FRED WILLIAMS
Late Etchings 1970 – 1976
24 September – 12 October 2024
FRED WILLIAMS
Late Etchings 1970 – 1976
Opening Night
Tuesday 24 September 20 24 6pm – 8pm
28 Derby Street Collingwood VIC 3066
Exhibition Dates
Tuesday 24 September – Saturday 12 October 2024
Open 7 days 10am – 6pm T 03 9417 2422
melbourne@australiangalleries.com.au australiangalleries.com.au
Front: Lysterfield I (state IV) JM259 1972 etching, foul-biting, polishing, engraving, aquatint, electric hand-engraving tool and roulette printed in brown 45.5 x 35 cm edition 16
Left: Print room, Hawthorn 1982
Photography: Fiona McDougall
Canberra triptych, Lysterfield (state II) JM250 1970
drypoint, electric hand-engraving tool, rough bite or flat bite and polisher in sepia
20.3 x 54 cm
Fred Williams: Later Etchings 1970 – 1976
Fred Williams was a hinge on which the discipline of modern etching in Australia has swung. Many local artists made etchings before him. But, after he immersed himself in printmaking, creative attitudes were changed. What artists in this country now valued as they crafted an etching was different.
Williams was introduced to printmaking in 1950s London. The Australian painter was attending life drawing sessions at the Chelsea School of Art, and decided to sign on for a beginners’ etching class. He really took to the medium. Besides equipping him with techniques, through those sessions he came to understand, and more fully appreciate, Old Master prints encountered on his visits to private galleries and the British Museum. So when he looked at prints by Rembrandt, Segers or Goya, it was henceforth with a developing eye which now grasped—and savoured.
Williams aspired to improve his skill to an advanced level upon returning to Australia. The opportunity to do so arose in 1958 when the printmaking section of RMIT’s art school began allowing artists to use its facilities one evening each week. Williams seized this chance to edition the etched plates he had brought back from London, including some he had not previously been able to print.
Artists’ night was busy as people prepared, proofed, then editioned works. Some of them experimented, knowledge about different papers and ink blends was shared, experienced hands assisted newcomers. Williams was soon a veritable fixture there as he set about translating his evolving landscape compositions into prints. From 1960 he also began going into RMIT on Fridays, when art students were few and no classes scheduled. He was now utterly absorbed in the metier of etching, indeed, the master printmaker Grahame King once told me how on some afternoons Williams had the room to himself as he patiently worked until closing.
Fred Williams had an aptitude for what is a demanding medium. Finding a fulfilment in the methodical process, he loved crafting an etching. This is probably why—unlike most painters—he did not pass his finished plates over to a technician to run off a full edition. Instead, he preferred to print each individual impression himself. The results are telling. If the paintings are rich, his etchings are positively
spicy. Gazing into a Williams print, absorbing it, is such a sensual experience. His handwork is ever present.
A turning occurred with the publication of Fred Williams: Etchings during 1968, a catalogue of his prints to date. Written by the rising curator James Mollison, the profusely illustrated book both confirmed the artist’s ranking as master printmaker, and shaped awareness of what might be achieved within etching. It was a catalyst for the outbreak in printmaking that occurred in this country over the 1970s, with Williams the innovator often looked to for inspiration.
The release of that handsome book coincided with a shift in Fred Williams’s prints. Important commissions for his paintings meant time for graphic work became limited, even though he now had an etching press in his studio. Williams produced fewer prints; then again, they were larger, more generous visual statements which set the enduring benchmark in quality and inventiveness.
The current selection surveys these authoritative later etchings. In technical terms, Williams had made small etched copies of linear drawings when he took up printmaking in London. His inked lines then were neat and tight, and he kept paper clean and white. But we see in these later etchings the proficiency and amplitude of a skilled master, how the artist crafted each new work much as expert painters handle oil pigment. There is eloquence to the creative decisions seen here. With a range of procedures from drypoint through to foul biting, he attended to the character of his inked lines. They now varied from slight to emphatic, fine to strong. Its not so much that trees and rocks are translated into points, dashes and little smoky blobs. There is a subtle music to this mark making. The very lines sing.
