The descendants of Frederick McCubbin have thrown their support behind two protesters who allegedly defaced one of the artist’s most well-known and significant paintings.
A video released by activist group Disrupt Burrup Hub on Thursday showed a woman spray-painting a Woodside logo on McCubbin’s Down on his luck at the Art Gallery of Western Australia. She then appeared to glue her hand to the wall while a man unfurled an Aboriginal flag, made an acknowledgment of country and spoke about the oil and gas company’s “ongoing desecration of sacred Murujuga rock art”.
Woodside is expanding its operations on the Burrup peninsula, more than 1,200km north of Perth in the Pilbara region. The peninsula, known as Murujuga to the traditional owners, has the largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs, or rock carvings, in the world.
Woodside’s industrial developments include fertiliser and gas plants, and planned expansions require the petroglyphs to be moved.
The 1889 McCubbin oil on canvas, valued at $3m a decade ago, was protected by Perspex and did not get damaged.
The artist’s great-granddaughter, artist Margot Edwards, said on Friday her famous relative would have loved the attention.
“He would have laughed out loud and supported this very clever protest, which has not harmed his painting in any way and has opened an important conversation,” Edwards told the Guardian on Friday.
McCubbin’s great-great-grandchild Ned Reilly said the incident had served to highlight the work.
“If anything, it has brought more attention to his painting and is getting a new generation to think about what that means in terms of Australian identity,” Reilly said.
Both descendants said they supported the actions of the two protesters, Perth ceramic artist and illustrator Joana Partyka and Ballardong Noongar man Desmond Blurton.
McCubbin’s descendants, who only learned of the incident when stories began appearing online on Thursday, said the protesters were justified in their actions and that the McCubbin family had a long tradition of environmental activism themselves.
“This action has brought to the national conversation a topic that is absolutely vital for us to be discussing in regard to an ancient Aboriginal rock art site, one of the largest in the continent,” Edwards said.
“I believe that the Aboriginal custodians need to be fully involved in that conversation and I’m just really thrilled that one of the custodians and an artist have brought this to the national media. It’s time we all looked at the Burrup and really took stock of what it is that’s under threat here because it’s absolutely unique. It will never be recreated. It’s an outdoor art gallery. And by using AGWA and this painting of Fred McCubbin’s to bring light to it – we’re all talking about art, talking about environment and that really excites me.”
Reilly said “the wanton destruction of the oldest art gallery in the world is the real crime here”.
“As a family of active and engaged artists and scientists, the statement made in this protest is totally in line with the McCubbin family’s rich legacy of using art to make comment on urgent environmental issues,” he said.
Police said on Friday a Northbridge woman, 37, had been charged with one count of criminal damage. She is due to appear at the Perth magistrates court on 16 February.
