Large original 1960s Kenneth Jack lino print, Drysdale Vic, framed Mid Century art

Kenneth Jack (1924–2006), Shops on the Hill, Drysdale, Victoria, 1959, original colour linocut printed from six blocks, edition 16/30, titled, numbered and signed in pencil, presented under glass in its original timber frame. The work captures Drysdale’s main street with Jack’s characteristic simplification of architectural forms, broad areas of muted Australian colour and strong graphic contrasts, giving the quiet township an unusually dramatic, almost theatrical presence. Geelong Gallery holds another impression of this same 1959 linocut and confirms the edition of 30 and six-block printing process. 

79cm x 63cm frame

55cm x 36cm artwork 

Artist biography: Kenneth William David Jack AM MBE RWS (1924–2006) was a Melbourne-born Australian painter and printmaker who became especially known for his interpretations of the Australian landscape, historic architecture and disappearing rural and industrial subjects. He studied at Melbourne Technical College and developed a substantial printmaking practice encompassing linocuts, lithographs, etchings, engravings and screenprints, alongside his better-known watercolours. By the early 1960s his prints had received considerable recognition: works had been acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, he was represented in international print exhibitions, and he won the Vizard-Wholohan Print Prize in 1963. Jack later became a full-time professional artist and was elected to the Royal Watercolour Society in 1977. His work is represented in major Australian institutional collections, including the National Gallery of Victoria and Geelong Gallery.