Fullwood! The most important impressionist you’ve never heard of

Join Dr Gary Werskey as he takes us through his pioneering and richly illustrated biography Picturing a Nation: The art and life of A.H. Fullwood.

Regarded in his day as an important Australian impressionist painter, Fullwood was also the most widely viewed British–Australian artist of the Heidelberg era. Fullwood’s illustrations for the popular Picturesque Atlas of Australasia, the Bulletin and the Sydney Mail helped shape how settler–colonial Australia was seen both here and around the world. Meanwhile his paintings were then as celebrated as those of his good friends Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton.

Fullwood also had some surprising connections to Armidale and New England.  He was furthermore one of Howard Hinton’s favourite artists, which is why NERAM’s Hinton Collection contains so many of Fullwood’s art-works.

Why then is Fullwood so little known today? Gary Werskey will bring Fullwood and his extraordinary career as an illustrator, painter, and war artist back to life, while casting a new light on the most fabled era in the history of Australian art.

• Date: Saturday 7 May, 2022
• Time: 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
• FREE EVENT
• Venue: NERAM
• Bookings Essential – Bookings open Monday 21 March 2022

What the critics say about Picturing a Nation

‘Gary Werskey’s essential and rousing portrait lifts Fullwood to his rightful place in the pantheon of Australian art.’ — Don Watson

‘A highly original and deeply researched history of Australian culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.’— Mark McKenna

‘A fascinating creation story about the visual language of a nation enchanted by its own dreams.’ — Grace Karskens

‘An outstanding account of one of Australia’s most fascinating Bohemian artists.’ — Jeanette Hoorn

The speaker

Dr Werskey is a Harvard-trained biographer and cultural historian, who has held academic positions at Edinburgh University, Imperial College, and the University of New South Wales. He is currently an Hon Associate in the University of Sydney’s Department of History.

Image Credit: A.H. Fullwood (1863-1930), On the Road n.d., oil on wood, 26.5 x 42.2 cm, Gift of Howard Hinton 1935