Wednesday 20 January 2010

Heysen of Hahndorf

When it was suggested to me that we might visit the home of Hans Heysen I was thrilled. Heysen was German born but lived in Australia from the age of six and began to make his mark as a painter very early in his life and after periods of study in Europe and marriage to his wife Sallie he bought a property near the village of Hahndorf in the hills above Adelaide. From 1912 till his death in 1968, Heysen made a unique record of the landscape of, in particular, South Australia. The property that he bought, called the Cedars, is a wonderful place to visit and it is easy to understand how an artist would be moved to use this area not only as a base but as his inspiration also. Fortunately the property is still in family hands and it is possible to visit the house and studio, with their wonderful collection of Heysen paintings and sketches. Of course this is what we did before exploring the grounds. Much of the land associated with the estate is as nature intended with the addition of helpful information points that relate to the specific paintings created at those points. We all loved it and could have stayed much longer, indeed I could easily contemplate a holiday painting there for a matter of weeks.


The Shady Pool

A garden full of treats

Heysen's Studio

Heysen's Studio Again - I want one!

I'm obviously over excited because I've launched into the Heysen trip without talking about our earlier activity. So here goes.

It is always a pleasure, when visiting Adelaide, to head for the Central Market. Here you have the widest range of choice in buying fresh fruit, vegetables and meat. This market is very much like the great markets that we see in some of our European cities, though sadly never on anything but a small scale back home in Britain. The plan was to meet Jan and select the meat and vegetables for our evening meal but it would have been a shame to miss the opportunity to take breakfast in Lucio’s first. Having successfully negotiated both tasks we dropped off the food at Jan’s and headed off for our planned trip of the day.

Self explanatory

Ditto

Beautiful produce

Jan tells the tale

Sheila enjoys the tale
Into the Light - Hans Heysen

Inside the Heysen Studio

The Heysen House
Eucalypts in the grounds

Hahndorf Front Street

Glowing with the visual treats that we had experienced it became time for us to head home to savour the fine meat and produce bought that morning at the market. Another memorable day setting us up for a day of travel, when we will head for our main holiday destination, New Zealand. Our readers will be pleased to hear that there will be a sharp drop in temperature when we get there, down to about twenty four or five and that they have both clouds and occasional rain, both of which have been noticeably absent on the previous legs of our tour.

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