Hans Heysen Was Here

Best known for his pastoral scenes featuring statuesque gum trees, Heysen won critical acclaim when he first exhibited his Flinders Ranges paintings in 1928, featuring the 'bare bones of landscape'. From 1926 to 1949 Heysen spent many months in the Far North of South Australia, inspiring artworks that have rarely been seen. Hans Heysen Was Here brings together a vast selection of these artworks inspired by the stark landscape that helped reawaken his love of painting. The oil paintings, watercolours, charcoal drawings and field sketches in this book are illuminated by Heysen's previously unpublished observations about his semi-arid surrounds and the challenges and joys of camping there. The letters and artwork serve as an irreplaceable time capsule of the Flinders Ranges before destocking and re-vegetation transformed the landscape, and an insight into the life and times of a giant of Australian art.