Distinctive styles
Images courtesy of the National Gallery of Victoria
The beauty of the bay has long inspired artists and made the Beaumaris-Mentone district a site of great cultural value. In the late 19th century, Heidelberg School painters Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts, Charles Conder, Walter Withers, Frederick McCubbin and others moved out of their studios and worked in the open air to create a new, distinctly Australian, style. This celebration of colonial life, the bush and bright sunlight is sometimes called Australian Impressionism.
Slumbering Sea, Mentone (1887) by Roberts features the cliffs at Mentone and is typical of the Heidelberg School.
Clarice Beckett, 1887-1935, lived in Beaumaris for most of her adult life, painting when time caring for her elderly parents permitted. Blending naturalism and abstraction, her subtle landscapes brought emotional and spiritual qualities to “everyday” views and were early examples of modernism in Australia. Beckett was not widely celebrated during her lifetime but is now considered to be one of Australia’s greatest painters.
The area continues to inspire new generations of artists.