Thirsty Travellers

Thirsty Travellers Original Oil on Board 25cm x 20cm

In this scene Max has captured an outback pub where four travellers are about to drop their swags, billies, water bags and gear to make a dash in the door of the country pub, “The Royal Hotel”.  Many country towns and villages have a “Royal Hotel”, respected research says there are 244 Royal Hotels in Australia and that’s not counting variations on that name (The Royal Oak, The Royal Mail, The Royal Duke). It is a big day, the farmers, cow cockies, drovers, and farm hands all come into the local pub at the end of a hard day’s work.  These blokes reckoned they have walked long enough to deserve a beer.  In many towns it is the biggest drawcard for the district the local pub where all sought’ s of business is conducted; employment is found, and deals are done.  “I’ve always painted people,” said Max… for Max this painting captures a typical scenario at a country pub.   Half the point of going outback is to make a memorable stop and support one of many quintessential, family-owned Aussie pubs.  Quench your thirst and belly inside their historic walls, often lined in quirky Akubra’s, where you’re welcomed to rub shoulders with the locals at their handmade Camphor laurel bars.

Max is an Australian artist schooled out in the bush among the colourful characters he now paints. His vivid paintings are possible because he “knows” every character he paints he has worked, laughed, cried, and sweated with them all. This knowledge and love of his subjects produces pieces that are so “human” that each piece has its own personality.  Every painting has a story, but Max is a painter of “yarns”, Australian vernacular for a story with a moral and a laugh.  The experiences of those years Max spent in the outback; the memories of growing up in a small country town have provided Max with an endless flow of inspiration for his paintings. His works depict life in the outback as it was then, in a light-hearted vein keen insight and gentle humour that so keenly illustrates country Australians.  A scrawny dog, a drover’s dog, which is almost Max’s unofficial signature.

Original Oil on Board by Max Mannix