Lot 26

Commissioned from the artist
Private collection, Melbourne

Sam Leach's paintings are known for their lustrous, oil-slick finish, yet underneath their sleek surface his paintings often reference history, scientific theories and concepts, particularly those related to biology, ecology, and the natural world.

Leach's landscapes draw inspiration from the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, a period in history known for its economic and cultural prosperity. This era was marked by a fascination with science, technology, and the natural world, which Leach often acknowledges in his paintings through his use of scientific imagery as well as extinct or exotic animals. Beautiful, exotic, and rare, parrots are a mainstay of 17th century Dutch genre paintings typically appearing in domestic or interior scenes. In Landscape with Macaw, Leach depicts the macaw bird in the wild, perched on a branch, wings flared, beaming out towards the mystical landscape beyond while a lion watches over from the left. The overlay of bright circular colours contrast against the subdued landscape, a scientific reference to human interference with the natural environment and the delicate balance of nature and technology.
This amalgamation of ideas relating to past, present and future are further highlighted through Leach's technique. Blending a traditional method of oil painting with a contemporary layering process with epoxy resin, his paintings can appear almost digital before the eye spots the intricate hand-crafted detail beneath.

"I wanted to create some distance between the art of creating artworks and the viewer, and lengthen that moment the viewer has before connecting with the artist. That has now become a standard part of my practice". (1)

In 2010 Sam Leach was the recipient of the Archibald and Wynne prize, being only the third artist to win both in the same year, behind William Dobell and Brett Whiteley. His works have been exhibited extensively around the world, and are included in major institutional collections across Australia.

Hannah Ryan
Art Specialist

(1) Kale, N., Sam Leach, New Realms of Perception 2015, Vault Australasian Art & Culture Magazine, September 2015, https://www.vaultmagazine.com/ISS11/leach.php

Courtesy The Artist and Sullivan+Strumpf