Few printmakers have been as influential on the Australian artistic canon as George Baldessin. With a print and sculpture practice marked by dramatic chiaroscuro and strangely fragmented bodies, Baldessin often crossed the boundaries of Expressionism, Abstraction, and Surrealism. Despite his premature death in 1978 at the age of 39, Baldessin remains one of Australia’s most preeminent artists.

'The N. M. Remnant'

Within Baldessin’s practice, a central focus that emerges is the body. In an era when abstraction was the avant-garde mode of artistic expression, Baldessin’s works were defiantly figurative, informed by an artistic education steeped in European Modernism. Often layered, distorted, and obscured from view, the body is a subject Baldessin repeatedly returned to.

'Night Personages'

“What am I trying to express? – I think human weakness through the vulnerable figure without extracting its dignity no matter how uncertain… this is why distortion and the element of drama [are] ever present” – George Baldessin

'Performance'

The vulnerable figure is present throughout Baldessin’s works, and this figure is often feminine. Imagined as an acrobat or a bather, Baldessin’s female subjects are often used symbolically to explore themes of eroticism, identity, and the fragility of the human presence. In ‘Personage and Entrances’, the lone female figure is posed in a seemingly private moment, turning back fleetingly to face the viewer, as if we are voyeurs interrupting her solitude.

'Personage and Entrances'

In exploring the human condition, Baldessin’s use of the term ‘personage’ and ‘performer’ implies a detached individual who functions habitually whilst remaining aloof. This detachment is manifested visually through his incomplete human bodies. In ‘’Performer’ for Alison’, the dynamically contorted figure stares unemotionally at the viewer, signifying the severance of her physical body from her psyche. 

''Performer' for Alison'

Sixty years on, Baldessin’s works still appear both relevant and resonant. His innovative approach to printmaking has influenced and inspired generations of printmakers, and his subject matter and unique perspective continues to challenge and intrigue audiences. 

'The Bather I'

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