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John Russell / Australia/France 1858–1930 / Roc Toul (Roche Guibel) (Toul Rock (Guibel Rock)) 1904–05 / Oil on canvas / 98.4 x 128cm / Gift of Lady Trout 1979 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
John RussellRoc Toul (Roche Guibel) (Toul Rock (Guibel Rock)) 1904–1905
On Display: QAG, Gallery 7
Belle Île is a small island off the coast of Brittany, in France. During the nineteenth century its principal attraction for artists was la côte sauvage, literally ‘the wild coast’. Here the land ends abruptly and drops into a boiling sea, which, over millennia, has formed fantastically shaped rocks and grottoes.
Russell first visited Belle Île in 1886, settled there two years later and built a large house at Goulphar where he lived for almost 20 years. His obsession with dramatic subjects was typical of his time, as was his practice of painting subjects under different light and weather conditions.
The intense cobalt blues and emerald greens in the painting, which was completed towards the end of his stay on the island, suggest that Russell’s principal interest in this work was an exploration of colour.
Sydney-born John Russell was destined to join his family’s engineering firm, but at 18 he became preoccupied by art. Having gained financial independence on the death of his father, Russell travelled to London in 1881 to study painting. In 1885, as a student in Paris, he worked with and befriended several important European artists, including Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Auguste Rodin and Vincent Van Gogh.
A year later, Russell and his wife settled on Belle-Île, an island off the coast of Brittany, where he built a house in which he hosted many artist friends. Here, Russell also met and developed a close friendship with artist Claude Monet, who played a significant part in his artistic development. Side-by-side, the pair painted numerous landscapes of the dramatic coastline.
Following his wife’s death in 1908, Russell destroyed many of his works and left Belle-Île to travel extensively in Europe, painting mainly watercolours. Russell returned to Australia in 1921, where he painted very little until his death.