FRED WILLIAMS WEIPA SERIES CAPE YORK
FRED WILLIAMS WEIPA SERIES CAPE YORK
FUNDING PARTNER
GALLERY SPONSORS
IMAGE COVER AND DETAIL LEFT Inlet, Weipa 1977 gouache 57.0 x 75.5 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Purchased with the assistance of the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, 2014 Photograph: MIchael Marzik
FOREWORD ANDREA MAY CHURCHER
Fred Williams is widely regarded as
The exhibition afforded us the
one of Australia’s most important and
opportunity to work with Dr Deborah
influential twentieth century Australian
Hart, Head of Australian Art, National
artists. The exhibition Fred Williams:
Gallery of Australia who generously gave
Weipa series, Cape York brings together
of her time to write the first dedicated
for the first time a major group of works
essay on the significance of the Weipa
produced by the artist in response
series.
to the remote landscape of far north
Without the enthusiastic support of
Queensland. Despite his limited time in the north, Fred William’s produced a remarkable and innovative body of work that reimagined the vast, unrelenting spaces and fragile natural world of the north and opened up new possibilities for his art. The exhibition is based around five gouaches held in the collection of the Cairns Art Gallery and supports the Gallery’s commitment to researching, exhibiting and collecting significant art produced in relation to the region and, in so doing, contributing to Australian art scholarship. We are indebted to Lyn Williams AM for her significant donation to the Cairns Art Gallery of three of the
1
Fred Williams painting at Bournda National Park, New South Wales, January 1975 Photographer: Lyn Williams
Weipa gouaches and her guidance with
the many private and public lenders the exhibition would not have been possible. We particularly acknowledge the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria who loaned a considerable number of works major works from their collections. Finally, I would like to thank the Gallery’s staff, particularly the Curators Julietta Park, Ashleigh Campbell and Kylie Burke, and Marketing Coordinator Kelly Jaunzems who have all contributed professionally and creatively to the exhibition and supporting publication. Andrea May Churcher Director
the selection of works and research for the exhibition.
2
FRED WILLIAMS THE WEIPA EXPERIENCE
DR DEBORAH HART ‘Friendship Flight’ is good for seeing the country & the long grinding journey back by jet ... It was an interesting journey to Weipa & I will do a small series on it … I have never seen country like it before ... It is a remarkable landscape and it has left an indelible impression. Fred Williams1
Fred Williams illuminated his principal
of all the sources of inspiration, it was the
focus as an artist when attending his
engagements – both real and imaginary –
retrospective exhibition of gouaches and
with his country of origin that were not only
prints, Fred Williams: Landscapes of a
the main point of interest in his art abroad
continent, at the Museum of Modern
but, more significantly, at the core of his
Art (MoMA) in New York in 1977. At the
being as an artist.
media preview he said: ‘I will never paint anywhere but in Australia … I must be inside looking out - not outside looking in.’2 This was the first solo exhibition of an Australian artist at this prestigious institution, the home of works by artists Williams had long admired, such as Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse. He was in his element. It provided a real boost to his confidence and he mentioned that he felt as though he could have filled the entire museum.3 Yet he recognised with 3
a clarity looking from ‘the outside in’, that
The exhibition at MoMA was shown in the same year that Williams travelled to Weipa on the Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland, literally a world away from the hustle and bustle of New York. While a review of the exhibition at MoMA mentioned that Williams conveyed a feeling ‘peculiar to the Australian outback’, prior to his visit to Weipa and then the Pilbara in Western Australia, his encounters with remote areas of the country had been limited.
