By Dylan Rainforth
The recent unveiling at the National Gallery of Victoria of a restored Frederick McCubbin might have gone unnoticed, overshadowed by a mountain of selfies as Chinese art star Ai Weiwei posed with all-comers during his recent visit.
The year-long restoration of McCubbin's c1888 oil painting, The North Wind, used the intense electromagnetic radiation of the hi-tech Australian Synchrotron to analyse pigments buried beneath the paint surface.
The process revealed that McCubbin's pioneers in a horse-drawn cart originally made their way through more pleasant pastures.
The Synchrotron's X-ray-like analysis found that a lush, green landscape had been painted over about the time of the 1888 centennial commemorations.
McCubbin replaced green fields with arid desert to fit a developing national image of rugged and heroic settlers.
The painting is on display at NGV Australia alongside an e-book detailing the restoration process.