J.W. Power

A long forgotten 1934 exhibition by the Australian expatriate JW Power at the Abstraction-Création gallery in Paris provides the key to understanding this most elusive artist. Stephen and Donaldson argue that Power is Australia's most important avant-gardist of the early twentieth century. In the interwar years, Power moved between cities, immersing himself in both contemporary and historical art, this restlessness leading to his own unique painting: part abstract surrealism, part-surreal abstraction. Virginia Spate examines Power's creative process through the analysis of a single painting. J.W. Power Abstraction-Création reveals how Power's work illuminates the relationships between Sydney and Paris, and between France and Australia, an exchange that goes to the heart of Australia's modernism.

Winner of the University Art Museums Australia inaugural publication award 2013