Saplings, Weipa 1977 gouache 55 x 75 cm Private Collection. Courtesy Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane Photograph: Michael Marzik
4
All the same this notion tapped into a
applied to spacious, largely tonal grounds,
dimension inherent in the philosophical
with some works emphasising flat infinite
underpinnings of the works – that in Williams’
horizon lines, to convey a wider sense of the
thinking, regional diversity did not exist in
continent. When he remarked in 1980 (as he
isolation but rather could be understood as
had done earlier) that Australia was essentially
part of a greater, complex whole. His visit to
the ‘same country … with the skin peeled
Weipa was simultaneously a revelation of new
back’, he was not denying the specificities of
possibilities as well as a confirmation of his
particular environments but rather referring to
imagined Australia.
underlying geological formations and patterns
Placing the works in context it is worth recalling that Williams’ reputation as one of
Williams’ works of the 1970s, including those
Australia’s most innovative and important
undertaken at Weipa, are notable for their
landscape artists had been confirmed in the
luminous colour. Just prior to travelling to
1960s. As James Gleeson wrote in 1966, ‘The
Weipa on 25 October 1977, he attended an
rarest of artists are the ones who see familiar
exhibition of his art at the Institute of Modern
things as no one has previously seen them,
Art (IMA) in Brisbane, thoughtfully reviewed
and who, in setting down their vision, reshape
by local art critic Dr Gertrude Langer who
our world for us.’ This was achieved through
remarked that his most recent landscapes
series such as Williams’ You Yangs, Upwey
revealed ‘a courageous departure from the
and Lysterfield works – all inspired by locations
successes of earlier works. The all-over rich,
in close proximity to his place of residence.
shimmering, colourful, breathing surfaces
Across these major series comprising
(flatness, of course, is still preserved) with the
paintings, prints and gouaches, he developed
evocation of fragrance and humming life …
a distinctive visual language; distilling natural
Williams has not said his last word yet’.6 The
phenomena such as trees, rocks and bushes
IMA exhibition had been made possible by a
to a semaphore of dots, dabs and dashes,
special grant from Comalco Ltd (now Rio Tinto
akin to force-fields of energy. These were
Ltd)7 who now invited the artist to visit their
4
Bauxite Coastline II 1977 gouache 57 x 75 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Donated through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Lyn Williams AM, 2014 Photograph: Michael Marzik
of connection encompassing diversity.5
6
mining operations at Weipa on the Cape York
As he said in an interview in relation to his
Peninsula in Far North Queensland.
working method, ‘I sort of take the attitude
8
This part of the country is about as far north as it is possible to go on the mainland. The town of Weipa (from the Aboriginal word Waypa or Waypundun), is situated on west of the Peninsula, on the traditional lands of the Alngith people.9 It has been noted that the
that I’m like an antenna. I let it come to me … I certainly don’t try to impose anything on it’.10 He felt fortunate to get to see large aspects of the terrain around Weipa but also relished the chance to sit contemplatively and take it all in. On 26 October 1977 he wrote:
western half of the Peninsula is characterised
Early rise and we head off at 8.30. [The
by large amounts of red and yellow earths,
plan] is to cover the entire area of mining!
as well as laterite soils with significant bauxite
A bit more than I had expected – to sit
deposits. There are also vast areas of alluvial
quietly would have been more to my taste!
soils near the coast. While Williams only spent
Across the river to Andoon, I drop off at odd
a few days in Weipa, the ‘indelible impression’
times and make a quick sketch. We finally
he felt it had made upon him would be played
go about 30 miles east and have lunch at
out over many months on his return to his
‘Running creek’ where Keith has a weekend
studio, informed by sketches, photographs
‘platform’, a lovely spot … I finally sit for a
and preliminary studies, as well as a clarity of
few hours at a quiet spot and make some
memories. The direct engagement with place
rapid notes. There is a long bend of the river
was a vital part of the process. He chose not
(Embley River) that I decline to stay at –
to take a heavy-handed approach but rather
because Alan Young told me how someone
to allow the environment to work on him.
had been taken by a crocodile eight months back. Both Keith and Dean assure me it is OK but I don’t do it.11
7
Weipa Coastline 1977 gouache 57 x 76 cm Private Collection. Courtesy Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane Photograph: Michael Marzik
8
9
Coastline, Weipa 1977 gouache 57.4 x 150.2 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC46 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
10
It was during his time in Weipa that Williams
true feeling for the heat and distinctive light of
had his first extensive view of the land from
North Queensland. Looked at another way, this
a light plane. He had long conceptualised the
remarkable work also suggests his admiration
viewpoint that this experience might afford. In
for American Colour Field painters.12
the 1960s, in the front of one of his cuttings books, he had pasted a newspaper clipping of a light aircraft flying over a landscape with scattered bushes below. The opportunities for such a flight had been planned in the past but for a range of reasons never materialised. Now, in 1977 he finally had the chance of flying in different aircraft including light planes.
