Be transported by these expressive reflections of the season

When asked where we go for summer, many Australians answer the same: where we always go. This time of year, marinated with impressions and associations, sees families make their annual pilgrimage to the bush, beach and outback. It can be the only time we get there, a reprieve from concrete and commuting. To celebrate life within the Australian summer, here is a collection of art to transport you into the season’s sights, sounds and sensations.

Daughter of John Perceval and Mary Boyd, Celia Perceval was born with painting in her blood. Her work is captured en plein air from the midst of the Australian bush. While landscape painting is often associated with control, Perceval’s approach embraces wilderness; as she has said, “I’m always going off the main thoroughfares into places where it looks like I can’t”.

Painted in the colours of a summer night, Sidney Nolan’s significant ‘Woman on Beach, St Kilda’ depicts a woman emerging from a tent at Luna Park. Like an urban Picnic at Hanging Rock, Nolan evokes the distinct unease that lurks beneath heat. St Kilda was his “kitsch heaven”, the setting of endless adolescent nights spent chasing balmy adventures.

Summer is part of the Australian identity. The lengthening of days and rising temperature conjures a shift in the air. Ties are loosened, windows rolled down and beers cracked open on verandas. Whether you’re looking to decorate the beach house, or bring the beach to your home we hope you find a work of art to quench your summer thirst.