Cape Pillar and the Albatross

This work representing Cape Pillar is part of an ongoing series of headlands by the artist. Watts has painted Sydney Heads numerous times in his career. Inspired by the internationally famous Sydney to Hobart race Watts connects these two important entrances. Cape Pillar is a famous backdrop used in many images of the Yacht race not least in Rolex advertising.

The Albatross too connects the image to the classic romantic sublime. As part heroic yacht race part natural sublime this image puts the lever on western tropes of the seascape. It is on one hand earnest and representational and on the other a response to the televisual and the mediated landscape, from newspapers to fashion magazines.