an adventurous and disorienting confluence of land and sky. At times the smoke issues from the landscape tilted vertically – as in Bushfire,
Weipa 1 (page 13) in which the soft plumes of smoke are at one with the delicately painted ground and sky. Also mapping the landscape from above Cape York, bushfire (2) (page 12)
The experience of flying low over the country
reveals warmer tonalities as though illuminated
was just as brilliant as Williams had always
from within by fire. In other works such as
hoped it would be. He had long enjoyed tilting
Bushfire, Weipa II and Weipa bushfire (page 36),
conventional expectations about composition
the ground is at the base of the painting, the
and perspective and in Coastline, Weipa (page
smoke rising up from the low hills and billowing
9/10) and Bushfire, Weipa II 1977 (page 14)
into the partially darkened sky.
he went further than ever before. Flying over the shore he was able to view the expanse of sparkling blue sea. In Coastline, Weipa he allows spaciousness to take over; the flat blue Cape York bushfire (2) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 76 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC50 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
A number of Williams’ bushfire gouaches reveal
ocean connecting with the thinnest strip of land at the very top of the composition. It is a meeting of land and sea, reality and abstraction. Williams’ particular choice of blue captures a
While Australia is often thought of as a dry country, the Cape York contains sixteen complete drainage basins, including several large river systems. A sense of aerial mapping is particulary evident in works in which waterways intersect with the land, at times as in Weipa
coastline (page 7) Williams allows delicate tendrils to curl into the landscape. 12
IMAGE LEFT Bushfire, Weipa I 1977 gouache 75 x 55 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Purchased by Cairns Regional Gallery, 1999 Photograph: Michael Marzik
13
IMAGE RIGHT Bushfire, Weipa II 1977 gouache 57 x75.5 cm Private Collection, Melbourne Photograph: Michael Marzik
14
In other works such as Cape York river swamp
I (page 41) and Cape York river swamp II (page 16) dramatic, curvilinear luminous yellow rivers create pathways cutting a swathe through the terrain. Among the notable aspects of Williams’ Cape York works is the great variety of compositional formats with which he experimented. In
Bauxite coastline II (page 6), Tidal swamp (page 40) and Vines and wildflowers (page 31), Williams employed what he described as the ‘strip gouache’ format in which different aspects of the same scene can be shown together. The idea of the horizontal strips had originated earlier in the decade when Williams was working on the edge of the Victorian coastline at Queenscliff and then in Erith Island. For an artist who enjoyed working in series, this was a way of having self-contained series in the same work. The idea of taking a horizontal perspective across the landscape also referred to the early nineteenth century artists like Charles Lesueur and William Westall who mapped parts of the Australian coastline to record coastal profiles of the continent.13 not titled [Cape York river swamps II] 1977 gouache 57.6 x 74.8 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983
16
17
Weipa landscape (2) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 76.2 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC47 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
not titled [Landcape with termite mounds, Cape York Peninsula] 1977 gouache and synthetic polymer paint 57.2 x 75.8 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983
18
In some instances the Cape York landscapes
tropical vegetation. The brush marks here are
are seen front-on such as Weipa landscape
loose and free, following the curling forms
I and II (page 44 and page 38), Cape York
of the plants that almost seem to dance
scrub (page 37) and Landscape with termite
across the three strips; their magnification
mounds, Cape York Peninsula (page 18).
recalling the emphasis given to small ferns
While bold in their conception there is also a softness and delicacy in the painterly aspects,
regenerating after bushfires. In Vines and wildflowers, Williams retains a lighter touch
as though the environment is seen through
with the seeming freefall of dots and dashes
the heat haze of a mirage. Other works such
to suggest natural growth. He was also
as Aerial landscape, Weipa (page 39), take an
interested in the spindly forms of saplings
overview of the space with classic Williams’
at times coinciding with the extraordinary
visual notations on muted yet richly inflected
termite mounds that are characteristic of the
grounds recalling great works of the 1960s
area.
