Author(s): Alison Alexander

Tasmaniana

Lively, generous, articulate —and eternally dapper in his trademark beret — Max was a force for good in Tasmanian society.

From humble beginnings as an apprentice signwriter during the Depression, Max Angus worked hard to leave commercial art behind and become a successful watercolour painter. 

In the process he made himself a household name in Tasmania and, as his life drew to a close, he was acknowledged as a living treasure. 

Success like this might have been enough for another man, but Max’s passions took him beyond his art practice to publish books on the art of watercolour and share his painterly skills with students in the beautiful Tasmanian landscape. 

It was his love for the landscape that led him to try his utmost to save Lake Pedder from destruction, alongside his great friend, wilderness photographer Olegas Truchanas. 

To further awaken the world to the threats to the Tasmanian environment, he published The World of Olegas Truchanas after his friend’s death, and later, Pedder. The story. The paintings. 

Rich in detail and drawing on the memories of Max’s family and friends, this book brings together all the facets of his life, and in doing so, illustrates Tasmania’s social history over the century that Max’s life spanned. 

 A must for lovers of Tasmanian art and history.