Fred Williams: Weipa Series, Cape York Catalogue by CAIRNS ART GALLERY

FRED WILLIAMS WEIPA SERIES CAPE YORK

FUNDING PARTNER

GALLERY SPONSORS

IMAGE COVER AND DETAIL LEFT Inlet, Weipa 1977 gouache 57.0 x 75.5 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Purchased with the assistance of the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, 2014 Photograph: MIchael Marzik

FOREWORD ANDREA MAY CHURCHER

Fred Williams is widely regarded as

The exhibition afforded us the

one of Australia’s most important and

opportunity to work with Dr Deborah

influential twentieth century Australian

Hart, Head of Australian Art, National

artists. The exhibition Fred Williams:

Gallery of Australia who generously gave

Weipa series, Cape York brings together

of her time to write the first dedicated

for the first time a major group of works

essay on the significance of the Weipa

produced by the artist in response

series.

to the remote landscape of far north

Without the enthusiastic support of

Queensland. Despite his limited time in the north, Fred William’s produced a remarkable and innovative body of work that reimagined the vast, unrelenting spaces and fragile natural world of the north and opened up new possibilities for his art. The exhibition is based around five gouaches held in the collection of the Cairns Art Gallery and supports the Gallery’s commitment to researching, exhibiting and collecting significant art produced in relation to the region and, in so doing, contributing to Australian art scholarship. We are indebted to Lyn Williams AM for her significant donation to the Cairns Art Gallery of three of the

Fred Williams painting at Bournda National Park, New South Wales, January 1975 Photographer: Lyn Williams

Weipa gouaches and her guidance with

the many private and public lenders the exhibition would not have been possible. We particularly acknowledge the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria who loaned a considerable number of works major works from their collections. Finally, I would like to thank the Gallery’s staff, particularly the Curators Julietta Park, Ashleigh Campbell and Kylie Burke, and Marketing Coordinator Kelly Jaunzems who have all contributed professionally and creatively to the exhibition and supporting publication. Andrea May Churcher Director

the selection of works and research for the exhibition.

FRED WILLIAMS THE WEIPA EXPERIENCE

DR DEBORAH HART ‘Friendship Flight’ is good for seeing the country & the long grinding journey back by jet ... It was an interesting journey to Weipa & I will do a small series on it … I have never seen country like it before ... It is a remarkable landscape and it has left an indelible impression. Fred Williams1

Fred Williams illuminated his principal

of all the sources of inspiration, it was the

focus as an artist when attending his

engagements – both real and imaginary –

retrospective exhibition of gouaches and

with his country of origin that were not only

prints, Fred Williams: Landscapes of a

the main point of interest in his art abroad

continent, at the Museum of Modern

but, more significantly, at the core of his

Art (MoMA) in New York in 1977. At the

being as an artist.

media preview he said: ‘I will never paint anywhere but in Australia … I must be inside looking out - not outside looking in.’2 This was the first solo exhibition of an Australian artist at this prestigious institution, the home of works by artists Williams had long admired, such as Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse. He was in his element. It provided a real boost to his confidence and he mentioned that he felt as though he could have filled the entire museum.3 Yet he recognised with 3

a clarity looking from ‘the outside in’, that

The exhibition at MoMA was shown in the same year that Williams travelled to Weipa on the Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland, literally a world away from the hustle and bustle of New York. While a review of the exhibition at MoMA mentioned that Williams conveyed a feeling ‘peculiar to the Australian outback’, prior to his visit to Weipa and then the Pilbara in Western Australia, his encounters with remote areas of the country had been limited.

