Frederick McCubbin
(Australia 25 Feb 1855–20 Dec 1917)
- Title
- On the wallaby track
- Other titles:
- In the bush
- Year
- 1896
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
-
122.0 x 223.5cm stretcher; 174.0 x 275.4 x 13.5cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.r. corner, brown oil "F McCubbin/ 1896".
- Credit
- Purchased 1897
- Accession number
- 572
- Location
- 19th c Australian art
- Further information
With an evident empathy for rural labouring life, and a nationalist message, this much-admired painting by a principal member of the Heidelberg group was painted close to the artist’s Melbourne home, using his family as models. Key influences for Frederick McCubbin at this time included the academic naturalism of Bastien-Lepage and the new focus on everyday subjects by leading French Barbizon school artists Corot and Millet. The title of the painting – 'On the wallaby track' – was a term used for itinerant workers roaming the bush on the fringes of properties looking for work.
- Bibliography (47)
-
'Seeing art takes more than looking: Audio description tours now at the Gallery' by Laura Pia, pg. 12-13., Look Jul 2009, Jul 2009, 13 (colour illus.).
Anne Gray (Australia, b.1947) (Author), McCubbin: last impressions 1907-17, Canberra, 2009, 10, 18, 36, 43.
John McDonald (Australia, b.1961) (Author), Art of Australia. Vol. 1: Exploration to Federation, Sydney, 2008, 568-569 (colour illus.).
'Art, business and a Vatican contact' by Jill Sykes, pg. 54'., Look Feb 2007, Feb 2007, 54 (colour illus.).
Terence Lane (Editor), Australian Impressionism, Melbourne, 2007, 284, 345, 289 (colour illus.). cat.no. 15.9
Read-to-go Art Picture pack 2000, 2000, (colour illus.). card no. 2
Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 13, 37, 69 (colour illus.), 302.
Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 122 (colour illus.).
Editor Unknown, Christie's Australia; Frederick McCubbin: Bush Idyll 1893, Sydney, 17th August, 1998, South Yarra, 1998, 14 (colour Illus.), 11, 14. fig.no. 4
Okko Boer (Author), Masters of the Heidelberg School, Leichhardt, 1998, 70 (colour illus.). plate no. 66
Australia: Studies of Society and Environment 1996, 1996, 162.
In our own image: the story of Australian art 1995, 1995, 60 (colour illus.).
Jeanette Hoorn (Editor), Strange women: essays in art and gender, Melbourne, 1994, 102 (illus.).
State of the arts Dec 1991-Mar 1992, Dec 1991-Mar 1992, 36.
'Artist's mystery pioneer revealed' by Suzanne McDonnell, pg. 4, The Weekend Australian 06 Jul 1991-07 Jul 1991, 06 Jul 1991-07 Jul 1991, 4.
Bridget Whitelaw (Author), The art of Frederick McCubbin, Melbourne, 1991, 60 (colour illus.), 61 (colour illus. detail), 133, 134. cat.no. 20
Andrew Mackenzie (Author), Frederick McCubbin 1855-1917: 'The Proff' and his art, Australia, 1990, 88, 89 (colour illus.), 90, 91. plate no. 23
Leigh Astbury (b.1950) (Author), Sunlight and shadow: Australian impressionist painters 1880-1900, Rushcutters Bay, 1989, 191 (colour illus.). plate no. 141
Sheena Coupe (Editor), Frontier Country, Sydney, 1989, 130 (illus.).
Annabel Davie (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook, Domain, 1988, 18 (illus.).
'Mythmakers'., Art & the West 1987, 1987, (colour illus.). AUS 4 card.
City bushmen: the Heidelberg school and the rural mythology 1985, 1985, 153 (illus.). plate no. 25
Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Editor), Jan Meek (Australia) (Editor), Portrait of a Gallery, Sydney, 1984, 33 (colour illus.).
William Splatt (Author), Susan Bruce (Author), Australian impressionist painters: a pictorial history of the Heidelberg school, Windsor, 1981, 80.
