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John BRACK, Third daughter. REDUCE 1/1


John BRACK

East Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia 1920 – Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 1999


Third daughter. 1954
Intaglio drypoint, printed in black ink with plate-tone, from one copper plate
Impression: 9/11
Edition: edition of 11
plate-mark 17.5 h x 12.3 w cm
Purchased 1977
Accession No: NGA 77.728
© Helen Brack

John Brack was a Melbourne artist who in his work engaged with an urban reality, one which the great majority of Australians experience in their daily life.

In 1954, he began to explore the techniques of printmaking and created a series of four small, intimate images in drypoint, one of each of his daughters. Third daughter is a little gem in characterisation, where the stark frontality, the clenched fists and the scowling expression denote defiance. This is accentuated by the rigid geometry of the setting, contrasted with the chaotic cross-hatching around the feet of the child. The lines have a lightly scratched crisp quality which is set against the soft velvety surface textures.

Sasha Grishin, 2002.


Text © National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 2010
From: Anne Gray (ed), Australian art in the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2002