'In art, what interests me is the individual rather than the panorama, and the day before yesterday, rather than today?' Eric Thake
If Eric Thake (1904-82) is not a household name in Australian art, it's probably because he did not produce the large oil paintings that hang on museum walls for decades, slowly imprinting themselves on the minds of succeeding generations. Instead, he preferred to work on a small scale producing prints, drawings, watercolours and photographs. His paintings, which are mostly held in private collections, are also small and intimate often displaying a shy, sly sense of humour.
Thake's artistic training
Thake began as a traditional landscape painter. Under the influence of the artist and teacher George Bell (1878-1966) he became more self-consciously modernist, embracing the dreamlike imagery of Surrealist art. In 1940, this gentlest of artists had the strange distinction of being denounced by the then Director of the National Gallery of Victoria, JS MacDonald, for being 'too modern'. Once Thake found his style, however, he stuck to it, and felt no need to 'keep up' with art as it changed around him. His cool, refined graphic style remains modern in a way that has nothing to do with retro-chic. |