Ann Galbally (Australia) (Author), Frederick McCubbin, Melbourne, 1981, 89, 93 (colour illus.), 97, 102, 110. plate no. 18
'The art of Frederick McCubbin and the impact of the first war' by Leigh Astbury, pg. 79-83., La Trobe Library Journal [vol. 6, no. 24] Oct 1979, Oct 1979, 82.
Susan Bruce (Author), A treasury of Australian bush painting, Adelaide, 1979, 34 (colour illus.), 36. plate no. 26
William Splatt (Author), Barbara Burton (Author), 100 masterpieces of Australian painting, Adelaide, 1973, 88 (colour illus.), 89. plate no. 41
Editor Unknown (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook, Domain, 1972, 86 (colour illus.).
Bernard Smith (Australia, b.1916, d.2011) (Author), Australian painting 1788-1970, South Melbourne, 1971, 88, 119.
James Gleeson (Australia, b.1915, d.2008) (Author), John Henshaw (New Zealand; Australia, b.1929, d.2006) (Editor), Impressionist painters 1881-1930, St Kilda, 1971, 88, 89 (colour illus.), 90-91. plate no. 20
Alan McCulloch (Australia, b.1907, d.1992) (Author), John Henshaw (New Zealand; Australia, b.1929, d.2006) (Editor), The golden age of Australian painting - Impressionism and the Heidelberg school, Melbourne, 1969, 91 (illus.).
'The phases of McCubbin's art' by Ursula Hoff, pg. 301-306, Meanjin Spring 1956, Spring 1956, 303, 304.
Editor Unknown (Editor), Frederick McCubbin exhibition: to mark the centenary of the artist's birth in 1855, Melbourne, 1955. cat.no. 12
Bernard Smith (Australia, b.1916, d.2011) (Author), A catalogue of Australian oil paintings in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1875-1952, Sydney, 1953, 138.
Hal Missingham (Australia, b.1906, d.1994) (Author), A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Domain, 1953. cat.no. 53
Bernard Smith (Australia, b.1916, d.2011) (Author), Trustees of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), 100 years of Australian painting, Sydney, 1948, 5. cat.no. 9
Lionel Lindsay (Australia, b.1874, d.1961) (Author), 150 years of Australian art, Sydney, 1938. cat.no. 17
William Moore (Australia, b.1868, d.1937) (Author), The story of Australian art from the earliest known art of the continent to the art of today (Vol. 1), Sydney, 1934, 134 (illus.).
'Australian artists of the past: Frederick McCubbin' by A.C., Age 26 Nov 1932, 26 Nov 1932.
National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1899, Sydney, 1899, 46 (sepia illus.). cat.no. 250; Oil Paintings-Australian, titled 'On the Wallaby Track'
The Sydney Morning Herald 10 Sep 1897, 10 Sep 1897.
The Sydney Morning Herald 09 Sep 1897, 09 Sep 1897.
The Studio 1896, 1896, 69 (illus.). titled 'In the bush'
Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales: Minutes 1.9.1891-4.5.1898 1891-1898, 1891-1898. 7 September 1897, 15 December 1897
'Classic painting: Frederick McCubbin' by Dr Ann Galbally, pg. 74-75., This Australia 1982, 1982, 74-75 (illus.).
'Frederick McCubbin: the spirit of the pioneers' by Leigh Astbury, pg. 26-58., Australia 1888: a journal for the study of Australian history centred on the year 1888 1982, 1982, 38-40, 43, 45.
- Exhibition history (4)
-
Eighteenth Annual Exhibition of the Art Society of New South Wales (1897), Society Rooms, Union Chambers, 11 Sep 1897 -.
100 years of Australian painting (1948), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 19 Apr 1948–17 May 1948.
A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 25 Sep 1953–25 Oct 1953.
Australian Impressionism, Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, 31 Mar 2007–08 Jul 2007.