Likewise with aquatint Williams was devising quite tasty textures and granular effects, while in the 1970s he would use—rather sparingly—a roulette to add patterned tone. This is in contrast to his zones of dark tone, how he used high pressure upon the soft pulp of a thick paper to achieve passages of velvety blackness. At times Williams also subtly worked plate tone, giving a moody tinge to blank space. Even the grooved line left by an etching plate’s edge might be used as
a thin crusty framing device, introducing visual closure to a reductive minimalistlike design.
Thematically, these later etchings gather themselves into several loose groups. There are those signature planar landscapes which spring from encounters with rural country. It was the art historian Bernard Smith who wondered if what most stirs the viewer about a Williams landscape is the absence of people. There may be fugitive traces of human presence, usually via suggested fence lines, although there are no figures here. There is a point to this, because these are visual poems upon solitude. They convey the feelings of awe one experiences when confronted with the natural world, its stark immensity.
Another cluster of compositions uses organic motifs arranged evenly as vertical forms. They represent scorched ferns Williams had seen sprouting new fronds and regenerating amid the ashes after an intense bushfire, a subject he took to from the late 1960s.
And also found in this selection are his ongoing native forest scenes, which culminate in 1970s billabong imagery. Based on paintings of a Yarra billabong in suburban Kew, they mirrored a personal affection for thick bushland. But now this was infused with Williams’s environmental concerns, for Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway was under construction nearby and fuelled anxieties for these enduring pockets of precious bush. In these works Williams positively relishes the disorder of untamed nature, although sometimes secreted in the scene is a tiny discarded tyre or abandoned car to press an environmental point.
The later etchings gathered here are masterworks of rare wonder. This is graphic art at its strongest, a solitary transport, at moments, even food for the soul.
—Dr Christopher Heathcote, 2024
Left: Artists studio, Hawthorn 1980
Photography: Fiona McDougall
Yellow landscape JM276 1974 electric hand-engraving tool, drypoint and foul bite
x 45.2 cm
Regenerating fern (state I) JM251 1970 etching, flat bite, rough bite, engraving, electric hand-engraving tool 35.6 x 20.8 cm edition
Top: Regenerating ferns II (state III) JM253 1973 etching, drypoint and polishing 24 x 37 edition 18
Bottom: Regenerating ferns I (state II) JM252 1970
etching, foul bite, flat or rough bite and polisher 21.7 x 30.6 cm edition 15
Ferns I (state II) JM254 1971
aquatint, foul bite, flat or rough bite, engraving, electric hand-engraving tool, roulette and scraper
27.4 x 22.7 cm
Ferns II (state II) JM255 1971
aquatint, rough bite, etching, engraving, electric hand-engraving tool and roulette
27.6 x 22.3 cm
Ferns diptych I (state II) JM256 1971 aquatint, foul bite, rough bite, etching, engraving, roulette and electric hand-engraving tool
27.6 x 46.4 cm edition
Ferns diptych II (state II) JM256A 1971 etching, engraving, roulette, foul bite, aquatint, rough bite, and electric hand-engraving tool
27.6 x 46.5 cm edition
Silver and grey landscape (state III) JM257 1971 electric hand-engraving tool and roulette 20.3 x 25.8 cm edition 25
Plenty Gorge (state IV) JM273 1974
electric hand-engraving tool, roulette, engraving, drypoint and polisher 22.4 x 28.6 cm
Acacias I (state I) JM275 1974
etching, foul bite, flat bite, electric hand-engraving tool and polisher 27.6 x 22 cm
Acacias II (state I) JM274 1974
drypoint, etching, foul bite, flat bite, electric hand-engraving tool, burnisher and polisher
27.6 x 22 cm
Cottlesbridge, landscape with derelict car JM290 1975 engraving, electric hand-engraving tool, roulette and drypoint 25.1 x 25.1 cm
