Patterns of Landscape - Through the Eyes of Fred Williams 1927-1982

1989, 46 Minutes

A detailed examination of the art of Australian landscape painter Fred Williams - an artist whose vision and works changed the way we view the Australian landscape.

His paintings captured the spirit and feel of the vast continent of Australia. They broke down the convention of what Australian landscape art represented to the Australian people and, perhaps more importantly, what it projected about Australia to the world. It was both compulsion and innovation that gave his works their depth and originality. A sense of relentless progress through experiment, craft and visual preception of space identifies Fred Williams as arguably Australia's greatest modernist painter.

Patterns of Landscape is a visually challenging and historical account of Fred Williams' life and times. It takes us to the locations that inspired his works, from the rugged Australian coastline to the far northwest corner. Including excerpts from his unpublished writings and interviews with his companions and critics, it's an empassioned journey into the craft, humour, warmth and generous spirit of an artist who left us the legacy of his unique vision.

© 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.