Saplings, Weipa 1977 gouache 55 x 75 cm Private Collection. Courtesy Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane Photograph: Michael Marzik

All the same this notion tapped into a

applied to spacious, largely tonal grounds,

dimension inherent in the philosophical

with some works emphasising flat infinite

underpinnings of the works – that in Williams’

horizon lines, to convey a wider sense of the

thinking, regional diversity did not exist in

continent. When he remarked in 1980 (as he

isolation but rather could be understood as

had done earlier) that Australia was essentially

part of a greater, complex whole. His visit to

the ‘same country … with the skin peeled

Weipa was simultaneously a revelation of new

back’, he was not denying the specificities of

possibilities as well as a confirmation of his

particular environments but rather referring to

imagined Australia.

underlying geological formations and patterns

Placing the works in context it is worth recalling that Williams’ reputation as one of

Williams’ works of the 1970s, including those

Australia’s most innovative and important

undertaken at Weipa, are notable for their

landscape artists had been confirmed in the

luminous colour. Just prior to travelling to

1960s. As James Gleeson wrote in 1966, ‘The

Weipa on 25 October 1977, he attended an

rarest of artists are the ones who see familiar

exhibition of his art at the Institute of Modern

things as no one has previously seen them,

Art (IMA) in Brisbane, thoughtfully reviewed

and who, in setting down their vision, reshape

by local art critic Dr Gertrude Langer who

our world for us.’ This was achieved through

remarked that his most recent landscapes

series such as Williams’ You Yangs, Upwey

revealed ‘a courageous departure from the

and Lysterfield works – all inspired by locations

successes of earlier works. The all-over rich,

in close proximity to his place of residence.

shimmering, colourful, breathing surfaces

Across these major series comprising

(flatness, of course, is still preserved) with the

paintings, prints and gouaches, he developed

evocation of fragrance and humming life …

a distinctive visual language; distilling natural

Williams has not said his last word yet’.6 The

phenomena such as trees, rocks and bushes

IMA exhibition had been made possible by a

to a semaphore of dots, dabs and dashes,

special grant from Comalco Ltd (now Rio Tinto

akin to force-fields of energy. These were

Ltd)7 who now invited the artist to visit their

Bauxite Coastline II 1977 gouache 57 x 75 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Donated through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Lyn Williams AM, 2014 Photograph: Michael Marzik

of connection encompassing diversity.5

mining operations at Weipa on the Cape York

As he said in an interview in relation to his

Peninsula in Far North Queensland.

working method, ‘I sort of take the attitude

This part of the country is about as far north as it is possible to go on the mainland. The town of Weipa (from the Aboriginal word Waypa or Waypundun), is situated on west of the Peninsula, on the traditional lands of the Alngith people.9 It has been noted that the

that I’m like an antenna. I let it come to me … I certainly don’t try to impose anything on it’.10 He felt fortunate to get to see large aspects of the terrain around Weipa but also relished the chance to sit contemplatively and take it all in. On 26 October 1977 he wrote:

western half of the Peninsula is characterised

Early rise and we head off at 8.30. [The

by large amounts of red and yellow earths,

plan] is to cover the entire area of mining!

as well as laterite soils with significant bauxite

A bit more than I had expected – to sit

deposits. There are also vast areas of alluvial

quietly would have been more to my taste!

soils near the coast. While Williams only spent

Across the river to Andoon, I drop off at odd

a few days in Weipa, the ‘indelible impression’

times and make a quick sketch. We finally

he felt it had made upon him would be played

go about 30 miles east and have lunch at

out over many months on his return to his

‘Running creek’ where Keith has a weekend

studio, informed by sketches, photographs

‘platform’, a lovely spot … I finally sit for a

and preliminary studies, as well as a clarity of

few hours at a quiet spot and make some

memories. The direct engagement with place

rapid notes. There is a long bend of the river

was a vital part of the process. He chose not

(Embley River) that I decline to stay at –

to take a heavy-handed approach but rather

because Alan Young told me how someone

to allow the environment to work on him.

had been taken by a crocodile eight months back. Both Keith and Dean assure me it is OK but I don’t do it.11

Weipa Coastline 1977 gouache 57 x 76 cm Private Collection. Courtesy Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane Photograph: Michael Marzik

Coastline, Weipa 1977 gouache 57.4 x 150.2 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC46 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

It was during his time in Weipa that Williams

true feeling for the heat and distinctive light of

had his first extensive view of the land from

North Queensland. Looked at another way, this

a light plane. He had long conceptualised the

remarkable work also suggests his admiration

viewpoint that this experience might afford. In

for American Colour Field painters.12

the 1960s, in the front of one of his cuttings books, he had pasted a newspaper clipping of a light aircraft flying over a landscape with scattered bushes below. The opportunities for such a flight had been planned in the past but for a range of reasons never materialised. Now, in 1977 he finally had the chance of flying in different aircraft including light planes.

