Mike Kowalski, The Big Fig, Fitzroy Gardens, 2019, Closely Observed, Hawthorn Arts Centre, City of Boroondara, watercolour,
Summary
American-born painter Mike Kowalski divides his time between Australia and his country of birth, with a studio in Melbourne and in Washington state too. He works mainly with watercolours, and landscapes and scenes are his chief subjects. He claims his work is primarily influenced by John Singer Sargent among others.
Kowalski’s various awards attest to his predisposition for painting plein air, taking his palette and paper out with him to paint directly from nature. This watercolour, made in Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens, shows a detail of a large Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla), the branches of which spread to embrace the figure dwarfed against its massive trunk. Kowalski’s impressionist focus on light is heightened by his careful brushwork, which defines the canopy and regulates the dispersal of sunlight across the trunk and foreground. ‘Big Fig Tree, Fitzroy Gardens’ was one of two works by the artist purchased for the city’s collection following his exhibition ‘Closely Observed’, held at the Hawthorn Arts Centre, in May–July 2019.
The centrally located Fitzroy Gardens, with their classic Victorian design, were initially set aside as a reserve for the new settlement of Melbourne in 1848; they passed into the sole control of the City of Melbourne in 1917.
