Title

Dry lagoon

1911

Artist

J J Hilder

Australia

23 Jul 1881 – Apr 1916

Alternate image of Dry lagoon by J J Hilder

Details

Other Title

The dry lagoon

Date

1911

Media category

Watercolour

Materials used

pencil, watercolour on ivory wove paper

Dimensions

66.2 x 99.1 cm sheet; 92.5 x 123.3 x 4.7 cm frame

Signature & date

Signed and dated l.r., blue/grey watercolour, "J.J.HILDER/ 1911".

Credit

Purchased 1911

Location

Not on display

Accession number

14

Copyright

Reproduction requests

Artist information

J J Hilder
Works in the collection

34

Share
About

J J Hilder was a noted watercolourist, greatly admired by his peers. Lionel Lindsay wrote a tribute following Hilder's premature death from consumption in 1916:

"Hilder’s is the romance of colour, and for him the eye is sole and final arbiter. His method was one of elimination. Like Cotman, [British watercolourist John Sell Cotman 1782-1842] he added nothing to nature, but he subtracted much ... within the limits of a few square inches of paper he is a master, commanding his vision with ease and delicacy, and, with a rare and individual mind, stating that vision in terms of originality and beauty".

Australian Art Department, AGNSW, 2001
Exhibition history
Shown in 13 exhibitions
- Society of Artists Spring Exhibition (1911), Society Rooms, Queen Victoria Markets, Sydney, Nov 1911 -
- J.J. Hilder memorial exhibition (1916), Society of Artists, Sydney, 14 Jul 1916 -
- Jesse Jewhurst Hilder anniversary exhibition (1966-1967):
  - Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane 21 Apr 1966–15 May 1966
  - City Hall, Toowoomba, Toowoomba 23 May 1966–29 May 1966
  - Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle 09 Jun 1966–03 Jul 1966
  - Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart 14 Jul 1966–07 Aug 1966
  - Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Launceston 18 Aug 1966–11 Sep 1966
  - National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street], Melbourne 22 Sep 1966–23 Oct 1966
  - Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 09 Nov 1966–04 Dec 1966
  - Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra 15 Dec 1966–08 Jan 1967
  - National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide 19 Jan 1967–12 Feb 1967
  - Western Australian Art Gallery, Perth 23 Feb 1967–19 Mar 1967
- The Australian Landscape (1972-73):
  - Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide 03 Mar 1972–03 Apr 1972
  - Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth 04 May 1972–04 Jun 1972
  - National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne 04 Jul 1972–04 Aug 1972
  - Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart 05 Sep 1972–01 Oct 1972
  - Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 14 Nov 1972–17 Dec 1972
  - Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle 17 Jan 1973–11 Feb 1973
  - Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane 01 Mar 1973–01 Apr 1973
- 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
- Western European and Australian drawings XVI-XX century, from Australian museums, State Hermitage Museum, Russia, Dec 1978–Feb 1979
- 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
- Twentieth century Australian watercolours from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 05 Apr 1989–25 Jun 1989
- Two hundred years of Australian painting : Nature, people and art in the southern continent:
  - National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan 28 Apr 1992–28 Jun 1992
  - The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Kyoto 14 Jul 1992–06 Sep 1992
- 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 22 publications
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook, Sydney, 1972, 92 (colour illus.).
- Art Gallery of South Australia, The Australian landscape, Adelaide, 1972. cat.no. 30; titled 'The Dry Lagoon'
- Douglas Dundas., The Etruscan, 'The watercolours of J.J. Hilder', Sydney, Sep 1959, 19 (colour illus.).
- Anne Gray, Australia, 'Art nation: Australian landscape 1880-1920', pg. 146-183, London, 2013, 174 (colour illus.). cat.no. 114
- Anne Gray, Sydney Long: the spirit of the land, 'The mysterious Mr Long', pg. 15-41, Canberra, 2012, 21 (colour illus.).
- Sasha Grishin, Australian art: a history, 'Art of federation', pg. 174-185, Carlton, 2013, 184, 185 (colour illus.), 548, 562. plate no. 18.7
- Brett Hilder and Lloyd Rees, The heritage of J. J. Hilder, Sydney, 1966. cat.no. 180
- Captain Brett Hilder., Jesse Jewhurst Hilder: anniversary exhibition, 'Introduction', Brisbane, 1966. cat.no. 19; titled 'The Dry Lagoon'
- Hendrik Kolenberg, Australian watercolours 1880s to 1990s, 'Introduction: Painting in watercolour', pg. 8-16, Sydney, 1995, 11, 34 (colour illus.), 116. cat.no. 21
- Hendrik Kolenberg, Twentieth century Australian watercolours from the collection, Sydney, 1989. cat.no. 32
- Frances McCarthy, Ian North and Daniel Thomas AM, Australian landscape 1802-1975, 'The Australian Landscape', Adelaide, 1972. cat.no. 30
- Ewen McDonald, AGNSW Collections, 'From Colonialism to late Modernism', pg. 7-106, Sydney, 1994, 22, 23 (colour illus.).
- Ian North., Special exhibitions at the Art Gallery of South Australia: Seventh Adelaide Festival of Arts 1972, 'The Australian Landscape', Adelaide, 1972. cat.no. 29
- Barry Pearce, Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, 'Introduction: Convergent Spirits', pg. 10-19, Sydney, 2002, 15, 77 (colour illus.), 144, 147.
- Barry Pearce and Haruo Arikawa, Two hundred years of Australian painting: nature, people and art in the southern continent, Tokyo, 1992, 112 (colour illus.). cat.no. 61
- Michael Preston, Arts Club, '"Early impressions have a 'helluvalot' to answer for"', pg. 23-25, London, Autumn 2001, 24 (illus.).
- Ursula Prunster and Edmund Capon AM, OBE, J.J. Hilder and contemporaries, Sydney, 1981, (illus.). cat.no. 9
- Ron Radford, Our country: Australian Federation landscape 1900-1914, 'Introduction', pg. 16-22, Adelaide, 2001, 20, 21 (colour illus.), 154.
- William Splatt and Susan Bruce, 100 masterpieces of Australian landscape painting, Melbourne, 1986, 144, 145 (colour illus.). plate no. 69
- Daniel Thomas, Creating Australia: 200 years of art 1788-1988, 'Twentieth Century Art: Nature', pg.132, Melbourne, 1988, 132, 134 (colour illus.).
- Donald Williams, In our own image: the story of Australian art, Sydney, 1995, 74 (colour illus.).
- Donald Williams, In our own image: the story of Australian art, Sydney, 2002, 61 (colour illus.).