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Contour ploughing c.1945

Accession No.
2001.055
Date Created
c.1945
Gallery location
Not on public display
Department
Australian Art
Dimensions A
39 x 47.4cm
Media Category
Painting
Secondary Media Category
watercolour
Medium
Watercolour with gouache over pencil on paper mounted on cardboard
Place Created
Mount Emlyn, Darling Downs, Qld
Credit Line
Purchased 2001. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant

In the 1940s, Kenneth Macqueen and his brother Jack were among the first farmers on the Darling Downs to adopt the ancient practice of contour ploughing, revived by North American farmers in the 1930s. The method involves working across the slope of the land, rather than up and down it, which mitigates the effects of run-off after heavy rain, reducing the loss of valuable topsoil. In this painting, Macqueen shows the turned soil running across the side of the hill interspersed with curved banks of un-ploughed grass, an additional protection against erosion.
 

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© Kenneth Macqueen Estate

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Exhibitions featuring this object

Kenneth Macqueen / Australia NSW 1897 - 1960 / Harvesting scene (detail) c.1956 / Watercolour over pencil on wove paper / Purchased 1956 / Collection: QAGOMA / © QAGOMA / A watercolour landscape depicting rolling fields in shades of green and yellow, with hills in the background shadowed by clouds.

‘Watercolour in Queensland’

Mar 2014 - Jul 2014

Works installed for 'Under a Modern Sun', Gallery 4, QAG, August 2025 / © The artists / Photograph: N Umek, QAGOMA

'Under a Modern Sun'

Aug 2025 - Jan 2026

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