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.