Description
In late 1918, Roy de Maistre collaborated with fellow artist Roland Wakelin in exploring the relationship between art and music. Their experiments produced Australia's first abstract paintings, characterised by high-key colour, large areas of flat paint and simplified forms. The works received critical acclaim, but modernist developments were largely derided by the conservative establishment.
This painting exemplifies de Maistre's theory of colour harmonisation based on analogies between colours of the spectrum and notes of the musical scale. It is also aligned with de Maistre's search for spiritual meaning through abstraction, akin to other artists such as Kandinsky who were interested in the ideas of the theosophy and anthroposophy movements, spiritualism and the occult.
Details
- Work Date:
- 1919
- Location:
- Lowy, Gonski Gallery
- Dimensions:
- 85.3 x 115.3 cm board; 89.5 x 119.9 x 5.0 cm frame
- Medium:
- oil on paperboard
- Credit Line:
- Purchased 1960