This exhibition examines the influence of renowned Italian metaphysical artist, Giorgio de Chirico, on the work of Australian modernist painter Albert Tucker. As a progressive young artist in the 1930s, Tucker was beguiled by the stylistic and thematic developments of the European avant garde, as well as the philosophies guiding their advancements. His curiosity was reinforced by Gino Nibbi, an Italian immigrant who opened a progressive art bookshop in Melbourne in 1928, and who extended Tucker’s interest in de Chirico’s practice. Albert Tucker: The Modern Metaphysical reveals how Tucker, following de Chirico’s example, created striking surrealist imagery featuring haunting arid landscapes, ambiguous corporeal forms, dramatic shadows, and elements of classical antiquity—drawing on the past to realise the present.
Albert Tucker, The Futile City 1940, oil on cardboard, 45 x 54.5 cm, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Purchased from John and Sunday Reed 1980, © Albert & Barbara Tucker Foundation, courtesy of Smith & Singer Fine Art
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