Title

Across the black soil plains

1899

Artist

George Lambert

Russia, Australia

13 Sep 1873 – 29 May 1930

Artist profile

Alternate image of Across the black soil plains by George Lambert

Details

Place where the work was made

Hornsby → Sydney → New South Wales → Australia

Date

1899

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on canvas

Dimensions

91.6 x 305.5 cm stretcher; 139.5 x 355.0 x 10.5 cm frame

Signature & date

Signed and dated l.r., "Geo. W. Lambert 1899".

Credit

Purchased 1899

Location

South Building, ground level, Grand Courts

Accession number

550

Copyright

Reproduction requests

Wynne Prize

Winner - 1899

Artist information

George Lambert
Artist profile

Works in the collection

97

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About

Inspired by his experiences as a youth in the bush near Warren, NSW, George W Lambert began this ambitious work at the age of 26, while living with his mother at Hornsby. He worked in a small shed in the garden, and had to position the painting diagonally across it, even then unable to stretch the canvas to its full extent.

The painting was enthusiastically received as a heroic portrayal of bush life, displaying Lambert's innate skill at draughtsmanship. It was awarded the Wynne Prize for landscape painting for 1899, and the following year Lambert left for London with the first New South Wales Society of Artists Travelling Scholarship.

This work was acquired by the Gallery in 1899.
Audio

Across the black soil plains - George W Lambert 1:22
Exhibition history
Shown in 13 exhibitions
- Society of Artists Spring Exhibition (1899), Vickery's Chambers, Sydney, Aug 1899 -
- 150 years of Australian art (1938), National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 27 Jan 1938–25 Apr 1938
- Art of Australia 1788-1941, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 01 Oct 1941–26 Oct 1941
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 17 Nov 1941–31 Dec 1941
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Yale University Art Gallery, United States of America, 02 Mar 1942–23 Mar 1942
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 03 Apr 1942–15 May 1942
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Wilmington Society of Fine Arts, Wilmington, 01 Jun 1942–27 Jun 1942
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 10 Jul 1942–27 Aug 1942
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Toledo Museum of Art, United States of America, 06 Sep 1942–27 Sep 1942
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, 05 Oct 1942–02 Nov 1942
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Cleveland Museum of Art, United States of America, 09 Nov 1942–07 Dec 1942
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Detroit Institiute of Arts, Detroit, 01 Jan 1943–29 Jan 1943
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Herron Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indianapolis, 08 Apr 1943–05 May 1943
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Fort Wayne Art School and Museum, Fort Wayne, 12 May 1943–31 May 1943
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Rockhill Nelson Gallery, Kansas City, 07 Sep 1943–08 Oct 1943
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Philbrook Art Museum, Tulsa, 20 Oct 1943–17 Nov 1943
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Dallas, 28 Nov 1943–26 Dec 1943
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Abilene Museum of Fine Arts, Abilene, 10 Jan 1944–07 Feb 1944
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Heard Museum, Phoenix Fine Arts Association, Phoenix, 21 Feb 1944–20 Mar 1944
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, 04 Apr 1944–07 May 1944
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Rosicrucian Egyptian Oriental Museum, San Jose, 19 May 1944–16 Jun 1944
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Hamline University, St Paul, 01 Dec 1944–17 Dec 1944
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Society Liberal Arts, Joslyn Memorial, Omaha, 06 Jan 1945–27 Jan 1945
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, United States of America, 06 Feb 1945–27 Feb 1945
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Quincy Art Club, Quincy, 09 Mar 1945–30 Mar 1945
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, 13 Apr 1945–04 May 1945
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, University of Oklahoma, Norman, 14 May 1945–04 Jun 1945
  
  Art of Australia 1788-1941, North Texas State Teachers' College, Denton, 14 Jun 1945–05 Jul 1945
- 100 years of Australian painting (1948), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 19 Apr 1948–17 May 1948
- A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Sep 1953–25 Oct 1953
- The Arts Festival of the Olympic Games (1956), National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street], Melbourne, 18 Nov 1956–15 Dec 1956
- The Wynne prize: an Australian landscape tradition (1987), S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks, 19 Dec 1986–01 Feb 1987
  
  The Wynne prize: an Australian landscape tradition (1987), Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Booragul, 06 Mar 1987–29 Mar 1987
  
  The Wynne prize: an Australian landscape tradition (1987), Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, 10 Apr 1987–17 May 1987
  
  The Wynne prize: an Australian landscape tradition (1987), Griffith Regional Art Gallery, , 03 Jun 1987–20 Jun 1987
  
  The Wynne prize: an Australian landscape tradition (1987), Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Australia, 01 Jul 1987–26 Jul 1987
  
  The Wynne prize: an Australian landscape tradition (1987), Albury Regional Gallery, Albury, 07 Aug 1987–06 Sep 1987
  
  The Wynne prize: an Australian landscape tradition (1987), Broken Hill City Art Gallery, Broken Hill, 18 Sep 1987–26 Oct 1987
  
