Lawrence Daws was among Australia’s most significant twentieth-century artists. Primarily a landscape artist, Daws imbues his interpretations of the land with a dreamlike sensibility. On his practice, the artist reflects: "Even when a painting is full of menace, I try to paint it in a beautiful way so you're seduced by the paint quality and you don't get subsumed by the horror."

This intimate painting of a lone waterlily resting on a still lake distils many of the qualities for which Daws is known. The flower becomes a quiet point of focus, suspended in an expanse of darkly reflective water. Though modest in scale, the work radiates a calm, contemplative energy, transforming a simple natural subject into a moment of poetic stillness. It captures Daws’ ability to translate atmosphere in landscape.

In 1957 Daws won the Italian Travelling Scholarship after which he moved to London for ten years, travelling extensively from there. In 1961 he was selected to participate in the Whitechapel and Tate Gallery exhibition of Australian art and in 1962 represented Australia at the Second Biennale des Jeunes in Paris alongside Charles Blackman and Brett Whiteley. For lovers of Twentieth-century Australian art, 'Waterlilies, Study III' is a compelling discovery.

Lawrence DAWS (1927 - 2025)
'Waterlilies, Study III' 2000
oil on canvas
Image Size: 36 x 40 cm
Signed: Signed lower right 'Daws'

Comes with Letter of Provenance

Condition: Very Good

(c) The Artist or Assignee