Heide II, 2012
Heide Museum of
Modern Art,
Melbourne
Photograph:
John Gollings
© 2015 Heide Museum of Modern Art. This material may be downloaded, copied, used and communicated free of
charge for non-commercial educational purposes provided all acknowledgements are retained.
Abstraction–Création:
J.W. Power in Europe 1921–1938
15 November 2014 - 01 March 2015
Abstraction–Création: J.W. Power
in Europe 1921–1938
2014 installation view
Heide Museum of Modern Art
Photograph: Christian Capurro
Who was J.W. Power?
• John Joseph Wardell Power (1881-1943)
• J.W. Power was an important figure in the Parisian art
world in the inter-war years
• Paris was the international capital of the avant-garde
during this time
“[…] make available to the people of Australia the latest ideas
and theories in plastic arts by means of lectures and teaching
and by the purchase of the most recent contemporary art of
the world [...] so as to bring the people of Australia in more
direct touch with the latest art developments in other
countries.”
J.W. Power’s instructions for his bequest to the University of Sydney
Frank Wardell
Photograph of J.W. Power in Paris c.1935
University of Sydney Archives
1920s London and Paris
J.W. Power’s early career
Fernand Léger’s Académie Moderne,
Paris c.1924
silver gelatin print
Edith Power Bequest 1961,
The University of Sydney,
managed by Museum of Contemporary
Art
Abstraction–Création
Abstraction–Création cahiers No1-3, Paris 1932-36
28 x 22.5cm, annotations by Georges Vantongerloo
Edith Power Bequest 1961, The University of Sydney,
managed by Museum of Contemporary Art
Abstraction–Création brought together geometric abstract artists alongside their colleagues who
were more concerned with an organic or biomorphic version of abstraction.
J.W. Power’s research
J.W. Power
Éléments de la construction picturale, Paris 1932
Edith Power Bequest 1961, The University of Sydney,
managed by Museum of Contemporary Art
J.W. Power’s studio
Juan Gris
Nature Morte
Éléments de la construction picturale, Paris 1932
Edith Power Bequest 1961, The University of
Sydney, managed by Museum of Contemporary Art
J.W. Power
Éléments de la Construction Picturale, Paris 1932
Analysis of Juan Gris’ Nature Morte
Edith Power Bequest 1961, The University of Sydney,
managed by Museum of Contemporary Art
J.W. Power
Éléments de la construction picturale, Paris 1932
Photographic reproduction of Gris’ Nature Morte,
with celluloid overlay
Edith Power Bequest 1961, The University of Sydney,
managed by Museum of Contemporary Art
J.W. Power’s inspiration
J.W. Power
(Still Life With Toothbrush) c.1930
oil on canvas
25 x 46 cm
Edith Power Bequest 1961, The University of Sydney,
managed by Museum of Contemporary Art
J.W. Power’s style
J.W. Power was
influenced by both
contemporary and
historical art. His unique
painting style was
described as partabstract surrealism, partsurreal abstraction as he
combined both these
influences to create his
artworks.
• Cubism
• Surrealism
• Abstraction
J.W. Power
Groupe or Baigneuse (Group or Bathers) c.
1931
oil on canvas
101.6 x 83.8 cm
Edith Power Bequest 1961, The University
of Sydney, managed by Museum of
Contemporary Art
Cubist landscapes
J.W. Power
Seaside Still-Life 1926
oil on canvas
50.6 x 76.5 cm
Edith Power Bequest 1961, The University of Sydney,
managed by Museum of Contemporary Art
J.W. Power
Paysage Cannes (Landscape Cannes) 1927
oil on canvas
91.4 x 60.9 cm
Edith Power Bequest 1961, The University of Sydney,
managed by Museum of Contemporary Art
J.W. Power and Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pierrot et Arlequin (Pierrot and Harlequin) 1920
pochoir print
23.6 x 29.1cm
J.W. Power Collection, National Library of Australia’
Tête (Head) portraits
J.W. Power
Tête (Head) c.1929
gouache
34.7 x 22.5 cm
Edith Power Bequest 1961,
The University of Sydney,
managed by Museum of
Contemporary Art
J.W. Power
Tête (Head) c.1929
gouache
34.7 x 22.5 cm
Edith Power Bequest 1961,
The University of Sydney,
managed by Museum of
Contemporary Art
J.W. Power
Tête (Head) c.1930
oil on canvas
91.4 x 55.9 cm
Edith Power Bequest 1961,
The University of Sydney,
managed by Museum of Contemporary
Art
J.W. Power
Tête (Head) 1931
oil on canvas
94 x 45.8 cm
Edith Power Bequest 1961,
The University of Sydney,
managed by Museum of Contemporary
Art
J.W. Power
Tête (Head) c.1930
Oil on canvas
34 x 25.7 cm
Edith Power Bequest 1961,
The University of Sydney, managed by Museum of
Contemporary Art
Exhibition in context
J.W. Power
Plan de l’Exposition 1934
gouache, pencil and ink on paper
62.8 x 50 cm
Edith Power Bequest 1961,
The University of Sydney, managed by
Museum of Contemporary Art
Curatorial choices
Abstraction–Création: J.W.
Power in Europe 1921–1938
2014 installation view
Heide II, Heide Museum of
Modern Art
Photograph: Christian Capurro
Further reading
Please note: Text for this education resource have been extracted from:
Lesley Harding, Abstraction–Création: J.W. Power in Europe 1921–1938, exhibition text,
Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2014.
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