In this elegant etching, Ian Armstrong captures the enigmatic Australian bush – ghost gums streak down the page, casting reflections in a bank of water. In 1946, Armstrong and his peers Harry Rosengrave and Fred Williams purchased a block of land in Lilydale where they built a shack, forming the headquarters for their practice of painting en plein air. For all three artists, the Australian landscape would represent a lifelong fascination, providing limitless compositional and poetic content.

A member of the influential George Bell School, Armstrong’s work crossed landscapes, portraiture and still lifes, united by an intuitive, modernist grasp of form and composition. There is a musicality to Armstrong’s vision, reflective of an artist who pursued his “own peculiar idea of the world, his own way of thinking and feeling.”

Armstrong’s work can be found across public institutions, including at the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia and Art Gallery of New South Wales. For collectors of prints and Australian modernism, ‘Dark Landscape’ is a beautiful discovery.

Ian ARMSTRONG (1923 - 2005)
'Dark Landscape' 1985
etching on paper
Edition of 10
Image Size: 20 x 18 cm
Dimensions: 36 x 38 cm
Signed: Editioned, signed, and dated below image.

Comes with Letter of Provenance

Condition: Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to the paint surface.

(c) The Artist or Assignee