Page 9 - The Last days of Wilderness catalogue
P. 9
Erebus and Terror
Oil on canvas
60 x 90 cms 2009
Erebus and Terror, the 2 ships
of Johns expedition are seen as icebergs. This symbol of the iceberg reappears in many of the works, it represents John or the ships or both.
The composition is based on an altarpiece, having a central panel and two 'wings'’.
Government House is featured on the left panel . Even though this wasn’t built while the Franklins were in Tasmania, its presence is unfailingly ‘right’.
In the central panel Jane Franklin is
upside down against a background of the Franklin River. This deep Raven blue is seen in many different forms in the paintings in this exhibition, and always represents the Franklin or the Gordon, closing and joining the early works of the expedition to the west with these later final works.
