RAY CROOKE

Barry Stern Gallery, Sydney
Private collection, Europe; purchased from the above in 1994

Black timber frame with silver slip. This work has not been lined and has the original stretcher. Small area of scuffing to paint surface, very top centre edge near frame rebate. Otherwise overall good original condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Ray Crooke has argued that 'it seems to be an instinctive desire to come to terms with one's own country or landscape.'¹  While his tropical subject matter means that he is often considered as somehow separate from artists of his generation such as Fred Williams, Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker or Clifton Pugh, Crooke, like these contemporaries, is one of those artists who have subtly but irrevocably changed the way we view the Australian landscape.

Crooke's paintings are a considered and eloquent vision of a place created and constructed in his studio.  As James Gleeson has described it, he does not simply create a snapshot or record of visual facts, but rather creates out of his mind's eye, experience and imagination making a whole greater than the sum of the parts. He pieces together a vision of Australia that goes beyond the immediate subject, beyond the regional location to examine the fundamental relationship between man and nature.

In his subtle melding of tone and colour, Crooke shows the influence of quattrocento Italian Renaissance painting.  He admires the Florentines' '... deliberate approach to placing figures in a local landscape.... This rather naïve approach has always fascinated me... '² His own scenes of Cape York, Thursday Island and Fiji have the tonal simplicity and emphasis upon design of Giotto's Arena Chapel frescoes.  In the present work, the use of similar tones carries the eye through the painting while simultaneously emphasising the red skirt of the woman in the foreground. Unlike the work of Giotto, in Crooke's work the characters have implied rather than real interaction. There is only the barest suggestion of narrative, but rather a calm, serene enfolding of the figure within the landscape.

1. Rosemary Dobson, Focus on Ray Crooke, p. 12
2. Ray Crooke, quoted in Rosemary Dobson, Focus on Ray Crooke,