Jean with wire mesh

During the 1930s Max Dupain emerged as Australia’s leading modernist photographer. Many of his images from this period explored the human form through his depiction of nude or partially clad figures in the natural environment or as anchors for semi-abstract or surrealist images.

Jean with wire mesh, c.1935, which represents the high point of Dupain’s modernist style, is also a celebration of female beauty and sensuality. Dupain has used the effects of light to simultaneously reveal and conceal the woman’s body. The shadow cast by the wire mesh sculpts the form – accentuating the curves of Jean’s arm and breast – while veiling her face in alluring mystery. The use of patterned shadow on her naked body reveals Dupain’s admiration for the photographs of European modernist Man Ray.

Dupain successfully combined a career as a commercial photographer – running his own studio in Sydney – with his artistic practice as a photographer. He served in the air force during the Second World War and in his post-war photographs shifted direction to pursue a documentary approach, capturing images that  epitomised Australian life.

Julie Robinson, Senior Curator Prints, Drawings and Photographs