Australian modernist Dorothy Braund pursued simplicity. As she described, it “knocked” her out – “there’s no chance for accidental effects. If you are simple everything has to relate and work” – an ethos that steered her attitude towards art, producing work that was more musical than literal, hymns about people, places and activities.

Throughout her oeuvre, Braund repeatedly returned to the beach. Like artists before and after her, she recognised the vital role the beach plays in Australian culture as well as the formal delights of bodies by water. In ‘Sun Bathers’ these delights are heightened to glorious effect, with each body smoothed into a boulder of flesh and swimwear. As art critic Bernard Shaw observed of Braund’s work in 1964, it is “linked with a shrewd and civilised eye for the bizarre and comical”. ‘Sun Bathers’ is both comical and beautiful, captured under the deliriousness of a day spent in the sun.

Represented across state collections including at the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of South Australia, Braund was a key figure in Australian modernism. She was a member of the George Bell School and the only woman to exhibit alongside Charles Blackman and his compatriots at the 1953 Herald Art Show. Masterly in her own way, she is an essential – and joyous – addition to collections of modern, formalist and female artists, a twist of the beachside scene.

Dorothy BRAUND (1926 - 2013)
'Sun bathers (Cubist figures)' 1989
Gouache on paper
Image Size: 38 x 48 cm
Dimensions: 53 x 64 x 2 cm
 
Comes with Letter of Provenance
 
Condition: Excellent 
 
(c) Dorothy Braund / Copyright Agency