The Bathroom

2011
Inkjet on watercolour paper
85 x 68 centimeters

John Brack’s 1957 painting, The Bathroom, quite subversively depicts one of the least sensuous nudes in western painting. Although the artist's characteristic wryness is appealing -- Brack never idealised his figures -- it was the explicit architectural detail of the Australian Edwardian bathroom, with its vivid palette of green, pink and yellow, which made this painting an enjoyable choice for a re-imagining.

Brack’s earlier work had an almost prototypical pop art flavour focused on portraying urban Australian life in the 1950’s and 1960’s. That era of his art presented a cool, cerebral exploration of quintessential Australian public activities such as ballroom dancing, horse racing, drinking in public bars and his classic depiction of rush hour workers departing the city of Melbourne.

John Brack, The Bathroom | National Gallery of Australia

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