Cottlesbridge (state II) JM292 1975 electric hand-engraving tool, roulette, drypoint and rough bite 25.0 x 25.2 cm
Landscape symbols, Cottlesbridge (state II) JM289 1975
hand-engraving tool, roulette, drypoint, and polisher 24.8 x 24.8 cm
Road, Cottlesbridge (state II) JM286 1975
foul bite, electric hand-engraving tool, engraving, mezzotint rocker and roulette
x
Pond, Cottlesbridge (state II) JM288 1975
electric hand-engraving tool, roulette, polisher, rough bite and burnisher 24.8 x 24.5 cm
Yarra billabong, Kew II JM284 1975 aquatint, foul-biting, electric hand-engraving tool, roulette, burnisher, polisher and rough-biting 29 x 29 cm
Sapling, Kew billabong JM287 1975
electric hand-engraving tool, roulette, polisher, mezzotint rocker and rough bite
24.7 x 25.1 cm
Forest pond triptych (state II) JM293 1975
electric hand-engraving tool, roulette, mezzotint rocker and polisher 21.5 x 51.6 cm edition
Lysterfield III (state II) JM261 1972 etching, foul bite and rough bite 35.4 x 45.3 cm edition
II (state II) JM260 1972 etching, foul-biting, electric hand-engraving tool, roulette, engraving and polisher printed in black/brown 45.5 x 35.0 cm edition 20
Lysterfield
Lysterfield II (state II) JM260 1972 etching, foul-biting, electric hand-engraving tool roulette engraving and polisher printed in reddish brown 45.5 x 35 cm edition CP1/5
South Australian landscape (state I) JM271 1972 etching, foul-biting and rough-biting 30 x 43.4 cm edition 15
South Australian landscape (state III) JM271 1972-75
Landscape with goose (state III) JM272 1974
drypoint, roulette, electric hand-engraving tool, mezzotint rocker, scraper and flat bite
25.6 x 19.8 cm
FRED
WILLIAMS (1927 – 1982)
1927 Born, Melbourne
1943-47 Attended National Gallery Art School, Melbourne
1946-50 Attended George Bell Art School, Melbourne
1951-56 Moved to London, worked as framer and attended the Chelsea School of Art and Central Art School
1957 Returned to Australia
1961 Married Lyn Watson
1963 Moved to Upwey, VIC
1964 Travelled to Europe on Helena Rubinstein Scholarship
1969 Moved to Hawthorn, VIC
1972-74 Member, Commonwealth Art Advisory Board
1973-76 Member, Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council
1975-82 Trustee, Council of the National Gallery of Australia
1976 Awarded OBE
1980 Awarded Doctorate of Law, LL.D (Honoris causa) by Monash University
1982 Died, Melbourne
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024 ‘Late Etchings 1970 -1976’, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
2023 ‘Etchings with Related Paintings 1954 -1968’, Australian Galleries, Sydney
2022 ‘Etchings with Related Paintings 1954 -1968’, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
2021 ‘Fred Williams: Gouaches and Drawings from the Artist’s Estate’, Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane
‘The Ranges: Three Perspectives’, Burrinja Cultural Centre, Upwey, VIC
2020 ‘Fred Williams: Guthega’, Olsen Gallery, Sydney
2019 ‘Grand Country: Fred Williams in Gippsland’, Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale, VIC
2018 ‘Fred Williams’, Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane
‘Fred Williams: Weipa Series, Cape York’, Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns
2017 ‘Fred Williams in the You Yangs’, Geelong Gallery, Geelong, VIC
2016 ‘Fred Williams: The Australian Landscape’, Olsen Irwin, Sydney
2015 ‘Reducing Landscapes: Fred Williams & John Nixon’, Latrobe Regional Gallery, Morwell, VIC
Left: Print room, Hawthorn 1982 Photography: Fiona McDougall
Print room, Hawthorn 1982. Photography: Fiona McDougall
Print room work table, Hawthorn 1982. Photography: Fiona McDougall
2014
‘The Continuous Landscape of Distance: Fred Williams’ Bass Strait Paintings’, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston
2014 ‘Fred Williams: Landscape Themes of the Seventies’, Olsen Irwin, Sydney
2013-14
2012
2011
2010-12
‘Fred Williams: The Pilbara’, Benalla Art Gallery, Benalla, VIC
‘Fred Williams: Infinite Horizons’, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
