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John Passmore

Four Bathers at a Bridge, c. 1953

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oil on board

34.00 x 41.00

signed 'JP' lower right

Provenance:

John Passmore, Sydney;
Private Collection, New South Wales in January 1956;
thence by descent from the above

Exhibited:

John Passmore: Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle, 20 September – 13 October 1985, no. 27 (label verso, from previous frame)

Literature & references:

Barry Pearce, John Passmore Retrospective, exhibition catalogue, AGNSW, 1985, see plate 28 for a slightly larger work of bathers flinging themselves off a jetty.

 

Note:

With Passmore's immense respect for Cézanne, it's not surprising to find the series of bathers painted in the early 50s to have occupied a major proportion of his energy. They can be roughly divided into two groups: the active and the passive.  In the latter the bathers tend to be resting and reclining (Pearce, pl 16); in the middle ground they start to move (Harbourside, 1952, NGV collection, Pearce pl 22; The argument, 1953, AGNSW collection, Pearce pl 61) and at the active extreme he catches them hurtling into the water - as in this work.  It's a sight known to every Australian who has spent time by the sea - young, usually teenage, boys competing boisterously to make the biggest and loudest splash (Pearce pl 28). This youthful hyperactivity makes the perfect foil for the restrained stillness of the arguably more conservative works in the first category.

View artwork in Exhibition

Further works by the Artist

Nocturne, Sydney Harbour

John Passmore

1956

gouache on newspaper (SMH, 26 July 1956), 58.20 x 82.50

SOLD

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Bathers, Morning

John Passmore

c. 1951 - 1953

oil on board, 51.00 x 56.00

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The Cottage

John Passmore

c. 1940

oil on canvas, 31.00 x 41.00

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Abstract

John Passmore

1960

oil on board, 50.00 x 37.00

SOLD

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Les Baigneuses

John Passmore

c. 1951 - 1953

oil on board, 39.00 x 44.00

SOLD

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Bathers, Morning

John Passmore

c. 1953

oil on board, 40.50 x 51.00

SOLD

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Jumping Horse Mackerel, No. 6

John Passmore

1959

ink and wash on paper, 40.00 x 50.00

SOLD

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Going Forward and Coming Back

John Passmore

1956

oil on hardboard, 35.20 x 45.70

SOLD

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Three Bathers

John Passmore

c. 1953 - 1955

oil on composition board, 66.00 x 81.00

SOLD

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Three Bathers

John Passmore

c. 1953 - 1955

oil on composition board, 66.00 x 81.00

SOLD

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Bathers, Morning

John Passmore

c. 1953

oil on board, 40.50 x 51.00

SOLD

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Jumping Horse Mackerel no. 3

John Passmore

1959

pen and ink wash on paper, 38.00 x 54.00

SOLD

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Since its establishment in 1984, the Charles Nodrum Gallery’s exhibition program embraces a diversity of media and styles - from painting, sculpture & works on paper to graphics and photography; from figurative, geometric, gestural, surrealist & social comment to installation & conceptually based work.