JOHN BRACK

'John Brack' (1920 - 11 February 1999 in Melbourne, Victoria) was a notable Australian painter. His work first achieved prominence in the 1950s. He also joined the Antipodeans Group in the 1950s which protested against abstract expressionism.
An exhibition of Brack's work called John Brack: Inside and Outside was held at the National Gallery of Australia in 1999.

Contents

Style

External links

References

Style

Brack's early conventional style evolved into one of simplified, almost stark, shapes and areas of deliberately drab colour, often featuring large areas of brown. He made an initial mark in the 1950s with works on then contemporary Australian culture, such as the iconic ''Collins Street, Melbourne, 5 O'Clock'' (1955), a view of rush hour in post-war Melbourne. Set in a bleak palette of browns and greys, it was a comment on the conformism of everyday life, with all figures looking almost identical. A related painting ''The Bar'' (1954) was modelled on Manet's ''A Bar at the Folies-Bergère'', and satirised the Six o'clock swill, an effective social ritual arising from the early closing of Australian bars. Most of these early paintings and drawings were unmistakably satirical comments against the Australian Dream, either being set in the newly expanding post-war suburbia or taking the life of those who lived there as their subject matter.
In the 1970s Brack produced a long series of highly stylised works featuring objects such as pencils in complex patterns. These were intended as allegories of contemporary life.
Brack's painting ''The Bar'' sold for $3.1 million in April 2006, [1] [2], while in May 2007 his painting ''The Old Time'' sold for $3.36 million at auction in Sydney, a record for a painting by an Australian artist [3].
A major retrospective exhibition of Brack's work opened at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra on 24 August 2007^[1], the last major exhibition for the gallery before its relocation. Brack's widow, Helen, attended the opening and commented that Brack was not concerned with the social standing of the sitter, but rather the artistic merit of their participation in the piece^[2].

External links

★ John Brack in National Gallery of Australia

★ John Brack at Australian Art

References

1. Portraits by John Brack, National Portrait Gallery, Old Parliament House, 24 August 2007 – 18 November 2007, accessed 24 August 2007
2. WIN TV news report, 24 August 2007