Clarice Beckett is now considered one of the leading artists of Australian modernism, though she received little recognition during her lifetime.
A pupil of tonalist Max Meldrum, Beckett emerged onto the 1920s Melbourne art scene with a distinctive style of painting characterised by flat brushwork that resulted in a dreamlike quality to her work. She is most well known for her misty depictions of seemingly everyday scenes such as telegraph poles, trams, car lights at dusk, as well as landscapes that captured her reverence for both the natural world and the simple pleasures of suburbia.
In a special presentation for NGV Members, Beckett Rozentals, Senior Curator of Australian Art, considers the artist’s indelible contributions to Australian Modernism, celebrating the recent acquisition of Evening, Church St Bridge, c. 1930, to join the NGV Collection, an exquisite example of the artist’s restricted palette and personal style.