an adventurous and disorienting confluence of land and sky. At times the smoke issues from the landscape tilted vertically – as in Bushfire,

Weipa 1 (page 13) in which the soft plumes of smoke are at one with the delicately painted ground and sky. Also mapping the landscape from above Cape York, bushfire (2) (page 12)

The experience of flying low over the country

reveals warmer tonalities as though illuminated

was just as brilliant as Williams had always

from within by fire. In other works such as

hoped it would be. He had long enjoyed tilting

Bushfire, Weipa II and Weipa bushfire (page 36),

conventional expectations about composition

the ground is at the base of the painting, the

and perspective and in Coastline, Weipa (page

smoke rising up from the low hills and billowing

9/10) and Bushfire, Weipa II 1977 (page 14)

into the partially darkened sky.

he went further than ever before. Flying over the shore he was able to view the expanse of sparkling blue sea. In Coastline, Weipa he allows spaciousness to take over; the flat blue Cape York bushfire (2) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 76 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC50 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

A number of Williams’ bushfire gouaches reveal

ocean connecting with the thinnest strip of land at the very top of the composition. It is a meeting of land and sea, reality and abstraction. Williams’ particular choice of blue captures a

While Australia is often thought of as a dry country, the Cape York contains sixteen complete drainage basins, including several large river systems. A sense of aerial mapping is particulary evident in works in which waterways intersect with the land, at times as in Weipa

coastline (page 7) Williams allows delicate tendrils to curl into the landscape. 12

IMAGE LEFT Bushfire, Weipa I 1977 gouache 75 x 55 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Purchased by Cairns Regional Gallery, 1999 Photograph: Michael Marzik

IMAGE RIGHT Bushfire, Weipa II 1977 gouache 57 x75.5 cm Private Collection, Melbourne Photograph: Michael Marzik

In other works such as Cape York river swamp

I (page 41) and Cape York river swamp II (page 16) dramatic, curvilinear luminous yellow rivers create pathways cutting a swathe through the terrain. Among the notable aspects of Williams’ Cape York works is the great variety of compositional formats with which he experimented. In

Bauxite coastline II (page 6), Tidal swamp (page 40) and Vines and wildflowers (page 31), Williams employed what he described as the ‘strip gouache’ format in which different aspects of the same scene can be shown together. The idea of the horizontal strips had originated earlier in the decade when Williams was working on the edge of the Victorian coastline at Queenscliff and then in Erith Island. For an artist who enjoyed working in series, this was a way of having self-contained series in the same work. The idea of taking a horizontal perspective across the landscape also referred to the early nineteenth century artists like Charles Lesueur and William Westall who mapped parts of the Australian coastline to record coastal profiles of the continent.13 not titled [Cape York river swamps II] 1977 gouache 57.6 x 74.8 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983

Weipa landscape (2) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 76.2 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC47 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

not titled [Landcape with termite mounds, Cape York Peninsula] 1977 gouache and synthetic polymer paint 57.2 x 75.8 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983

In some instances the Cape York landscapes

tropical vegetation. The brush marks here are

are seen front-on such as Weipa landscape

loose and free, following the curling forms

I and II (page 44 and page 38), Cape York

of the plants that almost seem to dance

scrub (page 37) and Landscape with termite

across the three strips; their magnification

mounds, Cape York Peninsula (page 18).

recalling the emphasis given to small ferns

While bold in their conception there is also a softness and delicacy in the painterly aspects,

regenerating after bushfires. In Vines and wildflowers, Williams retains a lighter touch

as though the environment is seen through

with the seeming freefall of dots and dashes

the heat haze of a mirage. Other works such

to suggest natural growth. He was also

as Aerial landscape, Weipa (page 39), take an

interested in the spindly forms of saplings

overview of the space with classic Williamsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

at times coinciding with the extraordinary

visual notations on muted yet richly inflected

termite mounds that are characteristic of the

grounds recalling great works of the 1960s

area.

