Untitled (TP 504), c. 1956-59, Tony Tuckson
Oil on cardboard, 41cm x 23cm
Provenance: Estate of the artist, Sydney. Watters Gallery, Sydney. Private collection, Sydney. Deutscher and Hackett, Melbourne.
Even though Tony Tuckson is considered one of Australia’s most prominent abstract expressionalists, he’s often most remembered as a leading gallery administrator due to his work to establish the Aboriginal and Melanesian art collections at the Art Gallery of NSW. He was one of the first gallerists to recognise and collect Indigenous art, which leant creditability and significance to the works. Painting all his life, his work became more and more abstract and simplified in form and colour over the years (1).