Spring in the Mountains
Dublin Core
Title
Spring in the Mountains
Subject
Landscape
Description
Moore’s watercolour, 'Spring in the Mountains,' is an eye catching landscape. With an unconventionally low horizon line, the sky covers a vast expanse of the composition. Moore uses thin washes of subtle colour for majority of the image. In contrast, the relatively opaque, striking electric blue of the mountain ranges forms the focal point of the composition. He makes use of the blue grey colour of the paper, fading the sheer blue sky at the top of the work into the plain paper. In the foreground, Moore scatters light pink flowers as accents among the green shrubbery and brown earth. A tree cuts through the composition, breaking it into horizontal thirds. The work is enclosed in a thick black frame that appears to be done in marker.
Moore was living in Sydney at the time the work was painted (Flower, 1986). It is therefore likely that 'Spring in the Mountains' is a depiction of the Blue Mountains just outside of the New South Wales capital. The image is quite a modern interpretation of a landscape. The vivid blue colour used for the mountains is much brighter than what would have been found in nature and the application elicits a flattened effect with minimal tonal variation and detail. Thus, Moore steers away from traditional paintings which seek to achieve a lifelike representation of colour, tone and form.
Moore became known for his fresh approach to the Australian landscape, employing a distinctive palette of pinks and indigos (Flower, 1986). This inclination towards the use of deep blues is very much present in 'Spring in the Mountains.' For such colour choices - rather than any use of abstraction - Moore became characterised as a modern artist and was a member of the Contemporary Group in Sydney in the 1930s. He later served as Vice President of the Society of Artists and the organisation awarded Moore a medal for his contributions in 1954 (Flower, 1986).
References
Flower, 1986: Cedric Flower, ‘Moore, John Drummond (1888 - 1958)’ in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986. Accessed online 21 December 2017, URL: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/moore-john-drummond-7638.
Moore was living in Sydney at the time the work was painted (Flower, 1986). It is therefore likely that 'Spring in the Mountains' is a depiction of the Blue Mountains just outside of the New South Wales capital. The image is quite a modern interpretation of a landscape. The vivid blue colour used for the mountains is much brighter than what would have been found in nature and the application elicits a flattened effect with minimal tonal variation and detail. Thus, Moore steers away from traditional paintings which seek to achieve a lifelike representation of colour, tone and form.
Moore became known for his fresh approach to the Australian landscape, employing a distinctive palette of pinks and indigos (Flower, 1986). This inclination towards the use of deep blues is very much present in 'Spring in the Mountains.' For such colour choices - rather than any use of abstraction - Moore became characterised as a modern artist and was a member of the Contemporary Group in Sydney in the 1930s. He later served as Vice President of the Society of Artists and the organisation awarded Moore a medal for his contributions in 1954 (Flower, 1986).
References
Flower, 1986: Cedric Flower, ‘Moore, John Drummond (1888 - 1958)’ in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986. Accessed online 21 December 2017, URL: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/moore-john-drummond-7638.
Creator
John D Moore (1888 - 1958)
Source
Book of autographs of visitors to Louise Hanson-Dyer, manuscript, The University of Melbourne
Date
1926
Contributor
Reetika Khanna
Format
Watercolour, 218 x 199 mm
Type
Image
Citation
John D Moore (1888 - 1958), “Spring in the Mountains,” Special Collections and Grainger Museum, accessed April 18, 2024, https://spcgm.omeka.net/items/show/12.