Lot 19

Private collection, Adelaide

Marie Tuck was born in the Adelaide Hills and attended evening classes at James Ashton's Norwood Art School while working during the day as a florist. Driven to fulfil her dream to study in Paris, Tuck left for France, where she remained until returning home at the outbreak of the First World War.

When she arrived in Paris in 1906, she studied with expatriate Australian artist Rupert Bunny, paying for her lessons by working as his studio massière. In the summertime, she took painting excursions to Normandy, Flanders and Brittany, and in Étaples produced some of her best work, showcasing her mastery of painting light.

Étaples, a small fishing village on the northern coast of France, became a popular art colony for Australians at the turn of the century. It attracted other women artists such as Eleanor Ritchie Harrison and Iso Rae. The quiet locale also inspired the work of Australian male artists including Rupert Bunny, Tudor St George Tucker and Emmanuel Phillips Fox. Many embraced the opportunity to work en plein air, however some of Tuck's most accomplished Étaples works were created indoors.

In 'Breton Woman' c.1910, Tuck captures the quiet dignity of her local sitter. Posed in profile, the silhouette of the subject's traditional headwear takes on a dramatic effect. The artist combines lively broken brushwork with a soft palette to create a feeling of atmospheric stillness, demonstrating her proficiency in portraying the effects of filtered light. There is a mood of intimacy and familiarity that gives the work a sense of authenticity and warmth. European subjects, like 'Breton Woman' painted by travelling Australian women artists are now undergoing art historical reassessment and receiving overdue appreciation as significant examples of international modernism.