Collection
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Title
Summer
1909
Artist
Hans Heysen
Germany, Australia, France
08 Oct 1877 - 02 Jul 1968
About
'Summer' is one of the most popular works in the collection, a virtuoso performance in watercolour. The searing heat of summertime almost obliterates the hills in the distance and penetrates through the tall gum trees that offer the sheep below restful shade. Heysen's mastery of draughtsmanship provided a sure foundation for his watercolours that remain among the best of his generation.
Australian Art Department, AGNSW, 2000
This painting won the Wynne Prize in 1909 and was acquired by the Gallery in 1909.
Details
Date
1909
Materials used
pencil, watercolour on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
56.5 x 78.4 cm sheet; 95.5 x 117.8 x 5.5 cm frame
Signature & date
Signed and dated l.l. corner, brown watercolour "HANS HEYSEN 1909".
Credit
Purchased 1909
Location
Not on display
Accession number
4804
URL / Share
Hans Heysen
Summer
Shown in 19 exhibitions
Exhibition history
Hans Heysen (1922), F W Preece, Adelaide, 07 Sep 1922–23 Sep 1922
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
Hans Heysen (1926), Society of Artists, Sydney, 16 Nov 1926–27 Nov 1926
Loan exhibition of the works of Hans Heysen (1935), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 28 Mar 1935–26 May 1935
150 years of Australian art (1938), National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 27 Jan 1938–25 Apr 1938
Australian watercolours from the National Art Gallery collection 1836-1946, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 24 May 1946–Jun 1946
Jubilee exhibition of Australian art:
- Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart 12 Mar 1951–31 Mar 1951
- Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Launceston 09 Apr 1951–28 Apr 1951
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 25 Jun 1951–21 Jul 1951
- Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane 06 Aug 1951–01 Sep 1951
- Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide 24 Sep 1951–20 Oct 1951
- Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth 12 Nov 1951–10 Dec 1951
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 Region 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
Two centuries of Australian painting, a selection from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, 19 Apr 1986–15 Jun 1986
The Wynne prize: an Australian landscape tradition (1987):
- S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks 19 Dec 1986–01 Feb 1987
- Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Booragul 06 Mar 1987–29 Mar 1987
- Orange Regional Gallery, Orange 10 Apr 1987–17 May 1987
- Griffith Regional Art Gallery 03 Jun 1987–20 Jun 1987
- Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Australia 01 Jul 1987–26 Jul 1987
- Albury Regional Gallery, Albury 07 Aug 1987–06 Sep 1987
- Broken Hill City Art Gallery, Broken Hill 18 Sep 1987–26 Oct 1987
- Tamworth City Gallery, Tamworth 05 Nov 1987–13 Dec 1987
Hans Heysen watercolours and drawings (1988), S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks, 23 Sep 1988–23 Oct 1988
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
The Real Thing, Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Bulleen, 08 Dec 1997–22 Feb 1998
Favourites: Margaret Olley and Barry Humphries choose from Australian collections (2000), S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks, 15 Jan 2000–27 Feb 2000
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
Hans Heysen Retrospective (2008-2010):
- Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide 14 Nov 2008–08 Feb 2009
- Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart 27 Nov 2009–14 Feb 2010
- Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane 31 Jul 2010–24 Oct 2010
Referenced in 38 publications
Bibliography
Herbert Badham, A gallery of Australian art, Sydney, 1954, 26 (illus.). plate no. 26
Jean Campbell., Hemisphere, 'With a humble mind', Australian Capital Territory, Apr 1979, 41 (illus.).
Deborah Edwards, Two centuries of Australian painting: a selection from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Introduction', pg. 8-14, Sydney, 1986, 25 (illus.). cat.no. 19
James Gleeson, Impressionist painters 1881-1930, St Kilda, 1971, 78 (colour illus.). plate no. 103
Anne Gray, The Cambridge companion to Australian Art, 'Australian artists within a wider world 1900-1930', pg. 84-96, Port Melbourne, 2011, 94, 95, 352. fig.no. 7.13 (colour illus.), between pg. 108 and 109.
Sasha Grishin, Australian art: a history, 'Art of federation', pg. 174-185, Carlton, 2013, 178 (colour illus.), 179, 548, 562. plate no. 18.2
Elioth Gruner (Organiser), The exhibition of Australian art to be held at the galleries of the Royal Academy London, 1923, Sydney, 1923. not paginated, cat.no. 52
Elioth Gruner (Organiser), Catalogue of an exhibition of the works of Australian artists, Sydney, 1923. not paginated, cat.no. 134, Room VIII (Water Colours)
Bruce James, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian Collection: Works on Paper', pg. 182-197, Sydney, 1999, 191 (colour illus.).
