"Geese by the Creek, Ambleside"
Oil on Canvas on Board
24x35cm
Signed Lower Right
Notation verso Mr & Mrs Hargraves, Hans Heysen
Prov: Private Collection Adelaide
$10,000-15,000
Few artists have shaped Australia’s understanding of the landscape more profoundly than Sir Hans Heysen. Celebrated for his monumental paintings of the Australian bush and majestic river red gums, Heysen also produced a remarkable body of intimate landscapes centred on the Adelaide Hills, where he lived and worked from The Cedars, near Hahndorf. His oils, particularly those depicting the surrounding countryside, remain among the most sought-after expressions of his lifelong engagement with the Australian landscape.
Throughout his career, Heysen found enduring inspiration in the farms, creeks and pastoral districts surrounding Hahndorf, travelling regularly to locations including Ambleside, Verdun, Mount Barker, Balhannah, Paechtown and the Mount Lofty Ranges. These familiar landscapes offered an endless variety of seasonal colour, light and atmosphere, allowing the artist to document rural South Australia with extraordinary sensitivity and authenticity. Rather than seeking grand spectacle, Heysen celebrated the quiet beauty of working farms, winding creeks, grazing stock and native gums that characterised the district he called home.
Titled Geese by the Creek, Ambleside, the present work belongs to this important group of Adelaide Hills paintings. The same setting, featuring the distinctive cottage, appears in a number of Heysen’s watercolours, confirming his repeated visits to the site and its enduring appeal as a subject. Nearby properties, including Edwards Farm, also featured prominently in his Adelaide Hills landscapes, reflecting the artist’s intimate knowledge of the district surrounding Hahndorf. Together, these works form a remarkable visual record of the region that remained central to Heysen’s artistic vision throughout his career.
