Russell Drysdale

Russell Drysdale
Australian 1912–1981

Hill End 1948
oil on composition board
Geelong Gallery
JH McPhillimy and HP Douglass Bequest Funds, 1952

In 1947 Russell Drysdale and fellow artist Donald Friend first visited the former gold-mining towns of Sofala and Hill End in New South Wales. Captivated by the ambience of the dilapidated and abandoned buildings, Drysdale photographed the ruinous streetscapes to inform paintings created upon return to his Sydney studio. Works inspired by these towns, their inhabitants and the surrounding landscapes, are among those for which Drysdale is now best known.

Inspired both by the example set by Drysdale and Friend and by the enduring nostalgic appeal of these quintessential inland Australian townships, artists today continue to be drawn to paint the same vernacular subjects.