Explore the Description of this artwork.
The painting notably deviates from Heysen's well known use of water colour as an oil painting on canvas. It depicts a drover, an Australian term for a person who moves livestock over long distances, transporting sheep along a road which appears to lead down a gradual incline. The vast, sunbathed landscape presented in the background of the artwork is likely inspired by the nature of the countryside of the Adelaide Hills, an area 28 kilometres (17 mi) south east of South Australia's capital city Adelaide. Heysen resided for the majority of his life in this area in the small town of Hahndorf, thus receiving the inspiration for Droving Into the Light and his other works, most of which depict this natural landscape in some way.Essential to the composition of the artwork are the salient eucalyptus trees, which became a prominent symbol of Heysen's oeuvre throughout the course of his career. Of note in Droving Into the Light specifically is the large river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), which was an afterthought of Heysen's that intended to bring the fine elements of the work together in the later period of its composition:... I realised the weakness of the composition and repainted portions, introducing the large central Red Gum. This helped to bind the two sides and made a great improvement, materially enhancing the whole conception.
Hahndorf Adelaide Hills eucalyptus trees river red gum South Australia's Eucalyptus camaldulensis Eucalyptus drover Adelaide South Australia