Auguste Blackman’s ‘The Goldfield’ is a large and luminous ode to a dream: striking it rich. It depicts the Ballarat goldfields where in 1851, people descended from around the world in the hope of finding gold. This emergent community included, among others, the English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Chinese, American and Italian. It was the setting of the Eureka Uprising, a formative revolt in 1954 against predatory taxation by the British Colonies.

In Blackman’s imagination, the goldfields are vibrant and magical. They are a collage of dreams and ambitions – tumbling miners in red suits, a miniature Sydney Harbour Bridge, pools of azure water and stray doors to alternate dimensions. Henri Matisse’s dancers, painted sixty years after the Ballarat gold rush, are even present, time-travelling symbols of freeform possibility. Under Blackman’s hand, this pivotal juncture in Australian history is rendered carnivalesque. In golds and blues, he distils optimism.

A respected Australian artist, Auguste Blackman is the progeny of the revered artistic dynasty the Blackman family. Whether reflecting on the experience of growing up among artists, or demonstrating a born passion for painting, he remains a dynamic and rich voice in Australian art.

For collectors of history painting, those who hold Ballarat close to heart or art lovers with a dream, strike gold on Blackman’s ‘The Goldfield’.

Auguste BLACKMAN (1957 - )
'The Goldfield' 2008
oil on canvas
Image Size: 100 x 141 cm
Dimensions: 100 x 141 x 5 cm
Signed: Signed 'Auguste BLACKMAN' lower left; titled on verso
Exhibited: Auguste Blackman, Eureka, Collins Street Gallery 2008
Comes with Letter of Provenance

Condition: Excellent

(c) The Artist or Assignee