Collins St, 5p.m.
1955
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
114.8 × 162.8 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1956
© National Gallery of Victoria
Gallery location
Gallery 12
Level 2, NGV Australia
About this work
In the early 1950s John Brack adopted the urban Melbourne environment as his subject, recording the shops, bars and workplaces of the city with an ironic edge. This painting is among Brack’s most memorable works from this period. Here, the artist depicts Melbourne’s financial hub at the end of the working day, its uniformly dressed office workers streaming homeward. Inspired by Brack’s own experience working for a city-based insurance company, the formal repetition and muted palette enhances the overarching sense of drudgery of nine-to-five office life. However, by personalising each figure, Brack points to the enduring presence of the individual.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Melbourne, Victoria
Inscription
inscribed in black paint l.l.: John Brack 55
inscribed in white chalk (vertically) on reverse: BRACK / COLLINS ST.
inscribed in pencil (vertically) on reverse: Collins St J. BRACK
Accession Number
3302-4
Department
Australian Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Subjects (general)
Cityscapes Human Figures
Subjects (specific)
Australia (nation) cities footpaths Melbourne (inhabited place) pedestrians street scenes Victoria (state) white collar workers
Frame
The frame for John Brack’s Collins St. 5pm is contemporary with the work. The painting came into the collection in 1956, the year after it was painted and the frame is the one on the work at the time of acquisition. It is a simple bevelled profile, carrying a light wash of pale colour, and appears on a number of the artist's works from the mid 1950’s.
A copy of this frame was made for The bar, 1954 (2009.53). A similar frame profile was used for, The block, 1954 (1999.197) and Self portrait, 1955, (2000.185).
The painting was cleaned in 2011.
Frame Details
Framemaker
Unknown - 20th century
Date
c.1955
Materials
bevelled timber section
Frame Condition
good original condition