Figure in a Haymarket winter park

'Figure in a Haymarket winter park' may well be considered the artist's finest masterpiece and most important of the paintings of Connor's 1963-64 Haymarket series, which centred on the theme of his life up to that time. The leaning figure is a recurring life symbol of the artist's determination. Alluding to the difficult task of painting well, it makes painful progress along the road into the city.

First visiting the area during childhood, Connor has returned to the Haymarket again and again over ensuing years, inspired by its industry and its memories. As he said in 1988:
"I can always remember the bright sunny morning - I was about six years old - walking out of Central Railway Station on the mezzanine level where the trams used to come, walking out and looking across Sydney ... It was a distinct feeling of love for this place and all the infinite possibilities of life in this day in Sydney - an awareness of the one forever day ... I want to paint that feeling in every picture".

Australian Art Department, AGNSW, 2001