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. Her beach-goers are pared back to boulders of shoulder, bottom and stomach, captured in a palette that emanates heat as it does here in this original oil painting. As art critic Bernard Shaw observed of her work in 1964, it is “linked with a shrewd and civilised eye for the bizarre and comical”, an awareness that simple does not necessitate seriousness.

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)
'Three Heated Figures' 1991
oil on board
Image Size: 59 x 72 cm
Dimensions: 81 x 93 x 4 cm
Signed: Signed dated lower left: Braund 91
Comes with Letter of Provenance
 
Condition: Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. There are no tears to paper margin or significant disruptions to the paint surface.
 
(c) Dorothy Braund / Copyright Agency