Title
Spring frost
1919
Artist
![Alternate image of Spring frost by Elioth Gruner](/media/thumbnails/collection_images/6/6925%23framed%23S.jpg.521x400_q85.jpg)
![Alternate image of Spring frost by Elioth Gruner](/media/thumbnails/collection_images/6/6925%23detail02%23S.jpg.533x400_q85.jpg)
![Alternate image of Spring frost by Elioth Gruner](/media/thumbnails/collection_images/6/6925%23detail03%23S.jpg.533x400_q85.jpg)
![Alternate image of Spring frost by Elioth Gruner](/media/thumbnails/collection_images/6/6925%23detail05%23S.jpg.533x400_q85.jpg)
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Details
- Place where the work was made
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Emu Plains
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Penrith
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Sydney
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New South Wales
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Australia
- Date
- 1919
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 131.0 x 178.7 cm stretcher; 157.5 x 206.7 x 14.0 cm frame + 25mm back build-up 36kg
- Signature & date
Signed and dated l.r., black oil "E GRUNER/ 1919".
- Credit
- Gift of F G White 1939
- Location
- Naala Nura, ground level, Grand Courts
- Accession number
- 6925
- Copyright
- Wynne Prize
- Winner - 1919
- Artist information
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Elioth Gruner
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
Awarded the Wynne Prize in 1919 and painted the same year as Roland Wakelin's and Roy de Maistre's experiments in colour harmony, 'Spring frost' is one of Elioth Gruner's most critically acclaimed achievements. With its impeccable sense of light and tone, and its vigorous foreground brushwork, 'Spring frost' is a tour de force, and perhaps the most loved Australian landscape painting in the Gallery.
Elioth Gruner painted 'Spring frost' according to 19th-century plein-air conventions, but the work also demonstrates a contemporary succinctness of form. To complete the painting - one of his largest compositions - en plein air, Gruner built a structure to protect the canvas from the weather, and wrapped his legs with chaff bags to avoid frostbite. Although painted largely outdoors at Emu Plains, its large size and somewhat theatrical quality make it likely that Gruner completed parts of it later, in his city studio.
This work was acquired by the Gallery in 1939.
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Audio
Spring frost - Elioth Gruner 2:23
Spring frost - Elioth Gruner 1:22
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Exhibition history
Shown in 11 exhibitions
Society of Artists Spring Exhibition (1919), Education Department Gallery [Loftus Street], Sydney, 04 Oct 1919–20 Oct 1919
Loan exhibition of the works of Elioth Gruner (1932), National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 21 Dec 1932–21 Feb 1933
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
A century of Australian landscape painting: mood and moment, Peking Art Gallery, Beijing, Oct 1983–Dec 1983
A century of Australian landscape painting: mood and moment, Shanghai Art Gallery, Shanghai, Oct 1983–Dec 1983
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
Parallel Visions: Twenty-two artists from the Australian collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Feb 2002–May 2003
Elioth Gruner: Light and landscape (2010), New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, 30 Oct 2010–06 Feb 2011
Elioth Gruner: the texture of light, Canberra Museum and Art Gallery, Canberra, 08 Mar 2014–22 Jun 2014
Elioth Gruner: the texture of light, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, 26 Jul 2014–26 Oct 2014
Fieldwork, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, 17 Jul 2020–20 Sep 2020
Fieldwork, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland, 28 Nov 2020–07 Feb 2021
Fieldwork, Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest, Emu Plains, 12 Mar 2021–09 May 2021
Grand Courts collection rehang, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Nov 2021–2023
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Bibliography
Referenced in 53 publications
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Renée Free. European Collection 1., Art Gallery of New South Wales collection series, 'Pierre Bonnard: Self-portrait in the dressing-room mirror', Sydney, 1981, (illus.).
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Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook, Sydney, 1972, 96 (colour illus.).
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Julian Ashton and Norman Lindsay, The art of Elioth Gruner, Sydney, [1922], (colour illus.). plate no. VII; Collection: F.G. White, Esq.; not paginated
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Herbert Badham, A gallery of Australian art, 'Introduction', pg. v-vii., Sydney, 1954, xii, xv, (colour illus.). plate no. 28
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Geoffrey Batchen, Art Network, 'Gruner in retrospect', pg.8-11, Artarmon, Spring 1983, 8 (colour illus.).
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Michaela Boland., Weekend Australian, 'Master cards', pg. 9, Sydney, 07 Sep 2013, 9.
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Shane Breynard, Elioth Gruner: the texture of light, 'Director's foreword', pg. 7-8, Canberra, 2014, 7, 29, 33 (colour illus.), 34, 89, 95, 100.
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Natasha Bullock, Look, 'Shedding Light, photographs by the great Harold Cazneaux are seen in a new light alongside paintings of the time', pg.13, Melbourne, Aug 2001, 13.
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Ian Burn, National life and landscape - Australian painting 1900-1940, 'Art versus Nature', pg. 38-51, Sydney, 1990, 47. plate no. 53
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Helen Campbell, Look, 'Drysdale textile design... and other surprising 'rediscoveries'', pg. 30, Sydney, Aug 2014, 30.
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Helen Campbell, Wynne centenary 1897-1997: a selection of past winners from the Gallery's collection, Sydney, 1997, (colour illus.).
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Edmund Capon AM, OBE and Jan Meek (Editors), Portrait of a Gallery, 'Australian Art in the Old Courts', pg. 24-37, Sydney, 1984, 36, 37 (colour illus.).
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Jonathan Cooper (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales Bulletin, 'Close-Ups of the Collection', pg. 35, Sydney, May 1996-Jul 1996, 35 (colour illus.).
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a Special Correspondent, Argus, 'Sydney day by day', pg. 6, Melbourne, 09 Oct 1919, 6.
