The Bridge

Considered Australia’s first cubist landscape, this painting by Dorrit Black demonstrates a new approach to the painting of Sydney Harbour, this view executed not long after her return from artistic studies in the cosmopolitan centres of London and Paris. In this response to what was a modern icon under construction – the Sydney Harbour Bridge – she cleverly combined all of the modern approaches she had gained in Europe. Its simplified geometric forms are a legacy of her progressive linocut studies in London with the pioneer printmaker Claude Flight, while the delicately fragmented composition points to the influence of her French cubist teacher, André Lhote. Conceptually, it references the work of her other French cubist teacher, Albert Gleizes, and his interest in visually conveying the continuity of time. We can see here, as the eye moves across the picture plane, from early morning dawn on the left, to evening on the right, that Black adroitly combines the passage of time in a single painting.

Dorrit Black became one of Australia’s most important artistic figures in the twentieth century. She was an influential printmaker and painter, an inspiring teacher and also a pioneering advocate for modern art. Her artistic output is defined by a preoccupation with conveying the vitality of the natural world.

Tracey Lock, Curator of Australian Paintings and Sculpture