Gull Rock and Blanche Point

Kathleen Sauerbier had a deep affinity with the south coast of South Australia.  She was born into a family that set roots in the Fleurieu Peninsula, with her grandfather Christian Sauerbier settling in Happy Valley after arriving from Germany in 1845. It became a place of constant creative and spiritual connection for her.

In 1928 after returning from Britain and France, Sauerbier would travel down south on regular painting trips and in 1932 she moved into the Seaview Hotel, also known as the ‘Residential Café’, in Port Willunga.  Sauerbier and her easel became commonplace on the cliff tops and the golden hayfields. Fellow artist John Dowie evocatively recalled Sauerbier ‘battling with the local mistral, her easel weighted with a large stone and a vast canvas bucking and drumming in the wind… feet firmly braced… too intent on her work to bother about the daunting conditions… always it was colour and an elusive idea that mattered… Kath (was) one of those who pursue a Will o’ the Whisp’.

There are three known paintings of Gull Rock and Blanche Point by Sauerbier, each painted at a different point in her career and with distinctive approaches but all radiating a familiarity for the natural feature. Painted looking south toward Port Willunga, the cliffs have been delineated using black lines which Sauerbier then filled with brushstrokes of brownish tones, the vigorous brushwork giving volume to the rocky formations. The muted purple tone of the hazy land mass further beyond creates distinction between the blue sky and the blue green tones of the rolling waves of the sea.

While Sauerbier painted pulsating cityscapes of London and Melbourne, lively floral studies and intimate portraits it is her outstanding landscapes such as this one of the Fleurieu Peninsula for which she is best known.

Born in 1903 in the suburb of Brighton, South Australia, Kathleen Sauerbier was known for her paintings of landscapes, streetscapes, still lifes and portraits. Her practice also extended to fabric and jewellery design. Through her studies and travels abroad, Sauerbier would be introduced to modernism and the movement would inform both her aesthetic and personal life.

Sauerbier undertook formal studies in art in 1922 at the School of Fine Arts in North Adelaide, South Australia under Frederick Britton and later Millward Grey before travelling abroad in1925. While in London she enrolled at the Central School of Art where she studied under the tutelage of Bernard Meninsky, Frederick J. Porter and James Ardern Grant.  Her time overseas also saw her travel to France.

Returning to Adelaide from Europe in January 1928, Sauerbier would find inspiration and solace in the south coast. The Fleurieu Peninsula, south of Adelaide, has long been an inspiration for artists and Kathleen Sauerbier was one of the first to respond to the area using a modernist approach including simplified forms, expressive lines and limited tones. Sauerbier was often seen outdoors battling the elements with her easel and paints and would paint the sights including built environs and the striking natural features, such as the cliffs, ocean and fields. Frequently Sauerbier invited fellow artist and friend Horace Trenerry to paint alongside her and it is around this time that Trenerry's palette embraced the muted mauve, pink and grey tones favoured by Sauerbier. It is also at this time that Sauerbier exhibited her work in Adelaide with the South Australia Society of Arts until 1935. She would later exhibit with the Group Twelve and the Melbourne branch of the Contemporary Art Society after moving to Melbourne in1937.

Living in South Yarra, Melbourne, Sauerbier was inspired by the dynamic city bursting with energy that was near her. Sauerbier’s paintings from this period, of streetscapes and rooftop views, recall the energy and fast pace of London which she’d painted ten years earlier while studying overseas.  

By the 1950s, Sauerbier moved to the quiter suburb of Donvale and she directed her artistic energy to fabric, jewellery and landscape design. However, although now permanently living in Melbourne, Sauerbier would continue to visit Port Willunga annually and paint, drawing inspiration from the south coast.

Sauerbier passed away in 1991.