In preparation for his retrospective, which opened only months after his death in 1984, Passmore allowed the Gallery access to hundreds of his drawings, fragments and notes, on one of which was scrawled the words:
"Where is the great masterpiece? There is no masterpiece, no answer, it is all in the search."

'The miraculous draught of fishes' is considered by many to be Passmore's most ambitious painting. It was certainly one of the largest pieces he painted following his return to Australia in 1951 after a long period in England and he entered it in the Blake Prize in 1952. The painting had its genesis in a small pen and ink sketch.

James Gleeson, writing in 1971, said:
"Paintings like 'The miraculous draught of fishes' are heavily charged with emotions that have been heightened for transmission to us through the medium of line and colour. They are compositions of extraordinary vitality and originality, though the dazzle of their virtuosity never blinds one to the disturbing, though elusive, undercurrents just below the surface of the forms."

Australian Art Department, AGNSW, 2000