Page:The art of Arthur Streeton .. (IA artofarthurstree00stre).pdf/17

Rh —they were, unfortunately, only too common with Australian artists in the nineties—but I never knew hardship or lack of money to depress him, nor did he ever lose hope that he would eventually be successful.

In those days buyers of pictures were as rare as dodos, but youth, enthusiasm, and pure joy in the beauty around us more than made up for the lack of patronage. The National Galleries of Sydney and Melbourne were the principal purchasers, but it was some time before their Trustees recognized the quality of Streeton's work. When Streeton turned from "little gems" to larger canvases, the Sydney Gallery Trustees in succeeding years purchased "Fire's On" and "The Cremorne Pastoral," the Melbourne Gallery acquired "The Purple Noon's Transparent Light," while "The Hawkesbury" fell into the hands of a private collector. The last two are the high-water mark of Streeton's achievement in his larger Australian canvases.

In 1897 Streeton migrated to England, as so many of our talented sons have done, and Australia sustained a loss which it would be difficult to overestimate. His comprehension of the spirit of his native land, if somewhat superficial, still leaves him without a peer in directness and certainty of touch.

Streeton has undoubtedly been a powerful influence, not only upon the work of his contemporaries, but upon many a budding artist who will eventually add lustre to his craft. And that influence has been a purely wholesome one. He was not troubled with any of the deep underlying problems of paint; the outward aspects of nature in sunlight were all he sought, and the mastery of a technique which would suggest these qualities in the simplest, most direct and natural manner was what he most seriously desired. He was on the high road to so great a success when he decided to shift his viewpoint to an alien soil, that his technique, even then, almost amounted to a tradition. But on that foreign soil, so saturated with formulas, his true purpose could not be fulfilled. For all that, he takes high rank in the small band of Australians who have gained recognition for Australian art in the older civilizations of the world.