Australian Impressionism

During the 1880s, a group of artists including Frederick McCubbin, Arthur Streeton and Charles Conder, established painting camps on the outskirts of Melbourne. They aimed for ‘truth to nature’ and worked in the open air, sketching quickly and applying their paint rapidly, capturing instantaneous impressions. Sketchy impressions of the landscape, painted en plein air, appeared alongside compositions that encapsulated a sense of Australia’s emerging ‘national’ identity. Many of the works of the Australian Impressionists remain the most iconic and popular images in Australian culture.