Lot 127
Arthur Streeton(1867-1943)Rhododendrons, c.1928
2 December 2025, 19:30 AEDT
SydneyAU$40,000 - AU$60,000
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Alex Clark
Head of Sale, Senior Specialist
Merryn Schriever
Managing Director, Australia
Arthur Streeton (1867-1943)
Rhododendrons, c.1928
signed lower left: 'A.Streeton'
oil on canvas
61.5 x 51.5cm (24 3/16 x 20 1/4in).
signed lower left: 'A.Streeton'
oil on canvas
61.5 x 51.5cm (24 3/16 x 20 1/4in).
Footnotes
PROVENANCE
Collection of Dr V.F. O'Neill
thence by descent
Private collection
Christie's, Sydney, 14 August 1994, lot 153
Private collection, Sydney
LITERATURE
possibly, Arthur Streeton, The Arthur Streeton Catalogue, Melbourne, 1935, no. 971
From 1920 onwards, Arthur Streeton painted luminous still life works depicting cut flowers, many grown in his gardens at Longacres. A keen observer of nature, Streeton cultivated around five acres of gardens around the Olinda residence, favouring rare trees surrounded by drifts of flowers such as such as rhododendrons, delphiniums, foxgloves, primroses, narcissus and many varieties of lavender and heath. With the help of a full time gardener, Mr Griffin, Streeton planted many hundreds of trees on the property and remarked to Tom Roberts that he would 'like to come back and haunt my Blackwood trees and scare the life out of anyone who cuts down any of the trees I've planted.'
A frequent guest to Longacres, critic Harold Herbert made the following remarks in his review of Arthur Streeton's 1935 exhibition at the Athenaeum Art Gallery in Melbourne, 'The complete success of Streeton's work lies almost entirely in its close study of nature over a long period. There is nothing superficial; all subtleties of tone and colour have been faultlessly observed. He alone holds the key of colour brilliance. Many of his studies literally glow.
A large section of the exhibition is devoted to flower studies. In these Streeton is at his best. For some years now he has been keenly interested in painting bunches of blooms in crystal bowls. Roses, possibly because he grows and likes them, have been his favourite subject, and he paints them magnificently. 'Roses la France' and 'Roses Pale' are two lovely examples in this present show. Other flower pieces of great charm are 'Dahlias,' on account of the rich colour, and 'Zinnias,' which is so beautifully drawn and painted with such delicacy, Impressions of white lilies growing in a garden with a background of dark trees, are brilliant essays in this difficult type of painting. Streeton has succeeded marvellously.
The show should have been visited a number of times - there was too much to absorb in one visit, and the exhibition was too important to be hurriedly inspected.'1
1. Harold Herbert, 'Art', The Australasian, 22 June 1935, p. 16