Ray Crooke, a longtime resident of Cairns in far north Queensland, would often travel to neighbouring Melanesian and Fijian Islands to paint. In ‘Island Girl’, he captures a figure weaving beneath trees. The painting is masterful in its depiction of light – browns cut by azure ocean, opalescent, languid and shadowy.

Often compared to Paul Gauguin, Crooke is among Australia’s most collectable artists. He is represented in all state galleries and in 1969, he won the Archibald’s Prize for his portrait of the novelist George Johnston. It is his images of island life however, that are his most iconic – quiet moments dappled with gravitas. For collectors of Australian modern art, ‘Island Girl’ is a prize.

Ray CROOKE (1922 - 2015)
'Island Girl'
oil on canvas on board
Image Size: 40 x 50 cm
Dimensions: 67 x 77 x 4 cm
Signed: Signed lower left
Comes with Letter of Provenance

Condition: Excellent

(c) Ray Crooke / Copyright Agency 2024