such as Forest of gum trees

1968-70.14

Among the most outstanding gouaches

As was always the case when he travelled,

to come out of his visit to Cape York visit

Williams looked not only at the macrocosm

were Weipa I-IV 1977 (page 23 -26). In

but at the microcosm. In Weipa he was

these strip gouaches the colours of the

particularly struck by carnivorous plants, given

earth are given full resonance; from reddish

new life in his gouache Insect-catching plant,

ochres veering to soft glowing pinks, dark to

Weipa 1977 (page 20), painted in mauves

sandy browns and warm mustard yellows;

and rich purples and greens suggesting

variously translucent and opaque. There

Insect-catching plant, Weipa 1977 gouache 57.6 x 76.6 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC44 - 1980 Photographer: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

was a special correlation between the strip

travelled to China where he had undertaken

In his Riverbed works and Weipa I-IV Williams

progress from different locations in a lively

format and the particularities of the Weipa

breathtakingly minimal drawings of mountains

gave painted substance to the richly coloured

dialogue across series. They demonstrated

terrain. Williams was fascinated by geology

and rivers in his beautiful drawing book. Yet

earth of the far north, laying the groundwork

a combination of spontaneity and assurance

and would have been aware of the richness

the linear river stretching vertically from top to

for the Pilbara series later on. This came

in his development and led to several new

of this landscape which in profile reveals

bottom in the Riverbed works also provided a

about after a visit to Williams’ studio by Sir

approaches. As Patrick McCaughey wrote of

layers that have developed since Jurassic

counterpoint to the more complex formations

Roderick Carnegie, the Chairman of the

this period in time:

times. These include sandstone and marine

he had seen in China. As James Mollison

mining company Conzine Riotinto of Australia

sediments and kaolin deposits that are ‘part

noted of the riverbed paintings:

(CRA, now Rio Tinto Ltd) who had been a

of the same profile as, and occur below, the bauxite ores’.15 The year after Williams’ visit to the Cape York Peninsula he undertook the first two paintings of long riverbeds stretching across the landscape in Riverbed A and

Riverbed B 1978, a pair of paintings, followed

of the Cape York Peninsula landscape to describe the infinite spaces of the outback. The river, with bordering mangroves, became a line that he treated

seen Williams’s works resulting from his visit to the Cape York Peninsula, he believed that the artist would benefit greatly from a journey to the magnificent Pilbara region.17

is that for all the travelling and extensive and substantial exhibiting – six exhibitions in three years – Williams produced an outstanding amount of work. More certain of his direction now that the new style of the 1970s was winning acceptance, he turned

as if it were an Aboriginal mark on the

By the time Williams painted his Weipa and

to his work with renewed confidence and

landscape. Williams was fascinated by the

Cape York subjects he had mastered the

concentration.18

fact that an aspect of Aboriginal art could

technique of painting with gouache on paper

With the benefit of distance other artistic

be incorporated in a landscape seen from

which comprises most of the works. While

interests flowed into the works including

the air. He contrasted the Australian river

earlier in his artistic development gouaches

subtle connections with Aboriginal and

with the complicated, twisting river forms

were sometimes preliminary studies for

Chinese art. Williams had been an admirer

he had seen from the air in China – forms

oils, by this point they were very much

of Aboriginal bark paintings incorporating

in which he saw the origins of the dragon

considered to be finished works in their own

multiple perspectives as well as rock

motif in Chinese art.

right. The Weipa gouaches were created

by another two, of the lightly treed woodland country around a huge river.

paintings and engravings. In 1976 he had

[Williams] again used a map-maker’s view

friend of the family for some years. Having

The most remarkable aspect of those years

in 1977 and 1978 alongside other works in

not titled [Weipa IV] 1977 gouache 57.4 x 75.1 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983

Weipa I 1977 gouache 57.6 x 76.4 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983

not titled [Weipa II] 1977 gouache and synthetic polymer paint 57 x 76 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983

Weipa lll 1977 gouache 57 x 76 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983

In conclusion, Williams’ visit to Weipa lasted

to his back door, a short drive’s distance away

a matter of a few days, yet it provided

or a long flight to the far north of the country.

