Arcadópolis
At the Falling of the Year
Frederick McCubbin, 1886
What you see
In a tall, narrow format, several thin trunks with pale bark rise from the grass to the top edge. The whitest stands on the right. In the center, a young sapling holds on to a few pale and reddish leaves. Behind, the forest is a dark mass of browns and mauves, and along the bottom runs a band of dry golden grass.
The palette is muted, and the white bark stands out against the dark background. The brushstrokes are quick and visible, especially in the grass, made of vertical strokes. Look for the two small dark marks that look like birds in flight and the red signature in the lower left corner.
About Frederick McCubbin
Frederick McCubbin was born in Melbourne, where his parents ran a bakery, and taught drawing at the National Gallery of Victoria’s art school from 1886 until his death; his friends called him “the Proff” for his love of reading and philosophising. In 1885 he founded the Box Hill artists’ camp with Tom Roberts and Louis Abrahams, the seed of the Heidelberg School, and painted large scenes of life in the Australian bush, using his own family as models. Paintings such as “The Pioneer” and “Down on His Luck” became Australian icons, and many critics consider the works he made after a trip to Europe in 1907 the finest of his career.
More by Frederick McCubbin
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