Roland Wakelin

(Australia 1887–1971)

Title

Synchromy in orange major

Other titles:

Syncromy in orange red

Year

1919

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on cardboard

Dimensions

30.4 x 40.4cm sight; 45.4 x 55.2 x 3.2cm frame

Signature & date

Signed and dated l.l. corner, black ink "R.S.Wakelin 1919".

Credit

Bequest of Mervyn Horton 1983

Accession number

50.1985

Copyright

Location

Not on display

Further information

What convinced the cautious Wakelin to embark on an interlude of avant-gardism around 1919 can only be surmised. In that year, with Roy de Maistre, he showed 'colour harmonies' - tiny chromatic experiments without precedent in Australian painting. Older by a few years than his co-exhibitor, Wakelin was feasibly fired by a spirit of competition and camaraderie. Synchromy in orange major is a landscape, but one in which the structural underpinnings of place have been extracted, stripped, and presented for pure aesthetic consideration, not for descriptive purposes. A rare handful of related studies survive, Wakelin having revoked the enterprise in 1920.

Art Gallery Handbook 1999

Bibliography (25)

Sue Cramer (Author), Lesley Harding (Australia) (Author), Cubism & Australian art, Carlton, 2009, 23 (colour illus.),.

Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Author), I blame Duchamp: my life's adventures in art, Surry Hills, 2009, 329.

'Men of colours: Australia's early abstract paintings are music to the eyes' by John MacDonald, pg. 16-17., The Sydney Morning Herald 13 Sep 2008-14 Sep 2008, 13 Sep 2008-14 Sep 2008, 16, 17 (colour illus.).

'Colour music: Composing paintings with colours as notes' by Laura Pia, pg. 34-37., Look Jul 2008, Jul 2008, 35 (colour illus.).

Ann Stephen (Australia) (Author), Andrew McNamara (Australia) (Author), Philip Goad (Australia) (Author), Modern times: the untold story of modernism in Australia, Sydney, 2008, 20 (colour illus.). NOTE: Caption states: 'This painting was shown at the 'Colour in Art' exhibition in 1919 as no. 4 Syncromy in Orange Red. It depicts Berry's Bay on Sydney Harbour.'

Nick Waterlow (Australia) (Curator), Annabel Pegus (Australia) (Curator), Symposium papers: Colour in art - revisiting 1919 & R-Balson, Paddington, 2008, front cover (colour illus., detail), 3, 5-6.

Annabel Pegus (Australia) (Author), Nick Waterlow (Australia), Colour in art: Revisiting 1919, Paddington, 2008, 8, 16, 39 (colour illus.).

'Resonance of colour and music: a parallel vision that reached out to another generation' by Annabel Pegus, pg. 12-13., Look May 2002, May 2002, 12.

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, Domain, 2002, 5 (colour illus., detail), 6, 48, 53, 146, 147.

'Roland Wakelin 1887-1971', pg. 28., Art in the sun 2000, 2000, 28 (colour illus.).

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 104, 106, 107 (colour illus.).

Aspects of Australian art 2000, 2000, front cover of folder (colour illus., detail), front cover of card no. 4 (colour illus.). card no. 4: Roland Wakelin 'Synchromy in orange major' 1919

Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 133 (colour illus.).

'Private Pleasure, Public Gain - the influence of private collections' by Heather Johnson, pg. 58-61., Australian art collector Apr 1998-Jun 1998, Apr 1998-Jun 1998, 59.

Stephen Scheding (Author), A Small Unsigned Painting, Milsons Point, 1998, between pg. 164-165 (illus.).

Lynne Seear (Australia) (Editor), Julie Ewington (Australia) (Editor), Brought to light: Australian Art 1850-1965, South Brisbane, 1998, 135, 218.

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Patricia McDonald (Editor), Haruo Arikawa (Japan) (Author), Chikashi Kitazaki (Japan) (Editor), Two hundred years of Australian painting: nature, people and art in the southern continent, Tokyo, 1992, 119 (colour illus.). cat.no. 68

Daniel Thomas (Editor), Ron Radford (Australia, b.1949) (Assistant Co-ordinator), Creating Australia: 200 years of art 1788-1988, Melbourne, 1988, 150 (colour illus.), 247.

Annabel Davie (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook, Domain, 1988, 21.

Leslie Walton (Author), The art of Roland Wakelin, Sydney, 1987, 17, 45 (colour illus.), 125. plate no. 12

'The Mervyn Horton Collection', pg. 72., Art and Australia (Vol. 21, No. 1) Spring 1983, Spring 1983, cover (colour illus.).

'The Mervyn Horton collection' by Daniel Thomas, pg.72-83., Art and Australia (Vol. 21, No. 1) Spring 1983, Spring 1983, 82, 83 (colour illus.).

Tribute to Mervyn Horton, Sydney, 1983. List of works

'Roland Wakelin: the painter' by Douglas Dundas, pg. 278-282; 'Roland Wakelin: the man' by Virginia Gerrett, pg. 282-289; 'Recollections of a Post-Impressionist' by Roland Wakelin, pg. 290-291., Art and Australia [series 5, vol. 4, no. 4] Mar 1967-May 1967, Mar 1967-May 1967, 286 (colour illus.). Collection Meryn Horton

Douglas Dundas (Australia, b.1900, d.1981) (Author), Roland Wakelin retrospective, Sydney, 1967, 7. cat.no. 15; Collection of Mr Mervyn Horton

Exhibition history (11)

Roland Wakelin retrospective (1967), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 08 Apr 1967–30 Apr 1967.

Roland Wakelin retrospective (1967), Newcastle City Art Gallery, 10 May 1967–13 May 1967.

Tribute to Mervyn Horton, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 10 Oct 1983–14 Nov 1984.

Acquisitions from the Komon, Salkauskas and Horton Funds, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 05 May 1987–31 May 1987.

Two hundred years of Australian painting : Nature, people and art in the southern continent, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 28 Apr 1992–28 Jun 1992.

Two hundred years of Australian painting : Nature, people and art in the southern continent, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, 14 Jul 1992–06 Sep 1992.

Parallel Visions: Twenty-two artists from the Australian collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 22 Feb 2002–May 2003.

Colour in Art - revisiting 1919, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, 21 Aug 2008–27 Sep 2008.

Colour in Art - revisiting 1919, Heide Museum of Modern Art, 23 Mar 2009–12 Jul 2009.

Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, 05 Oct 2011–27 Nov 2011.

Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, 10 Dec 2011–04 Mar 2012.