him enough fertile ground for around 50

Many of his recollections of Weipa embedded

gouaches, mostly painted back in the

in the art confirmed what he had intuitively

studio. His engagement with Weipa points

grasped years earlier about the continuities

to the significance of up close and personal

of landscape; the underlying geological

encounters with myriad tangible realities of

formations, skeins and lines of connection that

specific locales that bring the authenticity of

stretch across the continent (calling to mind the

real experience to the works: the absorption of

idea of Aboriginal songlines). In the Cape York

distinctive qualities of light, patterns of dry and

environment and back in the studio, tangible

wet environments, the life of plants, butterflies

memories of experiences flowed into paintings

and termite hills, the colours of bauxite and iron

on paper that were not simply stepping stones

ore, and the seemingly endless coastline. Add

to Williams’ Pilbara achievement that followed,

to this – and it is a crucial aspect of Williams’

but instead resonated with distinctiveness and

art – the interactions between the subject out

distinction. Among them are some of the most

there and the abstract life of the work itself

outstanding gouaches of his career, holding

recollected in the space of the studio.

their own with seminal works of the 1960s.

Yet this kind of distance was wholly different to the distance felt in New York. It was about deepening and widening connections to place, never taken for granted but respected and understood as enlivening and enriching. The element of distancing from the intensity not titled [Dry creek bed diptych, Cape York] 1977 gouache with additions in chalk colour 57.2 x 76.2 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983

They are informed by the past, but also much enlivened by fresh possibilities opened up by a remarkable area of the continent, experienced and re-imagined, as he put it, from the ‘inside looking out’. Dr Deborah Hart, 2018

of real experience had long been important to Williams in the inspired internal making of his works, whether painting the landscape close 28

END NOTES 1 Fred Williams diary entry, courtesy of Lyn Williams, quoted in Deborah Hart, Infinite horizons, National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra, 2011, p.160. Some parts of this essay are drawn from this catalogue that accompanied Williams’ exhibition at the NGA in 2011. 2

Fred Williams quoted in John Raedler, ‘Triumph on West 53rd Street’, The Australian 14 March 1977. 3

See James Mollison, A singular vision: The art of Fred Williams, Australian National Gallery and Oxford University Press, Canberra & Melbourne, 1989, p.229. 4

James Gleeson quoted in Hart, Infinite horizons, p.61. 5

Fred Williams, quoted in Anthony Clarke, ‘Exploring Fred Williams’, The Age, 13 July, 1980, p.17. See also Mollison, A singular vision, p.230. 6

Gertrude Langer, ‘Fred Williams, an artist to treasure’, Courier Mail, Brisbane, 29 October 1977. 7

See www.riotinto.com.au/aluminium. Rio Tinto (formerly Comalco) has owned and operated Weipa bauxite mine since 1963.

Lyn Williams told the author that the interest from Comalco Ltd. had started with Dean Bunny, who was in Public Relations for Comalco and also a member of the Gallery Society of the National Gallery of Victoria. 9

See www.weipatownauthority.com.au/westerncape-history (viewed 11/10/2018) The impact of incursions into the land since white settlement in the area in the 19th century has been complex and difficult for local Indigenous communities, although in more recent times there has been greater emphasis on consultation and inclusion. 10

Fred Williams in an interview with Alan Oldfield on 12 August for the Australian Eye series #5, Patterns of landscape: Through the eyes of Fred Williams 1927-1982, Film Australia, Sydney, 1989. 11

Fred Williams’ diary entry on 26 October 1977, courtesy of Lyn Williams. 12

While the environment was the key, Williams was particularly adept at integrating his understandings of particular moments in art history into his vision, including contemporary developments, as he had done in the late 1960s when his vast, spare landscapes of a continent were variously titled Australian landscape and Minimal landscape. 13

See Hart, Infinite horizons, p.125

See above, p.90, for a detail of Forest of gum trees 1968-70 which Williams considered one of his best paintings. 15

