As you walk through the enticing new exhibition Arthur Boyd: Agony and Ecstasy at the National Gallery of Australia you are invited to enter a visual journey into Boyd's heart and mind with landscapes both literal and mythical. As major works of his career and Australia's art historical past arrest you and ask you to stay a little longer, to examine the technique, ponder the narrative and enjoy the vibrancy of colour, something happens. You start to understand each work better for seeing all of them together. The curator of the exhibition, Deborah Hart, has assembled for us windows of time over a period of 40 years of the artist's life.
Boyd and his family returned to Australia in 1968 after living in England for nine years, during which time he received many accolades for his work and major retrospectives were held in London and back home in Melbourne and Adelaide. This was a great achievement for a mid-career artist of just 48 years of age.
Time and time again I am drawn to the same the painting, Dog on a beach with a stingray 1968. First for its pure brilliance in execution of paint rendering light and colour so exquisitely applied with such confidence and second because it is recognisably a place from my childhood, Port Phillip Bay.
The painting tells a story of what we see as well as what we don't see. Other works in the exhibition are figurative, covering the biblical, mythical and emotional. They bring alive the agony and the ecstasy of Boyd's artistic voyage. This work is different; it captures for the viewer what the artist saw on his return to a familiar landscape, perhaps a reflection on his own boyhood. He spent time enjoying this part of Victoria when young and he has painted for us an accurate, playful and content image of past and present. This was his first time back in Australia since his mother had passed away eight years earlier. In this painting I see the painter's skill in creating a landscape in horizontal thirds but I also see a young man recalling an innocent past.
Looking at Dog on a beach with a stingray I recall playing on these shores as a child, anticipating what I might find washed up on the water's edge to investigate while enjoying the unique environment and palette the bay had to offer. Boyd has captured the stillness and beauty of the Port Philip Bay and although it is a literal landscape he invokes a shared memory of the uncomplicated life by the sea as a young child.
The painting offers viewers a moment to enjoy the soothing cool marine colours of the often cloudy bay and to remember a time in our lives when we immersed ourselves solely in the world around us. A place where we discovered the simple joy of exploring all the senses; feeling the coarse sand between our toes, the scent of salt on our skin or the sound of a dog's bark echoing off the sea cliffs.
Guided tours of Arthur Boyd: Agony and Ecstasy are available 11.30am daily.
Rose Cahill is access services manager at the National Gallery of Australia.
