Historical information
Pindarri was the name of the property on which artist John Serle lived on Pindari Road, St. Andrews.
Colour painting reproduced on page 11 of "Pioneers & Painters: One hundred years of Eltham and its Shire" by Alan Marshall (1971). This chapter 1 "In the beginning" gives a physical description of the area: "Thick forest covered all the higher mountain ranges .. These areas were all heavily timbered, associated grasslands and eucalyptus extending from the thick forest country across undulating hills to the Yarra... The timber in general is gum, oak and Banksia, the two later are small, the gum two to four feet of diameter and from then to thirty feet high; on some of the low ground somewhat larger. The forest was open with little scrub..."
The artist John Serle (born 1928) was the first local artist to become a councilor for the Shire of Eltham. He also worked for the Shire of Eltham grading roads.
The Shire of Nillumbik hold a similiar painting in their collection (access via Victorian Collections) titled: Untitled (bush)
Donor details on file. Location of original painting unknown. Most probably held in Serle family collection.
Painting produced in 1968. Reproduced in "Pioneers and Painters", 1971
Significance
This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book,"Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as the 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.'
It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.
Physical description
4 x 5 inch colour reversal film (1)
Condition: May not be true to colour of original work. Scanned from a 4 x 5 inch colour transparency which was taken c.1970 (approx. 50 years old) and which has undergone significant colour degradation towards the red spectrum. Allowances made for colour cast correction in scan with best guess for white balance. Significant light flare is reflected off glossy surface of original work at camera lens at lower left and right sides causing quality issues.
Subjects
References
- Australian Art Auction Records : John Serle Biographical information on the artist John Serle. Born in Victoria in 1928, John Serle studied under Clifton Pugh in the late 1950s, and later in France. A modern landscape painter, mainly in oils, he has exhibited in all eastern state capitals. His work is represented in the La Trobe University Collection and in private collections.