This information is based on a geological report by Porter GeoConsultancy in 1990. The comments in this report are relayed in abbreviated form to give a sense of the parallels between Williams’s approach and the landscape itself. For more detail see the following website that was checked for this document on 11 June 2011: http://www.portergeo.com.au/database. 16

Mollison, A singular vision, p.229. The two later paintings, Riverbed C and Riverbed D 1981 are illustrated in Mollison on p.228. 17

See above, p.230. Although Rod Carnegie was keen to commission the artist to paint a series for the company, Williams was not prepared to accept the idea, suggesting instead ‘that if CRA liked any of the paintings that eventuated from the trip, they could have the first choice of them’. 18

Patrick McCaughey, Fred Williams, Bay Books, 1987, p.178. This major monograph was republished by Murdoch Books in 2008.

Butterflies and Flowers Weipa 1977 gouache Image size 51 x 75.5 cm Private Collection. Courtesy Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane Photograph: Michael Marzik

Vines and wildflowers 1977 gouache 57.0 x 75.5 cm Private collection, Melbourne Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy

Cape York Landscape 1977 gouache 55.0 x 74.5 cm Private Collection, Launceston Photograph: Michael Marzik

IMAGE LEFT Weipa Landscape 1978 gouache 57 x 75.5 cm Private Collection, Melbourne Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy

IMAGE RIGHT Termite Mound, Weipa 1977 gouache 75.5 x 57 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Donated through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, through the Australian Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cultural Gifts Program by Lyn Williams AM, 2014

IMAGE LEFT Cape York bushfire (1) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 76 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC49 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

IMAGE RIGHT Weipa Bushfire 1977 gouache 55 x 73.5 cm Private Collection, Sydney Photograph: Michael Marzik

not titled [Cape York scrub] 1977 gouache and synthetic polymer paint 57.2 x 76.2 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983

Weipa landscape II 1977 gouache 56 x 74 cm Private Collection, Melbourne

Aerial landscape, Weipa 1977 gouache 56.5 x 75.5 cm City of Townsville Art Collection, Townsville Purchased 1998 1998.20

Tidal Swamp 1977 gouache 57.0 x 75.5 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Donated through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, through the Australian Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cultural Gifts Program by Lyn Williams AM, 2014

LIST OF WORKS Fred Williams Australian 1927 – 1982 All works are by Fred Williams unless otherwise stated. © All works by Fred Williams are reproduced courtesy of the Estate of Fred Williams. The list of works includes all works included in the exhibition Fred Williams: Weipa series, Cape York. All works listed are reproduced in the catalogue. Works are listed in the order of reproduction in the catalogue. All work dimensions are height x width in centimetres. Cataloguing conventions of lending institutions have been adopted.

1 Inlet, Weipa 1977 gouache 57.0 x 75.5 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Purchased with the assistance of the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, 2014 Photograph: MIchael Marzik 2 Saplings, Weipa 1977 gouache 55 x 75 cm Private Collection. Courtesy Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane Photograph: Michael Marzik 3 Bauxite Coastline II 1977 gouache 57 x 75 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Donated through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Lyn Williams AM, 2014 Photograph: Michael Marzik 4 Weipa Coastline 1977 gouache 57 x 76 cm Private Collection. Courtesy Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane Photograph: Michael Marzik

not titled (Cape York river swamps I] 1977 painting 57.2 x 75.6 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983

5 Coastline, Weipa 1977 gouache 57.4 x 150.2 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable

and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC46 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 6 Cape York bushfire (2) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 76 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC50 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria 7 Bushfire, Weipa I 1977 gouache 75 x 55 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Purchased by Cairns Regional Gallery, 1999 Photograph: Michael Marzik 8 Bushfire, Weipa II 1977 gouache 57 x75.5 cm Private Collection, Melbourne Photograph: Michael Marzik 9 not titled [Cape York river swamps II] 1977 gouache 57.6 x 74.8 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983

