John Brack

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The Bar (1954)

John Brack (1920 - February 11, 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.

[edit] 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", 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. 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, which was an auction record for an Australian painting. [1] [2]