River Murray - Pastoral
Watercolour
30x39cm
Signed Lower Right, Dated 1918
Prov: Private Collection Adelaide
Exhibition label verso No. 93
$15,000-18,000
Between 1915 and 1917, Sir Hans Heysen undertook four painting expeditions along the Murray River, travelling by paddle steamer between Murray Bridge and Nildottie. These journeys provided an opportunity to explore landscapes markedly different from those surrounding his home at Hahndorf. The limestone cliffs, expansive river flats, agricultural settlements and native vegetation of the lower Murray became subjects for a series of watercolours and drawings. By this period, Heysen had established his reputation through his depictions of the Adelaide Hills, particularly his studies of eucalyptus trees and rural landscapes, and the Murray River provided an important extension of his artistic interests.
The river and its surrounding districts offered considerable variety, from the imposing geological formations of the limestone cliffs to the quieter pastoral landscapes of the river flats. Among the works produced during these expeditions was Murray River Cliffs (1916), now held in the New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale. Other compositions depicted river landings, grazing country and the vegetation bordering the Murray. These paintings demonstrate Heysen’s continuing interest in the relationship between the natural environment and agricultural settlement, a subject that had occupied him throughout much of his career.
The present work, Murray River Pastoral, is a well-executed watercolour reflecting Heysen’s sustained interest in the river and its surrounding agricultural landscape. The composition belongs to a broader body of Murray River subjects in which the artist explored the relationship between the natural environment and pastoral settlement. His watercolours of the region form a distinct part of his artistic development, extending his examination of the South Australian landscape beyond the Adelaide Hills and preceding his first visit to the Flinders Ranges in 1926.
