First Daughter is a 1955Modernist painting by Australian artist John Brack. The painting depicts his daughter Clara as a young girl kneeling on the floor drawing a person on a piece of paper. The subject is seen from above - from the viewpoint of a father.[1]
The painting was first shown in the exhibition John Brack, at Peter Bray Gallery,[2][3] Melbourne, 8-17 March 1955, for the price of 35 guineas; then at John Brack: The Sport of Kings and Other Paintings, at the Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane, 27 March - 8 April 1957, titled there Little Girl Drawing, and purchased for 40 guineas,[4] by Mr J.C. Tritton, Brisbane.[1]
It was sold at auction by Christie's in 1971 and "disappeared from view", becoming part of various private collections.[5][6]
Laughing Child, a 1958 portrait by Brack of his daughter Charlotte
References
^Sasha Grishin, The Art of John Brack, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1990, Vol. 2, p.32
^"Austerity of line and color controls the effect of the portrait of the artist's wife and the studies of his four daughters. "Little Girl's Head" (5) makes a lovely pattern of a "hairdo" seen from the back. The sprawled form of "First Daughter" (4) draws the eye to her own art effort on a paper placed on the floor." Shore, Arnold (1955). 'Artist stresses human values'. (1955, March 8). The Argus p. 13. Retrieved 8 July 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71637449
^'Painter's Commentary on Social Scene', The Age, Melbourne, 8 March 1955
^Gertrude Langer, 'Painter Portrays City Life', The Courier Mail, Brisbane, 27 March 1957
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