Lou Klepac, Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, 'Hans Heysen / Elioth Gruner / Horace Trennery', pg. 32-47, Sydney, 2002, 32 (colour illus.), 143, 147.
Hendrik Kolenberg, Australian watercolours 1880s to 1990s, 'Introduction: Painting in watercolour', pg. 8-16, Sydney, 1995, 16, 40 (colour illus.), 117. cat.no. 29
Lionel Lindsay, 150 years of Australian art, Sydney, 1938. cat.no. 352 [Gallery No. 4]
J.G. McIvor and S. McIntyre, Managing and conserving grassy woodlands, 'Understanding grassy woodland ecosystems', pg. 1-23, Collingwood, 2002, 2 (colour illus.). Figure 1.1
Margaret Olley and Barry Humphries, Favourites: Margaret Olley and Barry Humphries choose from public and private collections, Sydney, 2000. Catalogue entry appears in inserted list to printed catalogue: Selections by Barry Humphries
Barry Pearce, The Wynne prize: an Australian landscape tradition, 'Introduction', pg. 6-9, Sydney, 1986, 9, 16 (colour illus.), 25.
Laura Pia, Look, 'A landmark for the collection: Heysen's 'Summer' celebrates 100 years of popularity', pg. 34-35, Sydney, Oct 2009, 34 (colour illus.), 35.
Julie Roberts, Uncertain ground: essays between art + nature, 'The edge of the trees at the end of the millennium', pg. 125-141, Sydney, 1999, 134, 137.
Julie Roberts, Art and Australia (Vol. 37, No. 2), 'Seeing the light', pg. 222-231, Sydney, Dec 1999-Feb 2000, 228.
Andrew Sayers, Australian art, Oxford, 2001, 209-210. Imants Tillers' "Untitled" 1978 has appropriated Heysen's "Summer".
Daniel Thomas, Arts Monthly, 'The art of summer', pg. 8, Adelaide, 02 Jan 1996, 8.
Daniel Thomas, Australia, 'Elizabthan post-colonial 1950-2013', pg. 226- 288., London, 2013, 228.
Ann Elias, Sydney College of the Arts, Useless beauty: Flowers and Australian art, United Kingdom, 2015, 64, 238, plate 21 (colour illus.).
Joan Kerr, A singular voice: essays on Australian art and architecture, 'Other voices: More stories, 1988', pg. 116-125, Sydney, 2009, 122.
Rebecca Andrews, Hans Heysen, 'Heroic gum trees', pg. 52-59, Adelaide, 2008, 58, 59 (colour illus.), 133 (colour illus.).
Australian pastoral: the making of a white landscape, Fremantle, 2007, 207 (colour illus.).
The unquiet landscapes of Rosemary Laing, Sydney, 2005, 15 (colour illus.), 16.
Ron Radford, Our country: Australian Federation landscape 1900-1914, 'The symbolic landscape', pg. 60-92, Adelaide, 2001, 69 (colour illus.), 70, 153.
Juliana Engberg (Curator), The Real Thing, Australia, 1997, cover (cover illus.), 56 (colour illus.), 85.
Helen Campbell, Wynne centenary 1897-1997: a selection of past winners from the Gallery's collection, Sydney, 1997, 5 (colour illus.).
Donald Williams, In our own image: the story of Australian art, Sydney, 1995, 90 (colour illus.).
Ewen McDonald, AGNSW Collections, 'From Colonialism to late Modernism', pg. 7-106, Sydney, 1994, 23 (colour illus.).
J.J. Hilder and contemporaries, Sydney, 1981, (illus.). cat.no. 29
Bulletin, 'How one German-Australian saw the bush', Sydney, 10 Jul 1976, 33 (illus.).
Editor Unknown (Editor), Great Australian landscape paintings, Melbourne, 1973, (colour illus.). plate no. 30
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook, Sydney, 1972, 92 (colour illus.).
Laurie Thomas (Editor), Jubilee exhibition of Australian art, Sydney, 1951, 37. cat.no. 84
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. 16
The art of Hans Heysen, Sydney, 1920, (colour illus.). plate no. X