such as Forest of gum trees
1968-70.14
Among the most outstanding gouaches
As was always the case when he travelled,
to come out of his visit to Cape York visit
Williams looked not only at the macrocosm
were Weipa I-IV 1977 (page 23 -26). In
but at the microcosm. In Weipa he was
these strip gouaches the colours of the
particularly struck by carnivorous plants, given
earth are given full resonance; from reddish
new life in his gouache Insect-catching plant,
ochres veering to soft glowing pinks, dark to
Weipa 1977 (page 20), painted in mauves
sandy browns and warm mustard yellows;
and rich purples and greens suggesting
variously translucent and opaque. There
Insect-catching plant, Weipa 1977 gouache 57.6 x 76.6 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC44 - 1980 Photographer: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
was a special correlation between the strip
travelled to China where he had undertaken
In his Riverbed works and Weipa I-IV Williams
progress from different locations in a lively
format and the particularities of the Weipa
breathtakingly minimal drawings of mountains
gave painted substance to the richly coloured
dialogue across series. They demonstrated
terrain. Williams was fascinated by geology
and rivers in his beautiful drawing book. Yet
earth of the far north, laying the groundwork
a combination of spontaneity and assurance
and would have been aware of the richness
the linear river stretching vertically from top to
for the Pilbara series later on. This came
in his development and led to several new
of this landscape which in profile reveals
bottom in the Riverbed works also provided a
about after a visit to Williams’ studio by Sir
approaches. As Patrick McCaughey wrote of
layers that have developed since Jurassic
counterpoint to the more complex formations
Roderick Carnegie, the Chairman of the
this period in time:
times. These include sandstone and marine
he had seen in China. As James Mollison
mining company Conzine Riotinto of Australia
sediments and kaolin deposits that are ‘part
noted of the riverbed paintings:
(CRA, now Rio Tinto Ltd) who had been a
of the same profile as, and occur below, the bauxite ores’.15 The year after Williams’ visit to the Cape York Peninsula he undertook the first two paintings of long riverbeds stretching across the landscape in Riverbed A and
Riverbed B 1978, a pair of paintings, followed
of the Cape York Peninsula landscape to describe the infinite spaces of the outback. The river, with bordering mangroves, became a line that he treated
seen Williams’s works resulting from his visit to the Cape York Peninsula, he believed that the artist would benefit greatly from a journey to the magnificent Pilbara region.17
is that for all the travelling and extensive and substantial exhibiting – six exhibitions in three years – Williams produced an outstanding amount of work. More certain of his direction now that the new style of the 1970s was winning acceptance, he turned
as if it were an Aboriginal mark on the
By the time Williams painted his Weipa and
to his work with renewed confidence and
landscape. Williams was fascinated by the
Cape York subjects he had mastered the
concentration.18
fact that an aspect of Aboriginal art could
technique of painting with gouache on paper
With the benefit of distance other artistic
be incorporated in a landscape seen from
which comprises most of the works. While
interests flowed into the works including
the air. He contrasted the Australian river
earlier in his artistic development gouaches
subtle connections with Aboriginal and
with the complicated, twisting river forms
were sometimes preliminary studies for
Chinese art. Williams had been an admirer
he had seen from the air in China – forms
oils, by this point they were very much
of Aboriginal bark paintings incorporating
in which he saw the origins of the dragon
considered to be finished works in their own
multiple perspectives as well as rock
motif in Chinese art.
right. The Weipa gouaches were created
by another two, of the lightly treed woodland country around a huge river.
paintings and engravings. In 1976 he had
21
[Williams] again used a map-maker’s view
friend of the family for some years. Having
The most remarkable aspect of those years
16
in 1977 and 1978 alongside other works in
22
23
not titled [Weipa IV] 1977 gouache 57.4 x 75.1 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983
Weipa I 1977 gouache 57.6 x 76.4 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983
24
25
not titled [Weipa II] 1977 gouache and synthetic polymer paint 57 x 76 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983
Weipa lll 1977 gouache 57 x 76 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983
26
In conclusion, Williams’ visit to Weipa lasted
to his back door, a short drive’s distance away
a matter of a few days, yet it provided
or a long flight to the far north of the country.
