Kurrachee – (Arthur Melville) Previous Next


Artist:

Date: 1882

Size: 54 x 72 cm

Museum: Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia)

Technique: Watercolour

In his early twenties, Arthur Melville embarked on a journey to the Middle East, which was to be the defining event of his career. He arrived in Karachi (Kurrachee) in modern-day Pakistan in March 1882, remaining there for only four days before making his way to Baghdad then Constantinople (now Istanbul). He made a few closely related street scenes featuring empty foregrounds and strong contrasts of light and shadow that capture – as noted in his diary – the ‘dusty hot roads, white glare, trees covered with dust’. The particular thoroughfare shown in this painting might represent a section of Clarke Street, not far from Melville’s temporary base at the Sind Club. Melville’s innovative ‘blottesque’ style was more relaxed and informal than much watercolour practice at this time.

This artwork is in the public domain.

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