Charles Conder
An early taste for literature
Conder was originally sent to Australia by his father in 1884 in
order to try and discourage him from pursuing an artistic
career. However, ignoring this, Conder studied art in NSW and
Victoria before returning to Europe in 1890 to further his
career. Regarded as a something of a prodigy by fellow
members of the Heidelberg School (which he joined after moving to
Melbourne in 1888), Conder cultivated the reputation of a bohemian
and revelled in the cultural life of the fin-de-siecle in Paris and
London.
This work was painted at Griffiths' farm, Richmond - on the
Hawksbury River, New South Wales, just prior to the
artist's move to Melbourne. The delicate branches
of spring blossom, which were later to become a recurring
theme in his work, are a motif ultimately derived from
Japanese woodblock prints and ceramics, which were in vogue in the
1880's. The painting certainly captures the atmosphere
and the warmth of a spring day, but it is the subject matter
of a little heifer blithely consuming the newspaper that
turns the work into a lighthearted fable or conversation
piece. As such the work represents the opposite end of the
spectrum to the more serious concerns of artists such as Roberts
and Streeton.