him enough fertile ground for around 50
Many of his recollections of Weipa embedded
gouaches, mostly painted back in the
in the art confirmed what he had intuitively
studio. His engagement with Weipa points
grasped years earlier about the continuities
to the significance of up close and personal
of landscape; the underlying geological
encounters with myriad tangible realities of
formations, skeins and lines of connection that
specific locales that bring the authenticity of
stretch across the continent (calling to mind the
real experience to the works: the absorption of
idea of Aboriginal songlines). In the Cape York
distinctive qualities of light, patterns of dry and
environment and back in the studio, tangible
wet environments, the life of plants, butterflies
memories of experiences flowed into paintings
and termite hills, the colours of bauxite and iron
on paper that were not simply stepping stones
ore, and the seemingly endless coastline. Add
to Williams’ Pilbara achievement that followed,
to this – and it is a crucial aspect of Williams’
but instead resonated with distinctiveness and
art – the interactions between the subject out
distinction. Among them are some of the most
there and the abstract life of the work itself
outstanding gouaches of his career, holding
recollected in the space of the studio.
their own with seminal works of the 1960s.
Yet this kind of distance was wholly different to the distance felt in New York. It was about deepening and widening connections to place, never taken for granted but respected and understood as enlivening and enriching. The element of distancing from the intensity not titled [Dry creek bed diptych, Cape York] 1977 gouache with additions in chalk colour 57.2 x 76.2 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983
They are informed by the past, but also much enlivened by fresh possibilities opened up by a remarkable area of the continent, experienced and re-imagined, as he put it, from the ‘inside looking out’. Dr Deborah Hart, 2018
of real experience had long been important to Williams in the inspired internal making of his works, whether painting the landscape close 28
END NOTES 1 Fred Williams diary entry, courtesy of Lyn Williams, quoted in Deborah Hart, Infinite horizons, National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra, 2011, p.160. Some parts of this essay are drawn from this catalogue that accompanied Williams’ exhibition at the NGA in 2011. 2
Fred Williams quoted in John Raedler, ‘Triumph on West 53rd Street’, The Australian 14 March 1977. 3
See James Mollison, A singular vision: The art of Fred Williams, Australian National Gallery and Oxford University Press, Canberra & Melbourne, 1989, p.229. 4
James Gleeson quoted in Hart, Infinite horizons, p.61. 5
Fred Williams, quoted in Anthony Clarke, ‘Exploring Fred Williams’, The Age, 13 July, 1980, p.17. See also Mollison, A singular vision, p.230. 6
Gertrude Langer, ‘Fred Williams, an artist to treasure’, Courier Mail, Brisbane, 29 October 1977. 7
See www.riotinto.com.au/aluminium. Rio Tinto (formerly Comalco) has owned and operated Weipa bauxite mine since 1963.
8
Lyn Williams told the author that the interest from Comalco Ltd. had started with Dean Bunny, who was in Public Relations for Comalco and also a member of the Gallery Society of the National Gallery of Victoria. 9
See www.weipatownauthority.com.au/westerncape-history (viewed 11/10/2018) The impact of incursions into the land since white settlement in the area in the 19th century has been complex and difficult for local Indigenous communities, although in more recent times there has been greater emphasis on consultation and inclusion. 10
Fred Williams in an interview with Alan Oldfield on 12 August for the Australian Eye series #5, Patterns of landscape: Through the eyes of Fred Williams 1927-1982, Film Australia, Sydney, 1989. 11
Fred Williams’ diary entry on 26 October 1977, courtesy of Lyn Williams. 12
While the environment was the key, Williams was particularly adept at integrating his understandings of particular moments in art history into his vision, including contemporary developments, as he had done in the late 1960s when his vast, spare landscapes of a continent were variously titled Australian landscape and Minimal landscape. 13
29
See Hart, Infinite horizons, p.125
14
See above, p.90, for a detail of Forest of gum trees 1968-70 which Williams considered one of his best paintings. 15
This information is based on a geological report by Porter GeoConsultancy in 1990. The comments in this report are relayed in abbreviated form to give a sense of the parallels between Williams’s approach and the landscape itself. For more detail see the following website that was checked for this document on 11 June 2011: http://www.portergeo.com.au/database. 16
Mollison, A singular vision, p.229. The two later paintings, Riverbed C and Riverbed D 1981 are illustrated in Mollison on p.228. 17
See above, p.230. Although Rod Carnegie was keen to commission the artist to paint a series for the company, Williams was not prepared to accept the idea, suggesting instead ‘that if CRA liked any of the paintings that eventuated from the trip, they could have the first choice of them’. 18
Patrick McCaughey, Fred Williams, Bay Books, 1987, p.178. This major monograph was republished by Murdoch Books in 2008.
