Key words
oil painting; abstract
Questions to ask
Can you tell that this is a landscape painting? If so, how? Is it important to be able to recognise what the work is intended to portray?
The image gives the viewer a sense of disorientation. How has the artist achieved this effect?
Where is the horizon line in this landscape? Where does the viewer seem to be looking at this scene from?
How this might inspire your work
The artist has used repetition of line and pattern to structure this image.
Create a similar landscape using string painting to mark out individual shapes and objects.
On a rough piece of paper, quickly sketch out the basic shapes of a landscape, in the style of Bill Culbert.
Cut up pieces of string of different strengths. Refer to your rough landscape plan, and drag the string through paint and fling onto a piece of paper to make the desired shape. Drag and twist the string in different directions for a variety of effects.
Once you are satisfied with the landscape outline and the paint has dried, use sponges to fill in the shapes to complete the landscape.
Through Trees to Village, Merindol II about 1962 by Bill Culbert (1935- ).
Culbert's painting shows an abstracted landscape of the distant village of Merindol in France seen through the gap between dense woodland. The forms suggested by their colour and shading rather than the abstracted shapes.
Culbert attended Canterbury University School of Art, New Zealand where he won a travelling scholarship which enabled him to attend the Royal College of Art between 1957-60. Culbert exhibited as a painter in the early 1960s and Through the Trees to Village Merindol II was made during this period. Culbert's work undergoing a fundamental change of direction in the mid 1960s when he moved from painting to installations.
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery collection, purchased by Roger de Grey 1963
Image © reserved / William Culbert
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