Australian Modern Masterpieces

Yesterday I popped into the Art Gallery of Ballarat, to take in the Australian Modern Masterpieces exhibit. 40 pieces are on loan from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, presented with a surprising number actually part of the Ballarat collection.

Featuring pieces by Aussie artist, ranging from 1920s to more modern, the exhibit featured many more women than I had expected. A couple of pieces each from John Brack and Sydney Nolan plus Arther Boyd were perhaps the more known artists in the collection.

Several others captured my attention more, however, like Russell Drysdale, including his A Football Game. William Dobell's The Strapper and also the enchanting portrait of a boy next to it, plus Brett Whiteley's pieces and modern works by Jeffrey Smart.

Grace Cossington Smith channels Brack in her Rushing, and then captures The Curve of the Bridge and then there are the contrasts of the 2 Sofala paintings by mentor and mentee, being particularly attention grabbing. So many everyday images captured and interpreted, rather than heavily abstract features, given that our landscapes and cities holds such an array of subjects, this collection is really reflective of the Aussie life.

I think this little gallery is really under-appreciated, by me, and maybe most of our town. It only seems to get the attention of the public where the debate is stirred up about where the Eureka Flag should live - it looks like the Eureka Centre has won that battle for now, based on the empty space at the gallery.

Australian Modern Masterpieces is here until the 27th of this month, and totally worth a look!