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Bob Evans, Good Weekend, 'The pictures our galleries don't show', pg. 34-40, Ultimo, 25 Jun 1988, 39. Sydney Morning Herald supplement
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Sasha Grishin, Australian art: a history, 'Art of federation', pg. 174-185, Carlton, 2013, 183 (colour illus.), 548, 561. plate no. 18.6
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Roslynn Haynes, Seeking the Centre, 'Seeing red: from topography to imagery', pg. 161-183, Cambridge, 1998, 162.
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Helen Verity Hewitt, Patrick White, painter, manqué: paintings, painters and their influence on his writing, 'Strangers in the Motherland', pg. 5-19, Carlton, 2002, 8, 35.
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Bruce James, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian Collection: Painting and Sculpture', pg. 102-181, Sydney, 1999, 135 (colour illus.).
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Bruce James, The Sydney Morning Herald, 'Milking works for a moment in the sun', pg. 13, Sydney, 03 Apr 2002, 13 (illus.). Review of 'Parallel Visions' exhibition
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Judy Jones, The Arms Chronicle, 'Elioth Gruner and the Innes family of Emu Plains', pg. 5-6, Penrith, Sep 2013, 5 (colour illus.), 6. part 2
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Judy Jones, The Arms Chronicle, 'Elioth Gruner and the Innes family of Emu Plains', pg. 5-6, Penrith, Aug 2013, 6. part 1
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Lou Klepac, Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, 'Hans Heysen / Elioth Gruner / Horace Trennery', pg. 32-47, Sydney, 2002, 13 (colour illus., detail), 40, 41 (colour illus.), 143, 147.
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J. S. MacDonald., Australasian post, 'Gruner exhibition', Melbourne, 21 Jan 1933, unknown. Exhibition review
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Ewen McDonald, AGNSW Collections, 'From Colonialism to late Modernism', pg. 7-106, Sydney, 1994, 28 (colour illus.).
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National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Loan exhibition of the works of Elioth Gruner, Sydney, 1932. cat.no. 83; Collection F.G. White Esq.
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Paul Paffen, For The Fallen: The 1921-1922 Melbourne Public Library Mural Competition within the setting of Decorative Painting in Australian Art, North Melbourne, 2021, 76 (colour illus.), 376.
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Alicia Parlby, Look, 'Gruner lives! Old works a hit with young viewers', pg. 12, Sydney, Dec 2003-Jan 2004, 12.
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Barry Pearce, A century of Australian landscape: mood and moment, Sydney, 1983, 15, 62, 63 (colour illus.). cat.no. 42
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Barry Pearce, The Wynne prize: an Australian landscape tradition, ‘Introduction’, pg. 6-9, Sydney, 1986, 9, 17 (colour illus.), 25.
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Barry Pearce, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian', pg. 13-35, Sydney, 1988, 24 (illus.).
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Barry Pearce, Elioth Gruner 1882-1939, Sydney, 1983, 15 (colour illus.), , 19, 20, 39. cat.no. 26
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Ursula Prunster, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Home and abroad', pg. 73-74, Sydney, 2000, 74, 101 (colour illus.), 300.
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Joanne Raheb-Mol, Art & Mind, Melbourne, 1998, 44 (colour illus.). plate no. 3.18
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Robin Robertson., The Weekend Australian financial review, 'ABN Amro teaches the art of "quiet" sponsorship', Sydney, 05 Aug 2000-06 Aug 2000, page unknown (colour illus.).
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Leanne Santoro, Look, 'Into the light', Sydney, Jan 2017-Feb 2017, 28-29 (colour illus.). 'Anatomy of an artwork' feature
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Bernard Smith, 100 years of Australian painting, 'Foreword', pg. 2-4, Sydney, 1948, 8. cat.no. 34
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William Splatt and Barbara Burton, 100 masterpieces of Australian painting, Adelaide, 1973, 128, 129 (colour illus.). plate no. 61
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Jill Sykes (Editor), Look, 'Great Uncle Jim', pg. 10, Sydney, Dec 2007-Jan 2008, 10 (colour illus.).
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Wendy Symonds (Editor), Look, Heidelberg, May 1996, 3 (colour illus.).
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Daniel Thomas, Art and Australia, 'Australian collection', pg. 52-62, Sydney, Jul 1972, 55 (colour illus.).
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Beatrice Tildesley, Sydney mail, 'The Gruner exhibition at the National Art Gallery', pg. 17, Sydney, 28 Dec 1932, 17. Exhibition review.
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Wayne Tunnicliffe and Deborah Edwards, Look, ‘New Australia’, pg. 24-27, Sydney, May 2012, 24 (colour illus.), 26.
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Susan Venn, Roy and Matilda - The Golden Locket, Canterbury, 1994, (colour illus.).
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Donald Williams, In our own image: the story of Australian art, Sydney, 2002, 60 (colour illus.).
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Donald Williams, In our own image: the story of Australian art, Sydney, 1995, 76 (colour illus.).
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Editor Unknown (Editor), Daily telegraph, Sydney, 03 Oct 1919.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney morning herald, 'Wynne art prize: 1919 award to Mr Gruner', pg. 7, Sydney, 19 Aug 1920, 7.
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The Queenslander, 'Literature: Society of Artists' exhibition', pg. 3, Brisbane, 24 Jul 1920, 3.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney morning herald, 'The Wynne art prize, 1919', pg. 5, Sydney, 01 Dec 1919, 5.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney morning herald, 'Elioth Gruner', pg. 14, Sydney, 16 Dec 1922, 14.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney morning herald, 'Society of Artists: a strong Spring show', pg. 6, Sydney, 03 Oct 1919, 6.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), Evening news, Sydney, 02 Oct 1919.
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