The Art Gallery of Swan Hill invites the community and visitors to experience The Tucker Portraits, a compelling exhibition showcasing paintings and rare photographs drawn from Albert Tucker’s personal archive.
Art Gallery Director, Ian Tully, is thrilled to announce the opening of this touring exhibition from the Museum of Australian Photography (MAPh) on Friday 27 March from 6pm.
“The Tucker portraits explore how an artist renowned for painting the evils of modern life, employed the photographic medium within his artistic practice,” Mr Tully said.
His archive of photographs range from studies of people that he used as inspiration and source material for his paintings, through to incredibly rare and intimate portraits of his family and friends who today are recognised as leading protagonists in Australian modernism and the Heide circle.
“These images explore the social, cultural and political life of Australia from the 1930s through to the late 1990s, while the exhibition also showcases the original photographs alongside the paintings they inspired.” Mr Tully said.
MAPh Director, Anouska Phizacklea, said it was a privilege to work with the Albert and Barbara Tucker Foundation to assemble the exhibition.
“The exhibition explores how photography was integral to the practice of Albert Tucker, one of Australia’s most important modernist artists, so well-known for his paintings of modern life.
“Tucker’s relationship with photography changed over his career – he never thought of himself as a ‘photographer’, and while portraiture was important to his practice, he only produced a scarce few portrait paintings. This exhibition showcases rare photographs taken by Tucker, of himself and the people that meant so much to him, which he used to inspire his paintings,” Ms Phizacklea said.
Join the Art Gallery of Swan Hill and the Swan Hill Advisory Committee for the opening on Friday 27 March, 6–8pm, and be among the first to experience The Tucker Portraits, showcasing Albert Tucker’s rare photographs and the paintings they inspired.