While studying abroad in Brisbane, Australia in the fall, I took an Australian Art class where I was introduced to the work of Antipodean painter John Brack (1920-1999). He was born in Melbourne in 1920 and joined the Antipodeans group in the 1950s, protesting against abstract expressionism as a worthless form of art that did not reflect the truth of life.
His most famous work, The Bar (1955), is a remix of the famous A Bar at the Folies-Begere (1882) by Édouard Manet (1832-1883). Compare the two below:
Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Begere, 1882
Brack's The Bar, 1955
Brack used Manet's composition to comment on the six o'clock swill, which was the rush to buy drinks after work before Australian public bars closed between 5 and 6 p.m. in the 1950s. The Bar was a satirical and critical view of Australian suburban life, where the bar often served as a purely functional environment meant as an escape to the drone of 1950s suburban life.
In Manet's painting, the mirror behind the pretty barmaid reflects a lively, joyful atmosphere. She is helping a customer in the reflection, but in our head-on view, she appears idle and pensive, perhaps even bored or jaded.
In Brack's version, the barmaid -- who is angular and rather mannish -- is smiling slyly, not helping any customers. Behind her we can see, reflected in the mirror, a full bar of men methodically throwing back drinks.
The sharp contrast in atmosphere and purpose of the bar is apparent from Manet's view of the 1800s French social bar and Brack's image of the 1950s Australian escape-from-suburbia bar. Brack's use of Manet's work, set in a bustling bar, to comment on the current (for him!) condition of claustrophobic suburbia is apparent.
Just another example of fine art remix...!
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