kissed horizon.
A copy of The bridge, Avoca was first exhibited in 1926 at the ‘Sixth annual exhibition of the Australian Painter–Etchers’ Society’, Sydney, June–July (42, as ‘The bridge’). It was reproduced in Art in Australia 3, 18 December 1926, plate 30. Copies, one in sepia ink and one in black ink, are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and a copy is held by the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
Emma Kindred
‘In the Bridge Avoca Long’s sense of line is illustrated at its best. This sense of line is flowing and beautiful, and suggests colour and tone as well as purity of form. The sky appears high and blue and the trees slim and pale, after the manner of young gums in the coastal region. There is nothing cold or black and white in this etching, it vibrates with sun and wind and colour’ (Paul 1928, p 4).
Long completed a number of works taking the lake at Avoca as subject. Avoca is situated on the east coast of New South Wales, an hour’s drive north of Sydney. Residential development in the seaside suburb began during the first decades of the 20th century, and the area became a popular holiday retreat for wealthy residents of Sydney’s North Shore.
Formerly known as Bulbararing Lagoon, the lake was described by a 1938 tourist guide as a ‘veritable fairy land to those who have an eye for the mystic and beautiful’. The wooden bridge that reaches across the shimmering body of water creates a strong horizontal, which balances the verticality of the long-limbed trees. The viewer’s gaze is led out towards the opening at the right of the composition, revealing a path from this elegantly rendered ‘fairy land’ towards a sun-kissed horizon.
A copy of The bridge, Avoca was first exhibited in 1926 at the ‘Sixth annual exhibition of the Australian Painter–Etchers’ Society’, Sydney, June–July (42, as ‘The bridge’). It was reproduced in Art in Australia 3, 18 December 1926, plate 30. Copies, one in sepia ink and one in black ink, are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and a copy is held by the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
Emma Kindred