  The Wynne prize: an Australian landscape tradition (1987), Tamworth City Gallery, Tamworth, 05 Nov 1987–13 Dec 1987
- A brush with the bush, Dubbo Regional Art Gallery, Dubbo, 03 Apr 1993–31 May 1993
  
  A brush with the bush, S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks, 18 Jun 1993–18 Jul 1993
- Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000
- People and destiny: George Lambert and Federation, Dubbo Regional Art Gallery, Dubbo, 05 May 2001–12 Aug 2001
  
  People and destiny: George Lambert and Federation, New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, 14 Sep 2001–28 Oct 2001
  
  People and destiny: George Lambert and Federation, Albury Regional Gallery, Albury, 04 Jan 2002–27 Jan 2002
  
  People and destiny: George Lambert and Federation, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria, 09 Feb 2002–24 Mar 2002
  
  People and destiny: George Lambert and Federation, Hazelhurst Arts Centre, , 06 Apr 2002–02 Jun 2002
  
  People and destiny: George Lambert and Federation, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst, 05 Jul 2002–18 Aug 2002
- Across the Black Soil Plains, Dubbo Regional Art Gallery, Dubbo, 01 Sep 2006–31 Jan 2007
- George Lambert retrospective: heroes & icons, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 29 Jun 2007–16 Sep 2007
- Grand Courts collection rehang, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Nov 2021–2023
Bibliography
Referenced in 62 publications
- Christopher Allen, Art in Australia: from Colonization to Postmodernism, London, 1997, 77, 78 (illus.), 220. cat. no. 58
- Julian Ashton., Daily telegraph, ‘National Art Gallery: The Australian Court’, Sydney, 27 Sep 1905, page unknown (illus.).
- Julian Ashton, Daily telegraph, article, Sydney, 27 Oct 1910, 9.
- Leigh Astbury, City bushmen: the Heidelberg school and the rural mythology, Melbourne, 1985, 148, 149 (illus.), 150.
- Leigh Astbury, Australia 1888: a journal for the study of Australian history centred on the year 1888, 'Frederick McCubbin: the spirit of the pioneers', pg. 26-58, Melbourne, 1982, 43-44.
- Nicolas Brasch, Horses in Australia: an illustrated history, 'Tilling and toiling', pg. 226-239, Sydney, 2014, 230-231 (colour illus.).
- Dr Joseph Brown (Editor), The CBUS collection of Australian art, Melbourne, 2009, 52.
- Candice Bruce, Brought to Light: Australian Art 1850–1965 from the Queensland Art Gallery collection, 'Family and a Special Friend. George Washington Lambert Portrait group (The mother)', pg. 102-7, Brisbane, 1998, 104.
- Helen Campbell, Wynne centenary 1897-1997: a selection of past winners from the Gallery's collection, Sydney, 1997, (colour illus.).
- C Christesen (Editor), Meanjin, Melbourne, Summer 1951, 355.
- Betty Churcher, The art of war, 'The birth of a legend', pg. 1-47, Carlton, 2004, 22-23 (colour illus.), 177.
- Aedeen Cremin (Editor), 1901: Australian life at federation: an illustrated chronicle, 'Riding on the sheep's back: the wool industry', pg. 51-57, Sydney, 2001, 56-57 (colour illus.).
- Heather Crosby, Weekend Liberal, 'Keeping the dream alive', pg. 10, Dubbo, 26 May 2001-27 May 2001, 10.
- Douglas Dundas, Art Gallery of New South Wales quarterly, 'The Wynne and Sulman prizes', pg. 53-56, Sydney, Jan 1961, 54.
- Dinah Dysart, The Wynne prize: an Australian landscape tradition, 'The public and critical response to the Wynne prize', pg. 15-22, Sydney, 1986, 6, 7 (illus.), 18,.
- Anna Gray, George Lambert (1873-1930) catalogue raisonné: paintings and sculpture, drawings in public collections, Perth, 1996, 5-7. cat.no. P29
- Anna Gray (Editor), Art and Artifice: George Lambert (1873-1930), 1996, 12, 19 (colour illus.), 23-25, 34-35, 159, 174, 177, 178.
- Sasha Grishin, Australian art: a history, 'Australian expatriates of the Edwardian period in Great Britain', pg. 160-173, Carlton, 2013, 161 (colour illus.), 548, 563. plate no. 17.1
- Robert Hughes, The art of Australia, Melbourne, 1970, 97-98.
- Bruce James, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian Collection: Painting and Sculpture', pg. 102-181, Sydney, 1999, 124 (colour illus.).
- Hendrik Kolenberg, Look, 'George Lambert's drawings', pg. 22-23, Sydney, Oct 2006, 22.
- John Kroeger and Dion Skinner (Editors), Renniks Australian artists, Adelaide, 1968, 227 (illus.).
- Amy Lambert, Thirty years of an artist's life : the career of G.W. Lambert, A.R.A, Sydney, 1977, 16, 17, 22.
