Storm, Elizabeth Bay, 2025

Having lived for many years in Sydney’s Inner East, I have always felt the area had a cinematic quality, particularly with its torrid and troubled history, rich with dark narrative potential. The art deco buildings, narrow laneways, mysterious doorways and heightened atmosphere as dramatic storms roll through the area and out to sea, create film noir backdrops and endless opportunities to paint. This painting of a favourite apartment building in Elizabeth Bay utilizes the unique character and charm of the neighbourhood’s architecture and fig trees and makes use of the dark and moody atmosphere a Sydney thunderstorm brings at sunset.

Born 1975, Sydney. Max Linegar is a Southern Highlands based realist painter working in oil on canvas and charcoal on gesso primed paper. His atmospheric paintings of landscapes around the Southern Highlands and South Coast capture the light and mood at transitional times of day. A recurring subject is also the atmosphere and unique character of Sydney’s Inner East, where Linegar has lived for many years and has a strong connection through family history to the areas troubled past and cosmopolitan present. Max Linegar has been a finalist in the Dobell drawing prize on two occasions, is in the Kedumba permanent collection and is in the collection of the Newcastle Regional Gallery.