Fred Williams

For Fred Williams, etchings were an integral part of the evolution of his paintings. Frequently the subject of a painting was resolved in an etching, often passing through numerous etched states. Some paintings were executed years after the completion of the prints. While etching was a continuous preoccupation, Williams had not made any lithographs since one for the Art Gallery Society of Victoria, commissioned in 1963 and printed by Janet Dawson at the Gallery A Print Workshop, and another commissioned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1975.

Williams selected Druckma Press for his return to lithography.The press was established in 1977 by John Robinson, George Baldessin and Les Kossatz - and named after their old German lithographic press.

Unlike previous printmaking excursions, the Lithographs 1976-78 are based directly on current paintings. Completed by April 1978, the 12 lithographs contain images of the Werribee Gorge and Waterfall series of paintings. Williams had now begun to paint in the studio immediately upon his return from outdoor sketching expeditions. The immediacy of this is reflected in rapid lines, darting dots and marks.

Williams did not have to rework the images to achieve their desired state; the essence of the paintings was directly and surely transposed onto the plates. The influence of Chinese and Japanese art, apparent in his 1963 lithograph, permeates this portfolio.  
Wild Dog Creek I
from Lithographs 1976-1978
1977-1978 Druckma Press, Melbourne
lithograph on paper

Gift of Rudy Komon 1979