Princes Bridge today (Source: Wikipedia Commons)
Clarice loved her city well, comprehensively; all its plain, enticing fragments…
On that Tuesday of imminent rain, she saw Princes Bridge. A slice of it; the solidity of cast iron resting on bluestone bulwarks, and the steady current of traffic this carried. The palm trees in the foreground, in some way endearing, self-consciously adolescent. The little boats on the mirroring water beneath, and above, a maternal, impersonal sky.
From Night Street, by Kristel Thornall, shortlisted for the 2011 NSW Premier’s Literary Award. Allen & Unwin 2010 (p 52)
Click here or here to see Clarice Beckett’s painting, so beautifully evoked by this snippet that I stopped reading to search for the painting online.
Update 10/2/23: revisiting this post after reading Thornell’s latest novel The Sirens Sing, I found that my original link to see the painting in the State Library of Victoria Library was dead. My replacement links are to art dealers’ sites so it’s possible that they may be dead in due course too. If so, search for Clarice Beckett, Princes Bridge (1930), but look for the image with the boats and the palm trees, because she did other painting of the bridge as well.
ANZ LitLovers LitBlog 
Its lovely to be able to click through to see the painting. A fascinating snippet indeed
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By: Tom C on April 7, 2011
at 5:24 pm
*chuckle* This is when I wish I didn’t have to resepct copyright here on this blog – I’d love to be able to do a slideshow of Beckett’s art!
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By: Lisa Hill on April 7, 2011
at 7:00 pm