Tony TUCKSON   1920  - 1973

At the time of his death, Tony Tuckson was little known as an artist but well known as the inspirational Deputy Director of the Art Gallery of NSW and as the most influential protagonist of Aboriginal art. He is now recognised as a major figure in 20th century Australian art. From 1950, Tuckson’s intimate depictions of his domestic environment displayed a Bonnard-like quality. However his experience of primitive life and art at Melville Island and Yirrkala in 1958-9, dramatically altered the direction of his own painting, moving from figuration to abstraction then to abstract expressionism. Tuckson was drawn to Aboriginal Art for its “casual way of filling an area, the lack of worry about the shapes spilling over outlines”. His deliberate limitation of colour (as in his red, black and white paintings of the 1960s) demonstrates a connection with Aboriginal art, however Picasso, Klee, Dubuffet and to some extent Pollock and De Kooning can be also be considered formative influences.

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