Albert Tucker

Albert Tucker (1914–1999), born in Melbourne, was an Australian painter associated with the Heide circle and the journal Angry Penguins. He developed through drawing classes, commercial work and independent study rather than a complete academic course. Exchanges with Joy Hester, Sidney Nolan and the patrons John and Sunday Reed accompanied a practice attentive to the psychological and social tensions of his time.

The series Images of Modern Evil conveys the unease of wartime Melbourne through distorted figures and unsettling atmospheres. Tucker combined Expressionist methods, Surrealist suggestions and a critical view of modern life. Periods in Europe and the United States later widened his experience, while Australian myths became increasingly significant in his work. Also an enthusiastic photographer, he left valuable records of the artistic community to which he belonged.