John Passmore

(Australia 04 Feb 1904–09 Oct 1984)

Title

Red ochre

Place of origin

Sydney → New South Wales → Australia

Year

1960

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on hardboard

Dimensions

107.0 x 122.0cm

Signature & date

Signed l.r., oil "JP". Not dated.

Credit

A.H. Smith Bequest Fund 1960

Accession number

OA10.1960

Copyright

Location

Not on display

Further information

It was in the middle of the 1950s that Passmore began to move from the figurative motifs that had previously occupied him into wholly abstract forms. His participation in the landmark exhibition 'Direction I', held in Sydney in 1956 and which included works by John Olsen, William Rose, Eric Smith and Robert Klippel - all past students of Passmore - heralded his commitment to 'the act of painting as a form of meditation in itself'. Speaking many years later about Olsen, Passmore said:
"Olsen was tenacious and a very good thinker ... he said a totally new way of seeing things had taken over ... it's got a completely new lot of rules now ... you are not looking at nature at all. You are looking at a theory about painting. What one does is a painting. It is not nature at all. He seized on that ... I had my old way and Olsen's new way, and for a while they did get mixed up with one another."

Reviewing Passmore's exhibition at Terry Clune gallery, where 'Red ochre' was first shown, in March 1960 shortly before his departure for Europe, James Gleeson wrote:
"... there is a kind of apprehension in his work. He paints as though all his senses were extended to their fullest range of receptivity in an effort to understand the reasons for this apprehension. Vulnerability has given him an extraordinary sensitivity and has made him into one of the most important painters this country has yet produced."

Australian Art Department, AGNSW, 2000

Bibliography (15)

'Recent Australian painting: Australian artists in London in 1961' by Simon Pierse, pg. 226-235., Art and Australia (Vol. 42, No. 2) Dec 2004-Feb 2005, Dec 2004-Feb 2005, 235 (colour illus.).

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 243 (colour illus.), 301.

Jennifer Phipps (Australia) (Editor), I had a dream: Australian art in the 1960s, Melbourne, 1997.

Christine France (Australia) (Author), New Directions 1952-1962, Sydney, 1991, 26 (colour illus.), 44. cat.no. 70

'Retrospective puts Passmore in order' by Elwyn Lynn., The Weekend Australian 29 Dec 1984-30 Dec 1984, 29 Dec 1984-30 Dec 1984, page unknown.

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), John Passmore 1904-84, Sydney, 1984, 18, 78 (colour illus.). cat.no. 51

Kym Bonython (Australia, b.1920) (Author), Ross K Luck (Australia, active 1967) (Author), Laurie Thomas (Australia, b.1915, d.1974) (Author), Elwyn Lynn (Australia, b.1917, d.1997) (Author), Modern Australian painting, 1950/1975, Adelaide, 1980, 71 (colour illus.).

Kym Bonython (Australia, b.1920) (Author), Elwyn Lynn (Australia, b.1917, d.1997) (Author), Modern Australian Painting, 1970/1975, Unknown, 1976, 71 (colour illus.).

Ian North (New Zealand; Australia, b.1945) (Editor), Special exhibitions at the Art Gallery of South Australia: Seventh Adelaide Festival of Arts 1972, Adelaide, 1972. cat.no. 46

Frances McCarthy (Australia) (Author), Ian North (New Zealand; Australia, b.1945) (Author), Daniel Thomas (Author), Australian landscape 1802-1975, Adelaide, 1972. cat.no. 47

Art Gallery of South Australia (Australia, estab. 1881) (Author), The Australian landscape, Adelaide, 1972. cat.no. 47

Kym Bonython (Australia, b.1920) (Author), Ross K Luck (Australia, active 1967) (Author), Modern Australian painting, 1960/1970, Adelaide, 1970, 33 (colour illus.). colour plate no. 31

Author Unknown, "You beaut country": Australian landscape painting 1837-1964, Melbourne, 1964. cat.no. 43

John Douglas Pringle (England; Australia, d.1999) (Author), Australian Painting Today, London, 1963, 75 (colour illus.).

The Sydney Morning Herald 09 Mar 1960, 09 Mar 1960. NOTE: incorrectly titled 'Yellow Ochre'

Exhibition history (16)

Farewell Exhibition of Old and New Works by John Passmore (1960), Clune Galleries, Mar 1960 -.

Purchases and Acquisitions for 1960, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 22 Mar 1961–23 Apr 1961.

Recent Australian Painting, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Jun 1961–Jul 1961.

Recent Australian Painting, Exhibition Venue Unknown, 20 Jan 1962–10 Feb 1962.

Australian landscape painting 1837-1964, National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street], 29 Oct 1964–19 Dec 1964.

The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Art Gallery of South Australia, 03 Mar 1972–03 Apr 1972.

The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Art Gallery of Western Australia, 04 May 1972–04 Jun 1972.

The Australian Landscape (1972-73), National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], 04 Jul 1972–04 Aug 1972.

The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 05 Sep 1972–01 Oct 1972.

The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 14 Nov 1972–17 Dec 1972.

The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Newcastle Region Art Gallery, 17 Jan 1973–11 Feb 1973.

The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Queensland Art Gallery, 01 Mar 1973–01 Apr 1973.

John Passmore Retrospective (1984-1985), Newcastle Region Art Gallery, 12 Jul 1985–18 Aug 1985.

New Directions 1952-1962, Lewers Bequest and Penrith Regional Art Gallery, 08 Feb 1991–24 Mar 1991.

I had a dream: Australian Art in the 1960's, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], 25 Apr 1997–16 Jun 1997.

Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000.

Collection

John Passmore