Title

Dry weather

(circa 1912)

Artist

Blamire Young

Australia

1862 – 1935

Details

Date

(circa 1912)

Media category

Watercolour

Materials used

watercolour on paper

Dimensions

56.0 x 76.8 cm sight; 75.1 x 84.7 x 3.0 cm frame

Signature & date

Signed l.r., brown watercolour "BLAMIRE YOUNG". Not dated.

Credit

Purchased 1912

Location

Not on display

Accession number

123

Copyright

Reproduction requests

Artist information

Blamire Young
Works in the collection

12

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About

"When the mood took him, he surrounded himself with saucers brimming with pure colour ... Swiftly he would cover a sheet of paper with his great general tint. Into this before it was dry he would, in the most dexterous fashion, introduce some design out of his sketchbook. He would with the colour still wet, tilt the paper this way and that, letting the wash settle into forms which he would later utilise. His long experiments had given him a dexterity in the use of all sorts of inventions in the practise of water-colour which has certainly never been equalled by any Australian water-colourist."

Julian Ashton, 1917

Young was a leading practitioner in watercolour in Melbourne in the first decades of the twentieth century. His experimental approach using washing, scraping and rubbing back of the paper, highlights the staining and dilation inherent in the watercolour medium, especially when used in large formats. In Dry weather, he handles the massive forms of the landscape by the use of transparent layers to create an illusion of depth - recalling traditional Chinese watercolour in his use of non-linear space.
Exhibition history
Shown in 16 exhibitions
- Society of Artists Spring Exhibition (1912), Society Rooms, Queen Victoria Markets, Sydney, Nov 1912 -
- Exhibition of Australian art (1923), Education Department Gallery [Loftus Street], Sydney, Jun 1923 -
- Exhibition of Australian Art (1923), Burlington House, , 06 Oct 1923–03 Nov 1923
- British Empire Exhibition (1924), Empire Stadium, Wembley, 23 Apr 1924–Oct 1925
- Australian watercolours from the National Art Gallery collection 1836-1946, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 24 May 1946–Jun 1946
- 100 years of Australian painting (1948), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 19 Apr 1948–17 May 1948
- The Australian Landscape 1802-1975:
  - Cultural Palace of the Nationalities, Beijing 02 Sep 1975–17 Sep 1975
  - Kiangsu Art Gallery, China 23 Sep 1975–07 Oct 1975
  - Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 14 Nov 1975–30 Nov 1975
- Australian images: Prints, drawings and watercolours from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Dec 1979–28 Jan 1980
- J.J. Hilder and Contemporaries:
  - Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 29 Aug 1981–04 Oct 1981
  - Tamworth City Gallery, Tamworth 04 Apr 1982–24 Apr 1982
  - Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle 06 May 1982–30 May 1982
  - Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong 02 Jun 1982–14 Jul 1982
  - Albury Regional Gallery, Albury 09 Sep 1982–26 Sep 1982
- The art of Blamire Young:
  - S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks 04 Aug 1983–11 Sep 1983
  - National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne 16 Sep 1983–16 Oct 1983
- The great Australian art exhibition:
  - Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane 17 May 1988–17 Jul 1988
  - Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth 13 Aug 1988–25 Sep 1988
  - Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 21 Oct 1988–27 Nov 1988
  - Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart 21 Dec 1988–05 Feb 1989
  - National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne 01 Mar 1989–30 Apr 1989
  - Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide 23 May 1989–16 Jul 1989
- Twentieth century Australian watercolours from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 05 Apr 1989–25 Jun 1989
- Australian watercolours 1880s to 1990s:
  - Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 18 Nov 1995–14 Jan 1996
  - Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat 1996–1996
  - Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart 1996–1996
- Our country: Federation landscapes 1900-1914, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 14 Sep 2001–18 Nov 2001
- Parallel Visions: Twenty-two artists from the Australian collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Feb 2002–May 2003
- Australia, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 21 Sep 2013–08 Dec 2013
Bibliography
Referenced in 23 publications
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, A selection of eighty-two reproductions mainly from the Australian collection and including examples from the British, French and Dutch [Art Gallery of New South Wales], Sydney, 1959, (illus.). cat.no. 14
- Australian Exhibition Commission, Catalogue: British Empire Exhibition (Wembley) 1924, 1924, 95. no catalogue numbers; Lent by the Trustees of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales
- Herbert Badham, A gallery of Australian art, 'Introduction', pg. v-vii., Sydney, 1954, xiv, illus.. plate no. 77
- Herbert Badham, A study of Australian art, Sydney, 1949. plate no. 56
- Ian Burn, National life and landscape - Australian painting 1900-1940, 'Art versus Nature', pg. 38-51, Sydney, 1990, 42 (colour illus.). plate no. 26
- Jean Campbell, Australian watercolour painters: 1780 to the present day, 'The twentieth century to 1914', pg. 92-109, Sydney, 1989, 94 (colour illus.).
- Jean Campbell, Australian watercolour painters 1780-1980, Adelaide, 1983, 91 (colour illus.).
- Jane de Teliga, Australian images: Prints, drawings and watercolours from the collection, Sydney, 1979, 10.
- Elly Fink, The art of Blamire Young, Sydney, 1983, 19 (colour illus.). cat.no. 15
- Gavin Fry, Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, 'J.J. Hilder / Blamire Young / Norman Lindsay', pg. 72-87, Sydney, 2002, 75, 77 (colour illus.), 146, 147.
- Anne Gray, Australia, 'Art nation: Australian landscape 1880-1920', pg. 146-183, London, 2013, 175 (colour illus.). cat.no. 115
- Elioth Gruner (Organiser), The exhibition of Australian art to be held at the galleries of the Royal Academy London, 1923, Sydney, 1923. cat.no. 177; not paginated
- Elioth Gruner (Organiser), Catalogue of an exhibition of the works of Australian artists, Sydney, 1923. cat.no. 145; Room VIII (Water Colours); not paginated
- Hendrik Kolenberg, Australian watercolours 1880s to 1990s, Sydney, 1995, 36 (colour illus.), 116-117. cat.no. 24
- Hendrik Kolenberg, Twentieth century Australian watercolours from the collection, Sydney, 1989. cat.no. 82
- Elwyn Lynn, The Australian landscape and its artists, Rushcutters Bay, 1977, 56 (colour illus.).
- Ursula Prunster and Edmund Capon AM, OBE, J.J. Hilder and contemporaries, Sydney, 1981, illus.. cat.no. 34
- Ron Radford, Our country: Australian Federation landscape 1900-1914, 'Introduction', pg. 16-22, Adelaide, 2001, 13 (colour illus.), 158.
- Bernard Smith, 100 years of Australian painting, 'Foreword', pg. 2-4, Sydney, 1948, 13. watercolours cat.no. 7
- Bernard William Smith, Australian painting 1788-1970, South Melbourne, 1971, 107 (illus.). plate no. 71
- Daniel Thomas, Art and Australia, 'Australian collection', pg. 52-62, Sydney, Jul 1972, 54 (illus.).
- Trustees of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australian watercolours from the National Art Gallery collection 1836 to 1946, Sydney, 1946, 5, 9. cat.no. 18
- Editor Unknown (Editor), The Christian Science monitor, 'The home forum', page unknown, Boston, 14 Jan 1956, page unknown (illus.).