Eric Wilson / Australia/England 1911–46 / Stove theme 1942 / Oil, paper, sand and collage on canvas / 96.8 x 53.3cm / Gift of the Godfrey Rivers Trust through Miss Daphne Mayo 1948 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

Eric Wilson
Stove theme 1942

Not Currently on Display

In Stove theme, Eric Wilson explores the techniques of Cubism, and its use of fractured geometry and mixed media. Wilson described this work as an investigation of ‘shapes, lines, colours, textures’. Each form is perfectly in tune, with the triangular forms setting up a tension which promote a sense of upward movement, like heat from a stove.

The palette of green, cream and black is disrupted and rearranged to convey an architectural quality, and textural differentiation of the wall behind the stove is achieved by the addition of sand. Using cubist principles, the pot-bellied stove is created by combining opposites like smooth and rough, dark and light, curved and straight.

Eric Wilson was born in Liverpool, New South Wales. Trained as a realist painter, he won several prestigious prizes, including the 1937 NSW Government Travelling Art Scholarship, which allowed him to take up a two-year residency in London. There, he moved into his friend William Dobell’s Pimlico studio.

In Europe, Wilson was exposed to a wide range of artists and styles, and became aware of collage and the cubist works of Juan Gris (1887–1927) and Georges Braque (1882–1963). However, French painter Amédée Ozenfant (1886–1966) had the most lasting influence.

In 1939, Wilson, returned to Australia where he became influential as a teacher and an artist in the Sydney art scene.

Discussion Questions

1. What objects in this painting can you can identify? Do they belong inside or outside?

2. How has the artist explored shapes, lines, colours and textures in this work?

Classroom Activities

1. Think about an object that interests you. Sketch the object and identify its main geometric shapes. Use oil pastels to add colour and line to enhance details and layer with different textured papers.

2. Gather together a group of everyday objects. Draw individual objects and then use scissors/scalpels to cut away negative spaces from within the drawings. Mount the resulting images over patterned or coloured papers and arrange in groups to create a large collage.