Nowra. Bundanon homestead. Arthur Boyd painting of 1993. Shoalhaven River 2.
Arthur Boyd and Bundanon.
The land at Bundanon along the Shoalhaven River was given as a free land grant in 1837 to R Browne. He soon sold the land on to Kenneth McKenzie. He built a timber-framed house here and finally in 1866 he had a fine two-storey Georgian style residence erected. That is the grand homestead of Bundanon today. McKenzie was also a doctor and a magistrate and acquired other properties too but he returned to Scotland in 1869 and his son Hugh took over Bundanon. Hugh ran the property as a dairy farm with many workers employed. He served for 20 years as the mayor of the local district. When he died in 1917 his son Kenneth inherited Bundanon until he drowned in 1922. A memorial jacaranda was planted in front of the house for Kenneth and it is still there. His family leased the property out from 1926 until 1967. In 1968 the new owners landscaped the grounds and removed many of the old outbuildings. Arthur Boyd the well-known Australian artist from a family of sculptors, potters and painters visited Bundanon in 1971 and returned several times to paint there. He and his wife purchased the adjacent property called Riversdale in 1974 and finally Bundanon as well in 1979. Arthur Boyd then spent part of each year at Bundanon and part in England until 1998 when he returned to England permanently. In 1993 Arthur Boyd bequeathed to the government of Australia Bundanon homestead and outbuildings, 2,700 acres of land and a large collection of his paintings and family antiques. The Bundanon Trust was formed in that year and a program of artists in residence was established at Bundanon. The Bundanon property became an Artists Centre with residential accommodation. Arthur Boyd died in Melbourne in 1999. The property has the main homestead erected in 1866, the servants’ quarters 1870, the kitchen 1880, Arthur Boyd’s studio 1981, the early slab barn 1880 and a caretaker’s cottage 1870. Access to the property is limited and not available when artists are accommodated there for workshops and the road entrance limits the size of coaches. The property is a significant heritage property because of the homestead, the natural bushland, the gardens and the linkages with Arthur Boyd.
Who was Arthur Boyd? Boyd was best known for his Australian landscape paintings in both impressionist and expressionist styles with biblical references and mythical modernist figures with deformed bodies in Australian landscapes. Some of his best-known landscape works were the bride and groom series especially Dreaming Bridegroom, Frightened Bridegroom, Bride Running Away and Mourning Bride. The titles alone indicate that his landscapes are not like those of Sir Hans Heysen! Arthur Boyd was related by marriage to Sidney Nolan and shared some of his views about the Australian landscape. Bride Running Away recently sold for $1.68 million. Another landscape series that Boyd produced was called the Wimmera series and one of his last series was called The Shoalhaven. His other notable landscape series was the Nebuchadnezzar series. Boyd was also well known for his bronze sculptures. He was awarded many ovations, knighted and made a Companion of the Order of Australia. His works hang in the National Gallery in Canberra and most state galleries and in London. His mother and father were well-known potters and painters Merric and Doris Boyd and both of Arthur’s brothers were artists. A tapestry made of one of his Australian landscape paintings hangs in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra.
Nowra. Bundanon homestead. Arthur Boyd painting of 1993. Shoalhaven River 2.
Arthur Boyd and Bundanon.
The land at Bundanon along the Shoalhaven River was given as a free land grant in 1837 to R Browne. He soon sold the land on to Kenneth McKenzie. He built a timber-framed house here and finally in 1866 he had a fine two-storey Georgian style residence erected. That is the grand homestead of Bundanon today. McKenzie was also a doctor and a magistrate and acquired other properties too but he returned to Scotland in 1869 and his son Hugh took over Bundanon. Hugh ran the property as a dairy farm with many workers employed. He served for 20 years as the mayor of the local district. When he died in 1917 his son Kenneth inherited Bundanon until he drowned in 1922. A memorial jacaranda was planted in front of the house for Kenneth and it is still there. His family leased the property out from 1926 until 1967. In 1968 the new owners landscaped the grounds and removed many of the old outbuildings. Arthur Boyd the well-known Australian artist from a family of sculptors, potters and painters visited Bundanon in 1971 and returned several times to paint there. He and his wife purchased the adjacent property called Riversdale in 1974 and finally Bundanon as well in 1979. Arthur Boyd then spent part of each year at Bundanon and part in England until 1998 when he returned to England permanently. In 1993 Arthur Boyd bequeathed to the government of Australia Bundanon homestead and outbuildings, 2,700 acres of land and a large collection of his paintings and family antiques. The Bundanon Trust was formed in that year and a program of artists in residence was established at Bundanon. The Bundanon property became an Artists Centre with residential accommodation. Arthur Boyd died in Melbourne in 1999. The property has the main homestead erected in 1866, the servants’ quarters 1870, the kitchen 1880, Arthur Boyd’s studio 1981, the early slab barn 1880 and a caretaker’s cottage 1870. Access to the property is limited and not available when artists are accommodated there for workshops and the road entrance limits the size of coaches. The property is a significant heritage property because of the homestead, the natural bushland, the gardens and the linkages with Arthur Boyd.
Who was Arthur Boyd? Boyd was best known for his Australian landscape paintings in both impressionist and expressionist styles with biblical references and mythical modernist figures with deformed bodies in Australian landscapes. Some of his best-known landscape works were the bride and groom series especially Dreaming Bridegroom, Frightened Bridegroom, Bride Running Away and Mourning Bride. The titles alone indicate that his landscapes are not like those of Sir Hans Heysen! Arthur Boyd was related by marriage to Sidney Nolan and shared some of his views about the Australian landscape. Bride Running Away recently sold for $1.68 million. Another landscape series that Boyd produced was called the Wimmera series and one of his last series was called The Shoalhaven. His other notable landscape series was the Nebuchadnezzar series. Boyd was also well known for his bronze sculptures. He was awarded many ovations, knighted and made a Companion of the Order of Australia. His works hang in the National Gallery in Canberra and most state galleries and in London. His mother and father were well-known potters and painters Merric and Doris Boyd and both of Arthur’s brothers were artists. A tapestry made of one of his Australian landscape paintings hangs in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra.