Wedderburn artistic community

The Wedderburn artistic community is an informal group of Australian contemporary artists based around Wedderburn, New South Wales, on Sydney sandstone bushland about 60 kilometres south of Sydney, close to the Georges River. Artists based around Wedderburn include Elisabeth Cummings, Roy Jackson, John Peart, David Hawkes,^[1] Suzanne Archer, David Fairbairn, Michael Bright and others. Artists associated with the group have won many major Australian art prizes, including the Wynne Prize,^[2] the Sir John Sulman Prize,^[3] the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, the Dobell Prize for Drawing,^[4] and the Fleurieu Art Prize.

Widden Weddin, Wedderburn

The artistic community around Wedderburn was started in 1976, after the gift of 10 acres of land from local landowners Barbara and Nick Romalis,^[5] to an original group containing Elizabeth Cummings, Joan Brassil, Roy Jackson and Fred Braat.^[6] John Peart joined in the 1980s, with the extension of the site up to 25 acres. ^[7] The property was jointly owned by these five artists, and came to be known as Widden Weddin (meaning 'I came, I stayed').^[8]

Artistic approach

The Wedderburn artists often seek inspiration from the Australian bush landscape, and the artistic tradition associated with it, including from Indigenous Australian art - for instance, Roy Jackson said "If someone asks me what has influenced me most in my work I simply point to the landscape of this place" and Elizabeth Cummings "I’d been away from Australia – in Europe – and what I missed most was the bush… It’s a physical thing of Australia that's so… so different from Europe."^[8]

Wildfires

The area is heavily wooded, and subject to bush fires, one of which destroyed Elizabeth Cummings' studio in 1994, also destroying significant amounts of work.^[6] During another fire in 2013, John Peart was overcome by smoke while trying to protect his studio, leading to his death.^[9]

References

1. Dougherty, Scott (12 November 2013). "'Abstraction' success follows the right move". Campbelltown-Macarthur Advertiser. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
2. Winners page for the 1997 Wynne Prize, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales
3. Winners page for the 2000 Sir John Sulman Prize, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales
4. Winners page for the 2010 Dobell Prize for Drawing, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales
5. O'Sullivan, Margaret (21 November 1976). "There are friends at the bottom of their garden". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 125. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
6. Anderson, Patricia (21 November 2015). "Artist Elisabeth Cummings at the pinnacle of her career". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
7. Johnson, Anna (17 October 2013). "Subtle, hidden depth in paintings, personality". The Australian. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
8. Mackay, Alison; Morecroft, Richard (Autumn 2013). "Elisabeth Cummings and the Wedderburn Story" (PDF). South Coast Style. No. 45. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
9. Eccles, Jeremy (16 November 2013). "John Peart: Artist was at one with every landscape he painted". Sydney Morning Herald.