Works
  • Peter Simpson, Approaching Storm, Parsley Bay, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Approaching Storm, Parsley Bay, 2016
    oil on linen
    101.5 x 101.5 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Coastal Landscape, Gordon's Bay I, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Coastal Landscape, Gordon's Bay I, 2016
    oil on linen
    41 x 122 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Coastal Landscape, Gordon's Bay II, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Coastal Landscape, Gordon's Bay II, 2016
    oil on linen
    96 x 214 cm
  • Peter Simpson, From Georges Heads, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    From Georges Heads, 2016
    oil on linen
    92 x 123 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Harbour Dusk With Two Walkers, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Harbour Dusk With Two Walkers, 2016
    oil on linen
    168 x 214 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Harbour View Though Trees, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Harbour View Though Trees, 2016
    oil on linen
    122 x 214 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Landscape with Flaming Bush, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Landscape with Flaming Bush, 2016
    oil on linen
    112 x 167.5 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Landscape With Tall Trees, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Landscape With Tall Trees, 2016
    oil on linen
    153 x 87 cm
  • Peter Simpson, North Head Summer From Vaucluse, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    North Head Summer From Vaucluse, 2016
    oil on linen
    122 x 213.5 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Parsley Bay Headland, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Parsley Bay Headland, 2016
    oil on linen
    102 x 107 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Parsley Bay With Boats, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Parsley Bay With Boats, 2016
    oil on linen
    169 x 122 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Summer Boats, Redleaf, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Summer Boats, Redleaf, 2016
    oil on linen
    122 x 92 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Through the Trees, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Through the Trees, 2016
    oil on linen
    122 x 122 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Towards Rose Bay, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Towards Rose Bay, 2016
    oil on linen
    153 x 122 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Undergrowth, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Undergrowth, 2016
    oil on linen
    102 x 137 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Water Through Trees, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Water Through Trees, 2016
    oil on linen
    183 x 229 cm
  • Peter Simpson, Winter Yellow, 2016
    Peter Simpson
    Winter Yellow, 2016
    oil on linen
    91 x 182 cm
Exhibition Text

Drawing from traditions like Romanticism, 17th Century Dutch landscape painting and Modern Australian masters such as Arthur Streeton, Sidney Nolan and Fred Williams, Peter Simpson works within an historical framework to perpetuate his effervescent belief in the contemporary validity of the oft-overlooked landscape genre. From the quiet majesty of undulating pasturelands to the soaring sublimity of coastal cliffs, Simpson’s paintings reveal the diametric forces that define our nuanced continent, ultimately capturing the elusive soul of the Australian environment.

 

In his new collection of paintings, ‘Water Through Trees’, Simpson explores familiar landscapes seen in unexpected ways. The series began with a chance sighting of North Head from the back seat of a taxi on a late summer’s afternoon. The seductive beauty of the golden afternoon glow sprinkled on that familiar headland compelled the artist to create the first work in the series. Simpson then moved around Sydney harbour in search of more subjects to invigorate that initial impression. Materialising sensory impressions, he renders painterly tableaux that celebrate the poetry of the Australian shoreline. Anthropomorphic trees use their barky limbs to guide our eyes into tender vignettes of the harbour blanketed by the ubiquitous hazy summer sky. Consciously influenced by a pantheon of historical artists – from the Italianate landscapes of Claude Lorraine to the scratchy calligraphy of Cy Twombley – Simpson’s new collection of landscapes also bring to mind the warm, painterly impressions of Cezanne and the figurative landscapes of Brett Whitely. Working slowly in the studio, the artist lets each work grow organically like the ever-evolving physiognomy of the land.

Installation Views