John Passmore was an influential artist, teaching at the Julian Ashton School, in Sydney from 1951 and later at the National Art School, Sydney, introducing students to formalism and theories of Cézanne, and contributing to the development of post-war modernism in Australia.
Read MorePassmore attended classes at the Sydney Art School up to 1933, prior to travelling to England where he worked as a commercial artist. He studied at Westminster School under Bernard Meninsky (1891-1950) and developed a friendship with British modern artist Keith Vaughan.
In 1950 Passmore returned to Australia, completing a series of paintings of Sydney Harbour, characterised by their Cézannesque forms, shallow picture plane and painterly treatment of his subjects. In 1959 he began his Jumping Horse Mackerel series, working on a larger scale and using monochromic colours and brushstrokes reminiscent of Japanese calligraphy. However, although consistently emphasising painting processes, his work remained essentially figurative.
A major retrospective of his painting was held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1984. Passmore has work in the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
