William Barak - Figures in Possum Skin Cloaks - 1898
Barak's drawing style, as exemplified by this composition, which is unique in his oeuvre, is vigorous, eloquent and reliant upon strong, textural outline. The drawing, which unusually retains almost all of the original pigments (a mixture of ochres, watercolour and crusty, carbon-based pigment), has no background wash but includes a line of trees with exposed roots in lateral perspective, the foliage of which is painted using a dry brush . These trees are placed at regular intervals between each pair of bearded male elders, their cloaks patterned alternately with parallel vertical lines and meandering horizontals. The emphatic markings on the cloaks, intensified with black, are emblematic of his identity and strong attachment to the paen (freshwater) of his father’s Yarra country. These bearers of sanctity derive from the red ochre motifs and markings on broad shields from Victoria, Australia, the sgraffito incisions on blackened sheets of bark and the linear marks engraved and inlaid with red ochre on voluminous possum-skin cloaks - Google Arts and Culture
Size: 5010px × 3210px
Photo credit: © steeve-x-art / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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