Art Critical Review

and broad colours could have been used for other subjects beside landscapes. I then moved on to another artwork which was within the gallery, and spotted someone buying a beautiful Impressionist painting. The painting was called Herrick’s Blossoms and was painted by Charles Conder in 1889, pacifically for the 9x5 exhibit. This shocked me to see a landscape painting, painted in an international way. It was painted in Impressionist, with small brushstrokes and many different colours and tones mainly blue, green and light grey. But this painting was different because showed evidence of American art and the tree leaves were painted in a Japanese way. Making the painting look like a joyful un-Australian environment.As I continued venturing around the amazing 9x5 Exhibition. I came across a painting called “By the Treasury”. It was made by Tom Roberts in 1889. In the picture was a man running though the streets while it was raining. This painting was made in autumn, which explains why it was raining. It shows a person running in the rain around the corner in Melbourne. The techniques that were used are streaky lines used to tell which way the road leads, greyish colours to give the effect of a stormy rainy day, with the bright buildings of Melbourne standing out. This uses small strokes of many similar tones of colours, showing excellent Impressionist style. This depicts a man trying to run though the rain to get to a job. The position of the man stands out because he is in the middle of a streaky wet road leading around the bend. The painting shows tone making shadows, and streaks of different colours to make affect. Also as the road becomes further away it turns to lighter shade of grey. Movement is shown by the way the man’s feet are placed. The artwork is about how men still have to work when it is raining, and was made for the 9x5 Exhibition. As I continued walking though the Exhibition. I came across a magnificent artwork which was called “Windy and wet”. It was made by Arthur Streeton in 1889, for this specific Exhibition. This artwork showed a boy struggling against the wind and storm on a wet and rainy day. The techniques used to make this painting are Quickness, short brushstrokes, and a range of different tones. The painting was painted quickly to capture every glimpse of detail in that moment. The short brushstrokes allow you to see broad strokes of many different colours and tones, creating the scene of a rainy day. The range of different tones is seen in the small puddles on the side of the muddy road. By showing shadows of trees and glimpses of bright light. The road is made to look muddy my the small dabs of colours on the left of the road, these colours include blues, reds and purples, To give the effect of water running and creating mud. The gate was drawn quickly and becomes lighter as more distance is left. The trees on the left show a huge amount of detail, and many colours. Colours seen in these trees include Brown, Light Brown, Green, Orange, Purple and even grey. By quickly applying theses colours it creates a realistic effect of the colours seen. The composition is in the middle of the painting and attention is straight away drawn to the figure struggling against the wind. Although the many tones and colours this painting was painted quickly to express the “first Records” and “Fleeting” effects. To make the boy seem like he was struggling very hard against the strong winds against him. Overall this artwork makes me feel inspired and determined, to reach my goal. This is because it shows a small boy fiercely fighting against the wind, but he never gives up to the strength shown. He concentrates and gets to his point. I like this artwork and find it interesting because of the many different colours and tones and also the quick technique, to capture the m0ment. Overall by looking at some of the artworks from the 9x5 Exhibition I can say that the Exhibition was a new step for Australian Impressionism. This quick Impressionism effect capture all the colour and tone of the brilliant Australian Landscape. http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/australianimpressionism/education/insights_9by5.html