Recumbent nude
1980
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
127.0 × 153.0cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of an anonymous donor through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2013
© Helen Brack
Gallery location
Gallery 12
Level 2, NGV Australia
About this work
‘The recurring focus on the nude is both John’s need for discipline in seeing and depicting, and his constant effort to define how women are. He knew about men, recognised the tribe and the king and the politics, but women were clearly not this. The carpets are always indicative, as are the flowing floorboards, and the walls. In Recumbent nude, 1980, the pose is of giving birth, the visually combined baseline of the bed-end and the carpet, female and male – the king-like carpet patterning, the female landscape of the bed … The position of the arms and upper body is that of breast-feeding. Here is continuation – the next chance.’ – Helen Maudsley, John Brack’s wife, 2009
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Melbourne, Victoria
Inscription
inscribed in black paint l.r.: John Brack 1980
Accession Number
2013.55
Department
Contemporary Art
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Subjects (general)
Human Figures Interiors
Subjects (specific)
nudes (representations) patterns (design elements) pillows reclining rugs (textiles) sheets (bed coverings) women (female humans)