An example of Williams’ work (not the missing painting).

The hunt is on for a long lost landscape painting by local impressionist artist, Wilmotte Williams (1916-1992), and the Macquarie University Art Gallery is leading the cause.

“The painting was last seen in public in the Ryde area back in the 1950s,” explained Rhonda Davis, head curator of the Macquarie University Art Gallery.

“We know that the piece captures the market gardens that were present in the pioneering years in the formation of Macquarie University. Remnants of those gardens still remain on campus today.”

As the tale goes, the piece was first noticed by a classmate of the artist’s son, when he was walking past Williams as she was painting. He stopped to admire and praise Williams’ painting that stood on her easel on that particular day – the depiction of the market gardens. Williams was touched by the boy’s enthusiastic praise, and consequently, a week later, the artist delivered the painting to his home as a gift. The painting took pride of place in the family’s home for many decades, up until at least the mid-1990s.

While the name of the schoolboy is unknown, it is known that he attended Eastwood Primary Central School between 1956 and 1959.

“We know that he lived on the Marsfield side of Eastwood. We know his mother had the landscape on the wall in her home in 1994, because she told Wilmotte’s son, Christopher Williams. They had met that year at a Wilmotte Williams retrospective in Westfield Hornsby,” Rhonda explained.

“It would be fantastic to recover this painting in piecing together an important part of Ryde’s cultural and artistic histories; to view and relish once again the Ryde landscape through the eyes of Wilmotte Williams as it was some 60 years ago,” she added.

The Gallery is hoping to hear some news about the painting in the lead up to the Sydney Unseen Exhibition, which will celebrate the Wilmotte Williams Centenary Retrospective in 2016, being staged at Macquarie University Library from 20 June – 22 July.

If you have any information about the painting, please call 02 9850 7437 or email Rhonda Davis or Leonard Janiszewski at the Macquarie University Art Gallery.