Massimo Martelli on Albert Tucker and T.S. Eliot
Listen to Massimo Martelli, Curatorial Assistant Gordon Darling Intern, Australian Art explore the connections between Australian artist Albert Tucker (1914-1999) and British-American poet T.S Eliot (1888-1965).
Although the close relationship between the visual art and poetry has been closely examined since the days of Classical Greece and Rome, little has been observed about the curious case of Anglo-American poet T.S. Eliot, and his place in the world of Australian art and literature. While Eliot exercised a profound influence on a number of key Australian artists from the middle of the twentieth century, his poetry is most strongly felt in the work of Tucker, who directly drew on Eliot’s iconography and bleak mood to express the complexities of modern life in Naarm/Melbourne.
Massimo is an Honours student at the Australian National University. His thesis focuses on the connections between the poetry of British-American poet T.S. Eliot and Australian artists based in Naarm/Melbourne from the 1940s to the 1960s. Massimo’s thesis is supervised by Dr Sarah Scott.
Art Talks are a free weekly program. Hear from artists, curators and experts on the works in our collection and exhibition program. This Art Talk is part of a series focused on the intersection of text, poetry and art.