Cremorne pastoral

Windswept gum trees lean over a grassy hillside in this sunny 1895 landscape by Arthur Streeton, one of Australia's best loved painters. The slope tumbles down toward the calm blue of Sydney Harbour, with a soft haze blurring the distant hills across the water. Streeton belonged to the Heidelberg School, a group of artists sometimes described as Australian Impressionists. They shared the French love of painting outdoors and chasing shifting light, but they focused on the particular colours, dry warmth, and wide skies of the Australian bush.

The spot shown here is Cremorne, on the lower north shore of Sydney. Today it is a leafy suburb full of homes, but when Streeton set up his easel it was still open bushland running down to the shore. His brushwork feels quick and sure, especially in the sun-bleached grass and the twisting trunks of the gums. Rather than aiming for grand drama, Streeton settled on a modest, everyday view and let it breathe, showing his lasting fondness for the landscape of his home country.