Butterflies and Flowers Weipa 1977 gouache Image size 51 x 75.5 cm Private Collection. Courtesy Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane Photograph: Michael Marzik
31
Vines and wildflowers 1977 gouache 57.0 x 75.5 cm Private collection, Melbourne Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy
Cape York Landscape 1977 gouache 55.0 x 74.5 cm Private Collection, Launceston Photograph: Michael Marzik
32
IMAGE LEFT Weipa Landscape 1978 gouache 57 x 75.5 cm Private Collection, Melbourne Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy
33
IMAGE RIGHT Termite Mound, Weipa 1977 gouache 75.5 x 57 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Donated through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Lyn Williams AM, 2014
34
IMAGE LEFT Cape York bushfire (1) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 76 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC49 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
35
IMAGE RIGHT Weipa Bushfire 1977 gouache 55 x 73.5 cm Private Collection, Sydney Photograph: Michael Marzik
36
37
not titled [Cape York scrub] 1977 gouache and synthetic polymer paint 57.2 x 76.2 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983
Weipa landscape II 1977 gouache 56 x 74 cm Private Collection, Melbourne
38
39
Aerial landscape, Weipa 1977 gouache 56.5 x 75.5 cm City of Townsville Art Collection, Townsville Purchased 1998 1998.20
Tidal Swamp 1977 gouache 57.0 x 75.5 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Donated through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Lyn Williams AM, 2014
40
LIST OF WORKS Fred Williams Australian 1927 – 1982 All works are by Fred Williams unless otherwise stated. © All works by Fred Williams are reproduced courtesy of the Estate of Fred Williams. The list of works includes all works included in the exhibition Fred Williams: Weipa series, Cape York. All works listed are reproduced in the catalogue. Works are listed in the order of reproduction in the catalogue. All work dimensions are height x width in centimetres. Cataloguing conventions of lending institutions have been adopted.
1 Inlet, Weipa 1977 gouache 57.0 x 75.5 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Purchased with the assistance of the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, 2014 Photograph: MIchael Marzik 2 Saplings, Weipa 1977 gouache 55 x 75 cm Private Collection. Courtesy Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane Photograph: Michael Marzik 3 Bauxite Coastline II 1977 gouache 57 x 75 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Donated through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Lyn Williams AM, 2014 Photograph: Michael Marzik 4 Weipa Coastline 1977 gouache 57 x 76 cm Private Collection. Courtesy Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane Photograph: Michael Marzik
41
not titled (Cape York river swamps I] 1977 painting 57.2 x 75.6 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983
5 Coastline, Weipa 1977 gouache 57.4 x 150.2 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable
and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC46 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 6 Cape York bushfire (2) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 76 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC50 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria 7 Bushfire, Weipa I 1977 gouache 75 x 55 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Purchased by Cairns Regional Gallery, 1999 Photograph: Michael Marzik 8 Bushfire, Weipa II 1977 gouache 57 x75.5 cm Private Collection, Melbourne Photograph: Michael Marzik 9 not titled [Cape York river swamps II] 1977 gouache 57.6 x 74.8 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983
42
10 Weipa landscape (2) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 76.2 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor ,and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC47 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 11 not titled [Landcape with termite mounds, Cape York Peninsula] 1977 gouache and synthetic polymer paint 57.2 x 75.8 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 12 Insect-catching plant, Weipa 1977 gouache 57.6 x 76.6 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC44 - 1980 Photographer: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 13 not titled [Weipa IV] 1977 gouache 57.4 x 75.1 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 14 Weipa I 1977 gouache 57.6 x 76.4 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 15 not titled [Weipa II] gouache and synthetic polymer paint 57 x 76 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 16 Weipa lll 1977 gouache 57 x 76 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983
