B. 1933

Born in Melbourne in 1933, John Borrack is one of Australia’s foremost contemporary landscape painters, celebrated for his luminous watercolours and spiritual engagement with the natural world. A master colourist working predominantly in watercolour and gouache, Borrack’s work reflects a lifelong commitment to capturing the emotional and spiritual essence of the landscape.

He studied at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, completing an Associate Diploma of Fine Art in 1960 and a Fellowship Diploma in 1972. From 1969 to 1982, he lectured in Painting and Drawing at Melbourne State College (now University of Melbourne), before dedicating himself full-time to painting at Mernda, on Melbourne’s rural fringe.

Borrack has travelled and painted extensively across Europe, the United States, and Australia, producing work that is both immediate and meditative. Since 1958, he has held over 60 solo exhibitions across the country, including retrospectives at Benalla Art Gallery, Castlemaine Art Gallery, and Bundoora Homestead Art Centre. His paintings are held in major public collections including the National Gallery of Victoria and Queensland Art Gallery, as well as numerous regional galleries and private collections worldwide.

Borrack’s landscapes are known for their vibrant atmosphere, abstracted forms and spiritual depth. A member of the Australian Watercolour Institute since 1989, Borrack continues to live and work in Mernda, where the surrounding landscape has remained both muse for his creative work and cause for his environmental advocacy.