Arthur Streeton

Arthur Streeton
Australian 1867–1943

Ocean blue, Lorne 1921
oil on canvas
Geelong Gallery
Purchased with funds generously provided by Geelong Art Gallery Foundation, Robert Salzer Foundation Art Program, Geelong Community Foundation, Will and Dorothy Bailey Charitable Gift and numerous individual donors, 2011

Arthur Streeton was born in 1867 in Duneed, near Geelong. After spending many years abroad, Streeton returned to Australia in 1920 with a keen desire to reconnect with the local landscape. During the summer of 1921, Streeton completed at least five paintings of Lorne.

Streeton thought so highly of Ocean blue, Lorne that it was retained in the family’s possession for decades and, in 1935, featured it in a deluxe publication of his finest works. It was included in his 1938 solo exhibition, at which time it was singled out as ‘a masterpiece in colour and tone.’

_{—The Argus, 2 August 1938}