17 not titled [Dry creek bed diptych, Cape York] 1977 gouache with additions in chalk colour 57.2 x 76.2 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 18 Butterflies and Flowers Weipa 1977 gouache 51 x 75.5 cm Private Collection. Courtesy Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane Photograph: Michael Marzik 19 Vines and wildflowers 1977 gouache 57.0 x 75.5 cm Private collection, Melbourne Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy 20 Cape York Landscape 1977 gouache 55.0 x 74.5 cm Private Collection, Launceston Photograph: Michael Marzik 21 Weipa Landscape 1978 gouache 57 x 75.5 cm Private Collection, Melbourne Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy 22 Termite Mound, Weipa 1977 gouache 75.5 x 57 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Donated through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Lyn Williams AM, 2014 23 Cape York bushfire (1) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 76 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC49 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
24 Weipa Bushfire 1977 gouache 55 x 73.5 cm Private Collection, Sydney Photograph: Michael Marzik 25 not titled [Cape York scrub] 1977 gouache and synthetic polymer paint 57.2 x 76.2 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 26 Weipa landscape II 1977 gouache 56 x 74 cm Private Collection, Melbourne 27 Aerial landscape, Weipa 1977 gouache 56.5 x 75.5 cm City of Townsville Art Collection, Townsville Purchased 1998 1998.20 28 Tidal Swamp 1977 gouache 57.0 x 75.5 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Donated through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Lyn Williams AM, 2014 29 not titled (Cape York river swamps I] 1977 gouache 57.2 x 75.6 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 30 Weipa landscape (1) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 75.8 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria ith the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC45 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Weipa landscape (1) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 75.8 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria ith the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC45 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Cairns Art Gallery acknowledges the
The Gallery acknowledges the generosity
many individuals and organisations that
of private and public lenders who have
have assisted us with our research and
made the exhibition possible:
bringing together, for the first time for exhibition, the largest body of works from the Fred William’s Weipa series. The Gallery is indebted to Lyn Williams AM for her generosity and ongoing support of the Gallery and her contribution to the research for this project. The Gallery is extremely grateful to Dr Deborah Hart who shared her research and contributed to this publication.
National Gallery of Victoria (Tony Elwood, Ieva Kanepe) National Gallery of Australia (Gerard Vaughan, Aaron Pollock, Jane Marsden) Perc Tucker Gallery (Erwin Cruz, Stephanie Smith) Philip Bacon Galleries (Philip Bacon, Nicholas Smith) Lauraine Diggins Fine Art (Lauraine Diggins)
Published for the exhibition Fred Williams: Weipa series, Cape York Cairns Art Gallery 2 March – 1 July 2018 ISBN: 978-0-9757635-9-9 © Cairns Art Gallery, Estate of Fred Williams The publication is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be directed to Cairns Art Gallery. Text copyright © Dr Deborah Hart
Sothebys Australia (Geoffrey Smith)
Publisher Cairns Art Gallery, 2018
Deutscher and Hackett (Louise Choi)
Image reproductions All works by Fred Williams are reproduced courtesy of the Estate of Fred Williams.
Lyn Williams AM Anonymous lenders
Photography Mark Ashkanazy; Michael Marzik; National Gallery of Victoria; National Gallery of Australia Cairns Art Gallery Cnr Abbott & Shields Streets Cairns Queensland 4870 61 74046 480 www.cairnsartgallery.com.au
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FRED WILLIAMS WEIPA SERIES CAPE YORK