Art Gallery NSW: Australian Modern Art — Part 3 Sensuality

Sensuality

Blessed with fertile land, Australians cultivated an abundant life of materialistic pleasure. Such prosperous life greatly influenced Australian modern artists and their works. Many artists regarded that the voluptuous and muscular forms of Australians reflected the rich country's power. Thus, they celebrated the physical beauty of Australians by preserving them in their paintings. In their works, they often related sensuality with procreation and nurture, linking back to the role of fecund Australian land to settlers. To capture the nourished beauty, they incorporated techniques from European classical art and avant-garde.

Charles Meere, Australian beach pattern, 1940, Oil on canvas

Charles Meere, Atalanta's eclipse, 1938, Oil on canvas

Charles Meere was one of a group of Sydney artists whose work depicted Australian life during the inter-war period and modernized classical artistic traditions. Yet, he painted works of neo-classical style, most notably Atalanta's Eclipse, which shows a running race scene between Atalanta and Melanion. Contrasting to other suitors who competed with the huntress to marry her, Melanion won the race by distracting her with three golden apples.
The artist contributed to cultivating Australian modern art by painting works inspired by the art nouveau of the European avant-garde. One of his art deco masterpieces is Australian Beach Pattern, which was painted during the interwar period. Though full of enigma, the masterpiece is interpreted as a celebration of a healthy young nation's beach culture and a glorification of heroic racial purity.

Jean Broome-Norton, Abundance, 1934, cast 1987, Bronze

In the exceptional art-deco relief 'Abundance', a wholesome and athletic Australian family is presented. By adding the child, the artist relates sensuality to procreation and fecundity of the bodies. Sheaves of wheat and a wreath are rich provisions from the fertile land of Australia. As the family's body is from the food, the artist expresses gratitude towards the bountiful nature. The work reinforces notions of Australian life as a golden age of physical and environmental harmony.

Arthur Murch, The idle hour, 1933,

Oil on canvas on hardboard

The nakedness of the mother suggests she just finished feeding her baby. The mother, along with her baby, radiates sensuality with glossy skin and precariously hanging clothes. Their porcelain-like skin combined with warm key light from the window imbues sublime energy to the setting. The exceptional rendering of light's effect on skin indicates the artist's deliberate study of lighting and masterpieces of the early Renaissance and classical periods.
The artist associates sensuality with the sublime by showing the role of a mother as a nurturer of a family. To create images of national culture, the artist depicts Australian modern life by employing classical traditions of European art.

Thank you for finish reading the article. It is the last article of modern art chapter in the comprehensive study on Australian Art. The study is divided into three chapters according to era: classical, modern and contemporary. To view the complete list of the articles within the study, please direct to the linked article. 

Australian Art: from Classical Antiquity to Contemporary Emerging Talents

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