RAY CROOKE (1922 - 2015)
Mount Dandenong (633 m - 2, 077 ft)
Australia (Victoria)
The mountain
Mount Dandenong (633 m - 2, 077 ft) is the rising point of Dandenong Ranges (commonly just The Dandenongs), a set of low mountain ranges at approximately 35 km (22 mi) east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The ranges consist mostly of rolling hills, steeply weathered valleys and gullies covered in thick temperate rainforest, predominantly of tall Mountain Ash trees and dense ferny undergrowth. After European settlement in the region, the range was used as a major source of timber for Melbourne. The ranges were popular with day-trippers from the 1870s onwards. Much of the Dandenongs were protected by parklands as early as 1882 and by 1987 these parklands were amalgamated to form the Dandenong Ranges National Park, which was subsequently expanded in 1997. The range receives light to moderate snow falls a few times in most years, frequently between late winter and late spring.
Today, the Dandenongs are home to over 100,000 residents and is popular amongst visitors.
The ranges are located near the boundary between the Wurundjeri and Bunurong nations territories. The two nations were part of the Kulin alliance and were most often on friendly terms. The mountain range however was not often frequented by either nations people as mountainous areas were often considered one of many resting places for various spirits.
The artist
Ray Austin Crooke AM was an Australian artist known for his landscapes. He won the Archibald Prize in 1969 with a portrait of George Johnston. However, he is not known usually for portrait painting. After the war, he enrolled in Art School at Swinburne University of Technology and later travelled to New Guinea, Tahiti and Fiji.
He is known for serene views of Islander people and ocean landscapes, many of which are based on the art of Paul Gauguin. He was responsible for the dust-jacket for Poor Fellow My Country by Xavier Herbert.
He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 1993 Australia Day Honours,"in recognition of service to the arts, particularly as a landscape artist".
