Fred WILLIAMS
Australia 1927 – Australia 1982
England 1951-56

Sapling forest 1961
oil and tempera on composition board
signed l.c.: 'Fred Williams'.
150.8 (h) x 118.2 (w) cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Purchased 1977
© estate of Fred Williams

Sapling forest is a glowing, elemental painting inspired by young growth in Sherbrooke Forest in the Dandenong Ranges. The saplings are summarised in fine black vertical lines. The line that stretches from top to bottom anchors the work while the golden hue and floating marks imbue the painting with a transcendent feeling.

Sapling forest demonstrates Williams’s continuing distillation of the landscape to essential elements and reveals his growing mastery as a painter.