Waratah 1928

Grace Cossington Smith made this painting of a Waratah, an Australian native flower, using oil paint in what looks like confident, exploratory strokes. The first thing that grabs me is the texture. Look at the way she builds up the petals, almost like mosaic tiles, each dab of color sitting just slightly apart from the next. There’s a real physicality to the paint, thick in places, and the colors are so alive. It’s like she’s not just representing the flower, but also the energy, the life force, within it. Notice the way she uses blues and purples to create shadows, and how those shadows give the flower a sense of depth and volume. Her approach reminds me of Bonnard, and the way he used color to create a sense of atmosphere. Ultimately, Cossington Smith’s Waratah is a reminder that painting is as much about the process as it is about the subject. It’s a space of experimentation, where artists can play with color, texture, and form to create new ways of seeing and experiencing the world.