Violet and gold

Step into this quiet patch of Australian bush and you can almost feel the stillness. A few cattle gather at the edge of a waterhole, sipping in the cool of the day while tall, slender trees rise around them. The colors give the painting its name. Soft violets and warm golds blend together, catching the light as it filters through the leaves. Nothing dramatic is happening here, and that is rather the point. McCubbin wanted to capture a simple, peaceful moment in the landscape he loved.

Frederick McCubbin was one of the leading figures of the Heidelberg School, often called Australian Impressionism. By 1911, when he made this work, his style had loosened considerably. After a trip to Europe a few years earlier, where he admired the work of Turner and the French Impressionists, McCubbin began applying paint in thick, broken dabs of color. Look closely and the scene almost dissolves into a shimmer of brushstrokes, more about mood and atmosphere than sharp detail. It is a gentle, dreamy painting from an artist who spent his life finding beauty in the ordinary corners of the Australian bush.