New additions to the Brack collection
Anna Drummond
From a single John Brack study in the 1950s to today’s diverse contemporary works, the Brack Fund continues to enrich Ormond’s walls – reflecting each generation’s ideas, questions and creative spirit through art that both challenges and inspires.
Tuesday 4 July 2023 • 5 minute read
Recently the Student’s Club unveiled the two paintings purchased this year by the Brack Fund. The fund is used to contribute to contemporary art purchases for the benefit of Ormond students. In the more than thirty years since it was created, its enduring legacy reminds us all of the capacity of art to make our lives better.The Ormond College Student’s Club has purchased art since the 1950s, when it collected a small sum from each student for the purpose. During this period the Club bought a series of modest works on paper and a painting called Study for the Bar (1954) by John Brack, which cost $600. The painting is a study – meaning a practice run – for one of Brack’s most famous paintings, The Bar.
By the late 1980s, Study for the Bar was worth at least $100,000 and the College and Club were concerned about keeping it safe. In 1988 the work was sent to the National Gallery of Victoria for safekeeping and for display in an exhibition. The painting then went to an art dealer to be valued so that its future could be determined. After an unfortunate misunderstanding, the painting was then sold, and after a protracted debate and legal advice, the Student’s Club accepted the sale.The proceeds from the sale were invested and over the last three decades have yielded annual dividends to the Student’s Club, funds which are now spent on art. Each year the student Brack Committee selects one or two works from a list suggested by the community. As the committee changes annually, the resulting collection of artwork is eclectic, reflecting the interests and concerns of Ormond students in a given year. This is particularly evident in the 2018 Brack purchases: a painting of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as well as Lena Yarinkura’s Yawkyawk.
Vita Banducci and Danielle Mallon, members of the Brack Subcommittee, said it’s an honour to be involved in the program and make a lasting contribution to the College. This might be by purchasing work by an emerging artist who later becomes successful, as John Brack did. This has indeed happened with a number of artists in the Brack Collection including Patricia Piccinini, Gordon Bennett and Jon Cattapan. Another contribution the Brack Committee can make is to choose an artwork that challenges the community to see a different point of view as well as simply being aesthetically pleasing.
In 2019, the Brack Committee did just this. It purchased a work that reflected on an indigenous artist’s previous experience as a police officer. Policeman Story (2019) is by David Frank from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in far north South Australia, and uses non-traditional materials and designs. While David Frank is an established artist, the Fund’s second 2019 purchase was by a little-known artist, Geoff Coleman. Murrumbeena Hard Rubbish, (2019) is an intriguing illusionistic painting of a suburban house. Both paintings continue the Brack Fund’s aim to enhance Ormond with works of art that both adorn and challenge the College.
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