Ninth Exaltation, 2013, Philip Wolfhagen
Oil and beeswax on linen, 200cm x 214cm
Provenance: Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney.
Philip Wolfhagen is one of Australia's most acclaimed landscape painter currently working. Inspired by the atmospheric environment of his home in northern Tasmania, he creates emotive, mysterious and somber works. His use of light and weather is drawn from painting the natural world personal to him, that he knows best. He seeks the immutable qualities in landscape, those elements to which human beings seem evolved to respond emotionally. In doing so, he creates works of art that impress deeply and lastingly in our minds. Wolfhagen’s work was included in the 2013 exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, ‘Australia’, the most significant survey of Australian art ever mounted in the UK (1).
Artist Statement
The study of clouds was my first interest within the genre of landscape painting and every few years I return to the subject with renewed enthusiasm. Often I am driven by dissatisfaction with my earlier efforts, always striving for a more refined palette and a lighter touch.