- J. G. de Libra, Australasian art review, ‘The poetry of our painting’, pg. 1-12, Sydney, 01 Sep 1899, 10, 11 (illus.), 12. referred to as 'Across the Blacksoil Plains' on pg. 10.
- Lionel Lindsay, 150 years of Australian art, Sydney, 1938. cat.no. 40
- Lionel Lindsay, Art in Australia [vol. 1, no. 7], 'George Lambert', pg. 2-6, Sydney, 1919, 2.
- John McDonald, Art of Australia. Vol 1: Exploration to Federation, Sydney, 2008, 634.
- Anne McLaughlin, People and destiny: George Lambert and Federation, 'People and destiny: George Lambert and Federation', pg. 10-33, Dubbo, 2001, 3, 6 (colour illus.), 7-9, 14, 20, 27, 38.
- Humphrey McQueen, Art Monthly Australia, 'Positions vacant', pg. 21-23, Canberra, Sep 2000, 21. review of 'Australian icons' exhibition
- Margaret Meagher (Editor), State of the arts, 'AGNSW polishes the silver', pg. 12, Sydney, Aug 2000-Dec 2000, 12. Review of 'Australian Icons' exhibition.
- Denise Mimmocchi, Australian Symbolism: the art of dreams, 'Madness and the Symbolist female subject', pg.46-50, Sydney, 2012, 50.
- Hal Missingham, A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Sydney, 1953. cat.no. 50
- Ian Mudie, Australian landscapes in colour, Adelaide, 1975, 74-75 (colour illus.).
- National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1899, Sydney, 1899, 52 (sepia illus.). cat.no. 293; Oil Paintings-Australian
- Barry Pearce, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian', pg. 13-35, Sydney, 1988, 20.
- Barry Pearce, Look, 'A quiet love affair: private passion over 33 years gives birth to a book', pg. 26-29, Sydney, Sep 2014, 28-29 (colour illus.). extract
- Peter Pinson, Elwyn Lynn: metaphor + texture, St Leonards, 2002, 41. Elwyn Lynn painted 'Across the Black Soil Plains' in 1961, derived from Lambert's painting.
- Ursula Prunster, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Home and abroad', pg. 73-74, Sydney, 2000, 74, 94 (colour illus., detail), 95 (colour illus.), 301.
- John Saxby (Editor), Look, 'The art that made me: Peter Kingston', pg. 12-13, Sydney, Aug 2016, 13 (colour illus.).
- Bernard Smith, 100 years of Australian painting, 'Foreword', pg. 2-4, Sydney, 1948, 8. cat.no. 31
- Bernard William Smith and Terry Smith, Australian painting 1788-1990, 'Exodus', pg. 126-166 Chapter five, South Melbourne, 1991, 156 (illus.). plate no. 88
- Bernard William Smith, Place, taste and tradition: a study of Australian art since 1788, South Melbourne, 1979, 81, 154. titled 'Crossing of the black soil plains'.
- Bernard William Smith, A catalogue of Australian oil paintings in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1875-1952, Sydney, 1953, 105.
- Society of Artists, Society of Artists Spring Exhibition, Sydney, 1899, 7 (line illus.). cat.no. 67; priced £105.0.0
- Colin Thiele, Heysen of Hahndorf, Adelaide, 1974, 288.
- Nancy Underhill, Making Australian art 1916-49 : Sydney Ure Smith, patron and publisher, South Melbourne, 1991, 88-89 (illus.), 98.
- Sydney Ure Smith (Editor), Art of Australia 1788-1941, New York, 1941, 35. cat.no. 48
- Russel Ward and Graeme Inson, The glorious years of Australia fair from the birth of the Bulletin to Versailles, Milton, 1971, 23 (illus.).
- W.Hardy Wilson, Lone Hand, article, Sydney, 01 Nov 1910, 5-6.
- Author Unknown, Wool in the Australian imagination, Glebe, 1994, (illus.).
- Editor Unknown (Editor), Weekend Liberal, 'Cultural centre', pg. 15, Dubbo, 23 Sep 2006-24 Sep 2006.
- Editor Unknown (Editor), Mailbox shopper, 'Cultural centre opens today', pg. 4, Dubbo, 27 Sep 2006.
- Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 25 Mar 1939, 21.
- Editor Unknown (Editor), Daily liberal, Dubbo, 28 Sep 2006, 4, 4 (illus.).
- Editor Unknown (Editor), Lone Hand, Sydney, 02 Feb 1914, 170.
- Editor Unknown (Editor), Art and Architecture, Sydney, Jan 1905, page unknown.
- Editor Unknown (Editor), Bulletin, Sydney, 30 Oct 1902, 25 (illus.).
- Editor Unknown (Editor), Daily telegraph, Sydney, 04 Dec 1900, 4.
- Editor Unknown (Editor), Australian magazine, Sydney, 18 Sep 1899, 413-414 (illus.). article by 'Raw Sienna' [George Lambert]
- Editor Unknown (Editor), Bulletin, 'The Artfellow', Sydney, 02 Sep 1899, page unknown.
- Editor Unknown, Sydney mail and New South Wales advertiser, Sydney, 26 Aug 1899, 503 (illus.), 504-505. article by E.D.H.
- Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 19 Aug 1899, 10.