63

CLIFTON PUGH (1924-1990)
Aftermath of Fire 1965
oil on board
triptych
signed lower right: Clifton
121 x 90cm (each)

PROVENANCE
Acquired from the artist by Bortignon's Kalamunda Gallery of Man, Perth
Rudy Komon, Sydney (label verso)
Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne (label verso)
Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne

EXHIBITED
The Winter Collection, Bortignon's Kalamunda Gallery of Man, Western Australia, 1982
The Art Gallery of Western Australia, March 1982 (loan label verso)

NOTES
Clifton Pugh was both an artist and an environmental activist, his concern for the Australian bush was the foundation of his life and work. Clifton Pugh painted his environment with a frankness that was unlike his predecessors, observing ‘Australia isn't soft, like Europe. It's hard, dry, yet with a wonderfully delicate balance.' (1) To be closer to the bush, Pugh acquired a tract of land in 1951 near Cottles Bridge, northeast of Melbourne. He built a modest mud-brick house and studio where much of his work would be created. The property, known as Dunmoochin, was the perfect union of artist commune and nature sanctuary.

The triptych Aftermath of Fire, 1965, is a provocative and important work by the artist. Pugh's painterly expertise abstracts the essence of the Australian bush at its most volatile state, revealing its destructive and formidable power. The earth smolders with the heat of the fire, darkness and desolation consume the charred and blackened figures with attenuated limbs. As an environmentalist, fire is a fundamental subject of Pugh's practice. Painting bushfires has been an Australian tradition, undeniably an inherent part of the landscape and national identity. As Judith Pugh wrote of his paintings on this subject, they represent an inevitable ‘death and domination of species over species and, by implication, over the delicate Australian bush. Violence was implied even when the paintings were not dealing with a moral issue.'(2)

Clifton Pugh was voracious and unwavering in his pursuit as an artist and conservationist. He donated land to the Trust for Nature in 1989 a year before his death. His ethos is as relevant today as it was over 50 years ago. Pugh's artwork is held in state and national museum collections across the country as well as prominent private collections in Australia and internationally. With its illustrious provenance and exhibition history this triptych is a quintessential example of the artist's work.

1. John Hetherington, Australian painters forty profiles,
F.W. Cheshire, Melbourne, 1963, p.233
2. Pugh, Judith. Unstill Life: Art, Politics and Living with Clifton Pugh,
Allen & Unwin, 2008, p. 155.


  • Condition: The painted surface area of each panel appears to be stable, and there is no significant paint loss. Sporadic expansion cracking to each panel, consistent with age. Scattered dirt marks and discolouration. Scuffing/scratching to each panel, resulting in minimal paint loss, and further scuffing to the edges.This triptych is in overall very good original condition.

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October 24, 2021 12:00 PM AEDT
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