Lloyd Rees

Private collection, Sydney

There are two thumb nail holes (upper centre) against frame rebate and a similar thumb nail hole upper right and another lower right against the frame rebate. There are fine but stable drying cracks through some of the lighter parts of the sky. The work is in stable condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Lloyd Rees painted at Orange occasionally in the 1940s and the best of his landscapes there could reach 'a height of poetic intensity comparable to the Shoreham landscapes of Samuel Palmer.  The sky is arched in sympathy with the earth and there is still the green and the gold'.¹  Here in Road near Orange the tall poplars, like sentinels along the roadway, give the scene an old-world, long settled feel - almost French.  As his biographer, Dr Renee Free, explains, Rees's 1940s landscapes are 'the product of meditation on a motif over a long period, the method of Corot...  In his works of 1943-44 there is a strong pastoral calmness'.  She comments on the artist's use of transparent glazes at this time, a slow and careful working method in which one feels that 'each stroke and layer is moved by different impressions.  The time taken to paint the work suggests the time taken to acquire the impressions, and each layer itself suggests further impressions .  The layers remove the work further and further from immediate sensation.'²

1. Renee Free, Lloyd Rees, Lansdowne, Melbourne, 1972, p. 52
2.  op. cit., pp 51-52