10 Weipa landscape (2) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 76.2 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor ,and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC47 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 11 not titled [Landcape with termite mounds, Cape York Peninsula] 1977 gouache and synthetic polymer paint 57.2 x 75.8 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 12 Insect-catching plant, Weipa 1977 gouache 57.6 x 76.6 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC44 - 1980 Photographer: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 13 not titled [Weipa IV] 1977 gouache 57.4 x 75.1 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 14 Weipa I 1977 gouache 57.6 x 76.4 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 15 not titled [Weipa II] gouache and synthetic polymer paint 57 x 76 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 16 Weipa lll 1977 gouache 57 x 76 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983

17 not titled [Dry creek bed diptych, Cape York] 1977 gouache with additions in chalk colour 57.2 x 76.2 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 18 Butterflies and Flowers Weipa 1977 gouache 51 x 75.5 cm Private Collection. Courtesy Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane Photograph: Michael Marzik 19 Vines and wildflowers 1977 gouache 57.0 x 75.5 cm Private collection, Melbourne Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy 20 Cape York Landscape 1977 gouache 55.0 x 74.5 cm Private Collection, Launceston Photograph: Michael Marzik 21 Weipa Landscape 1978 gouache 57 x 75.5 cm Private Collection, Melbourne Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy 22 Termite Mound, Weipa 1977 gouache 75.5 x 57 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Donated through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, through the Australian Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cultural Gifts Program by Lyn Williams AM, 2014 23 Cape York bushfire (1) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 76 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC49 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

24 Weipa Bushfire 1977 gouache 55 x 73.5 cm Private Collection, Sydney Photograph: Michael Marzik 25 not titled [Cape York scrub] 1977 gouache and synthetic polymer paint 57.2 x 76.2 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 26 Weipa landscape II 1977 gouache 56 x 74 cm Private Collection, Melbourne 27 Aerial landscape, Weipa 1977 gouache 56.5 x 75.5 cm City of Townsville Art Collection, Townsville Purchased 1998 1998.20 28 Tidal Swamp 1977 gouache 57.0 x 75.5 cm Cairns Art Gallery Collection, Cairns Donated through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, through the Australian Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cultural Gifts Program by Lyn Williams AM, 2014 29 not titled (Cape York river swamps I] 1977 gouache 57.2 x 75.6 cm Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased from Gallery admission charges, 1983 30 Weipa landscape (1) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 75.8 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria ith the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC45 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Weipa landscape (1) 1977 gouache 57.2 x 75.8 cm Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria ith the assistance of the H.J. Heinz ll Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, and the Utah Foundation, Fellow, 1980 AC45 - 1980 Photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Cairns Art Gallery acknowledges the

The Gallery acknowledges the generosity

many individuals and organisations that

of private and public lenders who have

have assisted us with our research and

made the exhibition possible:

bringing together, for the first time for exhibition, the largest body of works from the Fred William’s Weipa series. The Gallery is indebted to Lyn Williams AM for her generosity and ongoing support of the Gallery and her contribution to the research for this project. The Gallery is extremely grateful to Dr Deborah Hart who shared her research and contributed to this publication.

National Gallery of Victoria (Tony Elwood, Ieva Kanepe) National Gallery of Australia (Gerard Vaughan, Aaron Pollock, Jane Marsden) Perc Tucker Gallery (Erwin Cruz, Stephanie Smith) Philip Bacon Galleries (Philip Bacon, Nicholas Smith) Lauraine Diggins Fine Art (Lauraine Diggins)

Published for the exhibition Fred Williams: Weipa series, Cape York Cairns Art Gallery 2 March – 1 July 2018 ISBN: 978-0-9757635-9-9 © Cairns Art Gallery, Estate of Fred Williams The publication is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be directed to Cairns Art Gallery. Text copyright © Dr Deborah Hart

Sothebys Australia (Geoffrey Smith)

Publisher Cairns Art Gallery, 2018

Deutscher and Hackett (Louise Choi)

Image reproductions All works by Fred Williams are reproduced courtesy of the Estate of Fred Williams.

Lyn Williams AM Anonymous lenders

Photography Mark Ashkanazy; Michael Marzik; National Gallery of Victoria; National Gallery of Australia Cairns Art Gallery Cnr Abbott & Shields Streets Cairns Queensland 4870 61 74046 480 www.cairnsartgallery.com.au

FRED WILLIAMS WEIPA SERIES CAPE YORK