Thomas 'Tam' Purves (1909–1969), founded the Australian Galleries in Collingwood, Melbourne with his wife Anne in 1956. He managed the business aspects of the Australian Galleries, while Anne dealt with the art. As a team, they pioneered professional dealing in contemporary art in Australia, promoting the careers of artists who became some of the most significant names in 20th-century Australian art. John Brack began exhibiting with them in 1957. Although he didn't consider himself a portraitist, he created a number of portraits that, like his images of unnamed people and faces, are finely observed, sometimes austere examinations of everyday life and experiences. As his widow Helen Brack explained: 'In John's view, mere likenesses were not portraits; a portrait was about identity, the disposition – not the persona – and the whole picture was the portrait, the configuration in the rectangle and use of picture space.' She said of this picture: ‘here is an essay about a businessman, and John makes no concessions.'
Perpetuated by the Purves' son Stuart, Australian Galleries is still in operation and is Australia's longest-surviving commercial art business.
Purchased 2012
© Helen Brack
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