John Perceval

Sunflowers

About John Perceval's "Sunflowers"

The artist John Brack commented on the art of John Perceval, ‘He painted every picture as though it were his last. Conception and execution are simultaneous, in the heat of the moment….Perceval is fortunate in being able to achieve complete identification of himself with the subject.’

Many artists have covered the subject of sunflowers, including the renowned master Claude Monet. Yet these interpretations seem to pale in comparison to John Perceval’s powerful rendition. The textured layers of colours and hues, the energetic and wild lines of brush- work all contribute to the vibrant and alive painting. There is a certain physicality and immediacy that makes the flowers seem to lift out of the canvas. The viewer is made to feel the joy and warmth of a summer’s day. This work is a prime example of Perceval’s strength as a colourist and his love for the vigorous pulse of life.

Perceval’s delightful and cheerful approach belies the constant struggles the artist dealt with in a life marred by illness and alcoholism. Perceval suffered from polio early in life thus spending most of his time drawing and painting as a child. The inspiration for the above painting may have come from spending the first 12 years on his fathers wheat farm in Western Australia before moving to Melbourne- a radical change for a young boy.

Perceval was the last surviving member of the Angry Penguins, a group of Australian artists including Albert Tucker and art patrons John & Sunday Reed, who were influenced by the early European expressionists and aimed for a more spontaneous and authentic style.

Perceval had three retrospectives during his lifetime. In1966 at the Australian National University in Canberra, Heide Park & Art Gallery in 1984, and the National Gallery of Victoria in 1992.

Maire Flately
2008

John Brack cited in Plant, M., John Perceval 1923-2000, Lansdowne Australian Art Library, Melbourne, 1971, p.83.