Lot 217

Niagara Galleries, Victoria, 1988 (label verso)
Private collection, NSW

Niagara Galleries, Victoria, 14 September - 1 October 1988, cat no.4 (label verso)

Catalano, G., The Painter as the Child of History, The Age, 28 September 1988

"Those viewers who did not see his previous show should look at 'Developing landscape' first. Of the five works hung in Niagara's lower room, this tiny painting is most akin to the artist's early works.

I said earlier that Keeling is primarily a landscape painter. But his landscapes differ sharply from those which have dominated Australian painting in recent times… It goes without saying that Keeling is not a topographer. The scene we see in 'Developing landscape' may well have no counterpart in Tasmania…. But Keeling's paintings are still in touch with the truth. With considerable intelligence and imagination, they image what a particular world may look like if something is not done today."