A Grand Tour

Lucy Vader’s upcoming exhibition, ‘A Grand Tour,’ was inspired by a remarkable academic find – an image of Australia’s beloved Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo in a book residing in the Vatican, produced between 1241 and 1248.

The discovery sparked a desire to paint these birds, extrapolating a single bird being taken on a grand tour, in what could either be the Australian bush, or other unknown lands. In seven vibrant paintings, Vader captures the larrikin playfulness of these iconic Australian characters.

‘Whimsical and intense, the Cockatoo paintings are semi en plein air and semi-imagined. I wanted to be free in capturing the motion of the soaring or tumbling free flight of these birds, as well as their characters as best I could.

The meeting of a Northern Hemisphere animal, the deer, highlights the character difference between Australia and Europe: one demure, gracious, beautiful, and composed; the other loud, unashamed, a bit silly, and bearing the hallmarks of days in the southern sun. Straya, meet Europe.’

Lucy Vader