SYDNEY.- For the first time, Manly Art Gallery & Museum presents a focus exhibition of the luminous early works of the highly regarded Sydney artist James R. Jackson (1882 – 1975).

They reveal a rarely seen side of the artist, whose painting Middle Harbour from Manly Heights of 1923 started the Manly Art Gallery & Museum collection, one of the oldest regional art galleries in New South Wales.

Jackson’s early paintings – in the tradition of the great Australian impressionist painters such as Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Emanuel Phillips Fox – are highly regarded, but rarely seen.

Exhibition curators David Hulme and Brigitte Bänziger have brought together 29 works for the first time with the aim of giving Jackson’s early paintings greater recognition.

The works in the exhibition demonstrate how beautifully Jackson handled light and shade.

Sydney Harbour, figurative paintings, European landscapes and Venetian boat scenes are the subjects of these early works.

The paintings in this exhibition have been drawn from the country’s finest museums and private collections, including the Art Gallery of NSW, National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of South Australia, Mosman Art Gallery, Bendigo Art Gallery, Castlemaine Art Gallery and Tamworth Regional Gallery as well as to the many private lenders.

The exhibition is exclusive to Manly, Sydney, and runs until 27 January 2013.