Arcadópolis
The Pioneer
Frederick McCubbin, 1904
What you see
All three panels show the same forest of tall trunks. On the left, a woman in a green dress sits on the ground, chin in hand; behind her, a man crouches by a fire next to a covered cart. In the center, a man rests on a fallen log with an axe beside him, while a woman stands holding a baby. On the right, a young man crouches beside a grave.
The light is soft and greenish, filtered through the treetops, and loose brushwork makes the grass and bark shimmer. Keep an eye out for the smoke rising behind the couple and the small white house among the trees of the central panel.
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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