The gouache medium is often described as an ‘opaque watercolour’, and dries to a matte finish and to visit the exhibition and be surrounded by these works, which are all in white exhibition frames without glass and showing the full sheet of paper, there is an overall impression of this muted subtle colouring. It is not until faced with each individual work and spending time examining the palette that the true array of colours is revealed.
JOHN DENT View onto Adelaide Hills gouache on paper 56.5 x 69.5 cm
Many of the gouaches utilise strong colour, an expansive brilliant sky or the intense purple of the Kimberley. Others have small bright touches of strong vivid colour which are a pleasurable delight to discover. Such as the hot pink roofline in Hawker, Flinders Ranges or the intense touches of colour in the View over the Adelaide Hills or the striking bright blue pole in The Meeting, Rocks anchoring the couple in their nocturnal union.
For those not able to join us last Saturday at the opening of John Dent’s exhibition of gouache paintings, we were delighted to hear the insightful words of Peter Perry OAM and to learn his favourite works in the exhibition.
Peter was the Director of the Castlemaine Art Gallery (1975 – 2013) and author of Australian Tonalism: A Selection from the John and Peter Perry collection (2022).
Peter is currently working on a book about John Dent and here is what he had to say:
“I am delighted to say a few words about this outstanding exhibition of John Dent gouaches.
My current manuscript on John is about halfway through, tentatively titled, John Dent, Passionate Painter and Printmaker of Life and already confirms with my research, writing and collecting of images from public and private collections, including several from this exhibition, how accomplished and professional John Dent is.
Two Australian masters of painting in gouache – Fred Williams and Ian Armstrong – both encouraged John to produce a unique fusion of practice and observation – the mastery of the craft of visual communication.
Way back in 1946, Ian Armstrong, together with Fred Williams and Harry Rosengrave, purchased a block of land at Lilydale in the Yarra Valley for the purpose of painting en plein air on the weekends. Their use of gouache was considered at this time to be much in the forefront.
For those here today unfamiliar with this medium, I provide an AI overview of a definition: Gouache is an opaque, water soluable paint medium composed of natural pigment, water, a binding agent and inert materials like chalk to add opacity. Often called ‘opaque watercolour’ or ‘body colour’, it dries to a flat, matte finish and can be re-wetted and reworked, even after drying.
And I enjoy what John has said about not putting glass on these works, but you can if you like, they definitely sing.
As Ruth Lovell, Gallery manager, notes in the flier to John’s exhibition, he has been inspired by travels around Australian between 1988 – 2000 and the gouaches capture a poetic sense of place, where the sensation of colour and shape are the priority. Dent’s gouaches are saturated – in colour, in experience and place.
In my observation, these recent gouaches are less concerned with exploiting the subjects decorative value, at which John excels, but is replaced here by a more objective vision of reality. John attempts to develop a visual schema for the landscape, rather than just topographically depicting it.
Although gouache can be quite transparent, John has used the pigment with both transparent and at times more heavily modelled in thick impasto paint.
Several in this series of gouaches are full of summer light and colour, with the paintwork as free and gestural and has the touch which could make colour vibrate, and they do. He can also get great pictorial depth in these landscapes.
More works can be undertaken in a single day because gouache dries a lot quicker than oil paint and what John Dent has achieved in this collection is a stunning exhibition. Please engage and respond to this collection.
In conclusion, I feel deeply for the following works:
Victor Harbour
Backbeach Sorrento
Cooper Pedy
McLaren Vale
Victorian Landscape
Sellicks Beach, S.A.
Pink River, N.T.
View onto the Adelaide Hills
Out of Wallace, Alice Springs
I do think those works are outstanding so do have a look.”
We welcome you to come and have a look – the artworks are on show at the Gallery throughout April and May and can be previewed on our website where you can also download the e-catalogue.
The subject matter of the larger paintings crosses a broad range: landscapes; interiors; figures; still lifes – all themes with a long tradition in the history of art. Dent takes inspiration from his own experiences, from the mundane of a Hills Hoist in the backyard of an inner city Melbourne suburb; to the more exotic, a studio in Mallorca; to the macabre, the soft colour palette of the seminal triptych, Natura Morta- Marta belies the rather uncompromising subject. Dent is able to raise elements from their everyday existence to the distinction of art, particularly highlighted in these paintings where familiar objects are lifted through their presentation on a grand scale. However the real subject matter is often the very act of painting itself, the placement of elements, of form and colour on the canvas.
To tak A Closer Look At… John Dent’s larger-scale paintings, please click here.
Exhibition showing until Friday 25 June. Visit our website to view images, watch a video of the opening, download the catalogue and read the Closer Look At… essay.