‘Fred Williams: Infinite Horizons’, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
‘Fred Williams: Infinite Horizons’, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
‘Boundary Line’, TarraWarra Museum Of Art, Healesville, VIC
‘Out of Australia: Prints and Drawings from Sidney Nolan to Rover Thomas’, British Museum, London
‘Spirit in the Land’, McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park, Langwarrin, VIC, touring Australia
2010 ‘Fred Williams – Selected Etchings’, Rex Irwin Galleries, Sydney
2009 ‘Regeneration – After the Bushfires’, Rex Irwin Galleries, Sydney
2006 ‘Fred Williams: Paintings and Etchings’, Rex Irwin Galleries, Sydney
‘Olsen, Nolan, Williams, Drysdale’, Works from The Holmes à Court Collection, Holmes à Court Gallery, Perth
2004
2001
2000-01
2000
1999
‘Fred Williams: An Australian Vision’, The British Museum, London
‘Fred Williams: Drawing The Nude’, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
‘Fred Williams: Landscapes 1959-1981’, Monash University Faculty of Art & Design, Melbourne
‘From Music Hall to Landscape: Fred Williams Drawings and Prints’, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
‘The Enduring Landscape: Gouaches by Fred Williams from the National Gallery of Victoria’, Monash University, Melbourne
‘Fred Williams: Pilbara Series’, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne
‘Fred Williams: Drawing the Exotic’, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
1996 ‘Fred Williams: The Queensland Gouaches’, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Gold Coast, QLD, touring Queensland
1995 ‘Fred Williams: A Working Method’, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1994 ‘Fred Williams: Etching 1970-76 and the Guthega Paintings’, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne
1988 ‘Fred Williams: The Pilbara Series’, touring exhibition London, Ulster, Belfast, Kilkenny
1987-89
1983-84
1981-82
‘Fred Williams: A Retrospective’, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, touring Australia
‘Fred Williams: The Pilbara Series’, touring exhibition Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo
‘Fred Williams: Bass Strait Landscapes 1971-78’, touring exhibition Victoria, Tasmania
1981 ‘Fred Williams: Painter/Etcher’, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1980 ‘Fred Williams 1969-79’, Fischer Fine Art, London and Australian Embassy, Paris
1978 ‘Fred Williams: Paintings, Gouaches and Lithographs 1976-78’, touring exhibition Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide
1977-79 ‘Fred Williams: Paintings 1963-77’, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
1977 ‘Fred Williams: Landscapes of a Continent’, Museum of Modern Art, New York, touring exhibition Florida, Nebraska, Texas
1974-75 ‘Ten Australians’, Australia Council, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, touring exhibition France, Italy, West Germany, United Kingdom
1973 Adelaide Festival Theatre Murals, Festival Theatre, Adelaide
1972 ‘Fred Williams Retrospective’, Mornington Peninsula Art Centre, Mornington Peninsula, VIC
1971 ‘Fred Williams: Watercolours’, Queensland Art Gallery,
Brisbane and Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle
1970 ‘Heroic Landscape: Streeton to Williams’, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
COLLECTIONS
Adelaide Festival Theatre, Adelaide
British Museum, London
Centre for Contemporary Art, Hamilton, New Zealand
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Museum of Modern Art, New York
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra
Queen Elizabeth II Collection, United Kingdom
Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C.
Sydney Opera House Trust, Sydney
Tate Gallery, London
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
All State Art Galleries throughout Australia
All Major Regional Art Galleries throughout Australia
All Major University Art Collections throughout Australia
Right: Artist in his studio, Hawthorn 1980
Photography: Fiona McDougall
FRED WILLIAMS
