The Escarpment Paintings

At Ratho farm, an opportunity was presented to enjoy a short excursion from Bothwell to the Clyde River, to view the falls, The famous Austrian born colonial artist Eugene Von Guerard (1774-1840) had painted there in 1877. We were told other contemporary artists had followed in his footsteps.

Waterfall at the Clyde River' is a bucolic painting featuring two lone fisherman against the background of an immense waterfall, It is now in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia.

We were taken to this area through private land, with a number of opening and shutting of gates, under the watchful eye of prize Saxon merino and a rare sighting of a lone deer. We learnt that the neighbouring adjacent property was owned by a farmer who had featured in a popular television series (no it was not Farmer Wants a Wife!). This series was called Muster Dogs and the farmer was training his dog Mollie.

The views of the escarpment looking over the Clyde River inspired me to research this area further, and to explore it in paint, with a focus on colour and light.

The sun was casting strong shadows across the valley and ridges. The river was winding clown in a series of small falls. Inexplicably there were barbed wire fences right to the edge laying claim to this beautiful and I suspect rarely seen vista. It was like stepping into Casper David's, Friedrich's (1774-1840) painting. ‘Wanderer above the Sea of Fog'. 1818. But of course in so many ways quite the opposite. I was intrigued to find out who the contemporary artists were, who had also created artwork inspired by this region in the central uplands of Tasmania.

I love synchronicity. Through an obligatory google search. I found the Lutrawita artist Julie Gough (former curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, NGV had exhibited an artwork called 'Psycho space (River Clyde)' in 2021, for Tarnathi at the Art Gallery of South Australia, in response to Von Guerard's painting. Ironically she had to negotiate with the owners to seek permission to enter the actual site.