Pre-Embarkation Hawthorne Analysis

Pre-embarkation Suffolk (1979)
This artwork depicts a naked man tied up to a tree being whipped by another man. The setting of this painting is a forest which has been identified as Suffolk in the name. The Boyd family had a Cottage in Suffolk and this was painted as he prepared to leave England and take the voyage back to Australia. The subjects on the painting look like an aboriginal being flogged as the suffering of aboriginals is a common theme in Boyd’s work. The fact that this was painted while he was in England preparing to go back to Australia shows that Boyd equated violence with Australia.

This painting is oil on canvas. It uses thick brush strokes and thick paint to help exaggerate the meaning of the piece. The characters do not have much detail and seem to blend into the background. This painting also has a theatrical staging with the background seeming to centre in on the figures while still keeping them shrouded.

This artwork has influences from his time in England and influences from the Australian colonial era that he experienced while in Australia. The cool tones and theatrical staging come from his time in England where he was commissioned to design sets for
all the colours in this painting are cool. The painting also has a blue green colour scheme with red as an accent colour. These dullness and coolness of these colours make the setting seem like early morning. This use of colour makes the violent act happening in the painting seem normal because the colours make it seem like a normal day. The red acts as an disturbance to the peacefulness of the blue and green hues. This helps you see the wrongness of the figures actions. Emphasis also helps to show the wrongness of the figures actions. The figures blend into the background while also sticking out. They blend in because they are similar colours to the background but their geometric shape makes them stick out as everything else in the painting is