What John Brack SaW... - National Gallery of Victoria

What John Brack Saw...
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Self-portrait 1955
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The artist John Brack was born in 1920
and lived in Melbourne. He saw ordinary people
around him and made pictures of what they
looked like and the way they behaved.
Every picture tells a story and, together, they
tell us a bigger story about life in Australia,
beginning in the 1950s, over fifty years ago.
Often he would draw and sometimes he would
make prints but mostly he painted.
John Brack studied his face in the mirror
and painted his reflection.
Is the artist shaving with his left hand or
his right hand?
3

Collins St, 5p.m. 1955
‘Short back and sides please,’
the customer would say to the barber.
See more people going
about their business
in other paintings.
1950s
John Brack walked down the street in the city
and saw all sorts of people going about their daily
business.
Standing in his shop, the barber is watching
us watching him. Notice his strong hands.
He painted a small study of Collins St,
5p.m. before he painted the bigger picture
above.
Can you find it?
Are all the people the same
in both paintings?
John Brack stood and saw people in Collins
Street as they rushed to catch the tram or train
when they finished work at 5pm.
He thought the 9am to 5pm routine would be
boring and wanted to show this in his painting.
How did he show this?
Can you see the barber’s tools?
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What shops do you see when you
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walk down the street?
The barber’s shop 1952

The car 1955
One day John Brack saw a family driving by.
The children and their mother were looking
back at him.
Play ‘I Spy’ when you look for more things in
John Brack’s paintings.
Families often played games such as ‘I Spy’
in the car.
Can you find pictures of John Brack’s family
nearby?
’
Can you spy something starting with ‘T’?
Subdivision 1954
Little boxes, little boxes on the hillside,
little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes
all the same.
(From the song Little Boxes by
Malvina Reynolds, 1962)
John Brack saw new homes being built around
Melbourne as the city and suburbs grew.
How many houses are being built in this
subdivision?
Is there space to build more houses beside the
new roads?
What is your house like?
How does the painting match
6 the words of the song?
7

The playground 1959
Sticks and stones
may break my bones
But names will never
hurt me.
John Brack saw the children’s schoolyard was full
of activity.
Look closely at the children playing.
Can you see the girls skipping?
Can you see the boys running?
What else are the children doing?
Latin American Grand Final 1969
The rumba, the samba and the
cha-cha are Latin American dances.
There are more paintings of people in
action. Can you find them at the races
and in the gymnasium?
1960s
When John Brack went to the grand final of the
ballroom dancing championships, he saw the
competitors who practised for hours and wore
spectacular costumes to impress the judges.
John Brack has painted himself in the picture.
Can you find him dancing alone?
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What games do you play and what rhymes do you sing
Have you watched dance competitions live or on TV?
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when you are at school?

Inside and outside
(The shop window) 1972
Barry Humphries in the character of Mrs Everage 1969
‘Hello possums!’
Mrs Everage made this greeting famous.
How do fashionable women
dress today?
Barry Humphries dressed up as Mrs Edna Everage
and told funny stories about the way Australian
people behaved.
John Brack and thousands of other Australians
saw him perform.
John Brack chose bright, cheerful colours for
this portrait.
Where do
you see your
reflection?
1970s
John Brack painted all sorts of objects he saw
displayed in shop windows.
What are these objects used for?
In this painting he also painted his reflection in the
window and in the shiny utensils on display.
Mrs Everage was very fashionable in 1969.
Ladies would always wear hats and gloves
How many reflections of John Brack can you
10 when they went out.
count?
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Can you describe what else Mrs Everage is
wearing?
Can you see the shopkeeper watching him?

Kings and Queens 1988
The battle 1981–83
The Grand Old Duke of York
He had ten thousand men
He marched them up to the
top of the hill
Then marched them down again
(A verse from the nursery rhyme,
The Grand Old Duke of York,
about a famous battle)
1980s
In his lifetime John Brack often thought about
the way people behave. This painting is about an
enormous battle and the pencils are the soldiers.
How many armies are fighting?
Has anyone been hurt?
1990s
John Brack collected postcards of different places
from all around the world.
Sometimes he included them in his paintings.
These postcards are of kings and queens.
Match a person in a postcard with the country
they come from:
Egypt Greece China
Can you think of times when groups of people behave
In other paintings, walking sticks,
There are also drawings disguised as postcards
in a peaceful and happy way?
12 Pinocchio dolls and wooden mannikins
made by his grandchildren that are hidden in the
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represent people. Can you find them?
painting. Can you find them?
Do you have any collections of cards or objects at home?

John Brack
Australia 1920–1999
The barber’s shop 1952
oil on canvas
63.2 x 76.2 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1953
© National Gallery of Victoria
Subdivision 1954
oil on canvas
55.0 x 75.2 cm
TarraWarra Museum of Art collection, Victoria
Acquired, 2004
© National Gallery of Victoria
The car 1955
oil on canvas
41.0 x 102.2 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1956
© National Gallery of Victoria
Collins St, 5p.m. 1955
oil on canvas
114.6 x 162.9 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1956
© National Gallery of Victoria
Self-portrait 1955
oil on canvas
81.5 x 48.3 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with the assistance of the
National Gallery Women’s Association, 2000
© Helen Brack
Barry Humphries in the character
of Mrs Everage 1969
oil on canvas
94.2 x 128.2 cm
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Purchased with funds provided by the Contemporary Art
Purchase Grant from the Visual Arts Board of the Australia
Council, 1975
© Helen Brack
Latin American Grand Final 1969
oil on canvas
167.5 x 205.0 cm
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Purchased, 1981
© Helen Brack
The battle 1981–83
oil on canvas
203.0 x 274.0 cm
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of John and Helen Brack, 1992
© Helen Brack
The playground 1959
oil on canvas
128.3 x 116.5 cm
Private collection, Melbourne
© Helen Brack
Kings and Queens 1988
oil on canvas
152.0 x 182.5 cm
Private collection, Melbourne
© Helen Brack
Inside and outside (The shop window) 1972
oil on canvas
164.0 x 130.5 cm
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Purchased, 1973
© Helen Brack
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If you were to paint, draw a picture or tell a story
about someone you have seen today, who would you
choose?
What were they doing, what did they look like and
why do you remember them?
Maybe, like John Brack, you have a story to tell in
words or in a picture.
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This book is copyright and all rights are reserved. Apart from any
use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be
reproduced or communicated to the public by any process without
prior written permission. Enquiries should be directed to the
publisher.
Published by the Council of Trustees
of the National Gallery of Victoria
180 St Kilda Road
Melbourne, Victoria, 3004
Australia
The Ian Potter Centre:
NGV Australia Federation Square
24 April – 9 August 2009
ngv.vic.gov.au
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
2 October 2009 – 31 January 2010
Text prepared by Dianne Hilyear, Education and Public Programs
Editor: Dianne Waite
Designer: Jessica Gommers, Elizabeth Carey Smith
Photography: NGV Photographic Services, unless otherwise stated.
Printing: Bluestar