Fred WILLIAMS
Australia 1927 – Australia 1982
England 1951-56

Circle landscape 1965-66
oil on canvas
not signed
152.4 (h) x 134.6 (w) cm
Private collection
© estate of Fred Williams

There is an intricate geometry at work in Circle landscape. The shape of the off-square canvas is carefully considered in relation to the circle and diagonal, along with delicate horizontal and vertical lines within the landscape. In this work Williams combined this precision with an immensely subtle response to his surroundings. The image is based on a hill he had seen one evening coming up from Ferntree Gully to Upwey.

It is as though we are looking at the landscape through a window and it is perhaps not surprising that the inspiration for the circle came, in part, from rose windows he had seen in the great cathedrals during his travels in England and Europe.