Summer, by Sydney Long (1871-1955), c. 1894, oil on canvas on board, 19 x 28 3/4 in. Collection the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, Australia


Midday, by Sydney Long, c.1896, oil on canvas, 40 1/4 x 60 1/4 in. Collection the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Until November 11, 2012, the National Gallery of Australia will be presenting an exhibition of work by Sydney Long titled The Spirit of the Land. This is the first major retrospective exhibition of this important Australian artist, who often depicted the Australian landscape as haunting and mysterious, and sometimes populated with mythical nature spirits. The exhibition includes 115 paintings, many of which have never been displayed publicly before.

The River, by Sydney Long, c. 1896, 10 x 22 in. Collection the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart Tasmania, Australia

Long's art flourished in the imaginatively stimulating atmosphere in Australia in the 1890s and 1900s, when he achieved early success with one of his best-known works, By Tranquil Waters (1894). The poetic charm Long gave to the landscape saw him emerge as one of Australia's most popular artists. And from 1918 he became a leading Australian printmaker, being elected an Associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, and devoting much of his time to printmaking over the following 12 years.

The Blue Lagoon, by Sydney Long, ca. 1927, oil on canvas. Collection the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia

Long remained one of Australia's leading etchers until the collapse of the etching boom in the mid-1930s, when he turned again to painting. In 1938 and 1941 he won the Wynne prize for landscape painting. His later years were characterized by hostility to younger avant-garde artists and bitterness toward more successful artists of his generation. Late in life he understated his age by seven years. In 1952 Long and his wife left for London, where he died on January 23, 1955 and was buried in Streatham cemetery. For more information, visit www.nga.gov.au.