Robert Jacks

Robert Jacks (1943–2014) was an Australian artist celebrated for his abstract and geometric compositions, Jacks traversed various mediums including painting, sculpture, and printmaking. His work often explored the interplay of colour, form, and space.

Born in Melbourne, Jacks studied at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology before gaining recognition in the 1960s.

Throughout his career, Jacks exhibited widely both in Australia and internationally, earning critical acclaim for his innovative approach to abstraction. His artworks are held in all State gallery collections and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Robert Jacks was a contemporary of both Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt, two towering figures of American Minimalism, during his time in New York.

Donald Judd, renowned for his minimalist sculptures and uncompromising approach to art, undoubtedly left a significant imprint on Jacks’ artistic development. Both artists explored geometric forms and the relationship between object and space, albeit in distinct ways. Jacks, like Judd, often employed clean lines and geometric precision in his work, showcasing a similar commitment to simplicity and clarity of form. Additionally, Judd’s emphasis on the industrial fabrication of his artworks may have resonated with Jacks, who also experimented with industrial materials and techniques in his practice.

Sol LeWitt, known for his conceptual art and exploration of systematic structures, provided another source of inspiration for Jacks. LeWitt’s emphasis on ideas over materiality and his use of instructions or “recipes” for creating art encouraged Jacks to reconsider traditional notions of authorship and process. This conceptual framework likely influenced Jacks’ own approach to art-making, leading him to explore the intersection of concept and execution in his abstract compositions.

While Robert Jacks’ work undoubtedly bears traces of Judd and LeWitt’s influence, he also infused his unique vision and Australian perspective into his art, creating a body of work that stands as a testament to the originality of his practice.

CV

Education

1958-60 Prahran Technical College, Melbourne

1961-62 Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Professional Experience

1968 Lecturer Rochdale College, Toronto

1976 Artist-in-Residence, Hot Sun Foundation, Austin, Texas

1978 Artist-in-Residence, University of Melbourne

1980-83 Lecturer Sydney College for the Arts, Sydney

1983 Artist-in-Residence, Prahran College, Melbourne

1984-88 Lecturer Prahran College, Melbourne

1987 Visiting Lecturer, Cornwall School of Art, U.K.

1989 Artist-in-Residence, Joyce Foundation Studio, Sydney  

Solo Exhibitions

2007 Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne

2006 Robert Jacks, Working in Multiple Dimensions, McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin

2005 On Paper, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria

2004 The Living and the Dead, JamesJoyce of the Dead, Dublin

2003 Metro 5, Melbourne

Port Jackson Press, Melbourne

Ian Potter Gallery, Melbourne University

Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney

2002 A Reason to be Cheerful, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo

2000 Flags and other Abstractions, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney

1998 Ramp, Herring Island Gallery, Herring Island Environmental Sculpture Park, Melbourne

Olsen Carr Art Dealers, Sydney

1997 Sketches of Spain, Olsen Carr Art Dealers, Sydney

1996 Sketches of Spain, Robert Lindsay Gallery, Melbourne
Robert Jacks From the Studio, Castlemaine
State Festival, Castlemaine

1995 Robert Lindsay Gallery, Melbourne

1994 Bellas Gallery, Brisbane
Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, Victoria
Latrobe Regional Gallery, Morwell, Victoria
Robert Jacks: Harmonice Mundi- Works from the 1970s and 1990s

1993 Castlemaine Art Gallery, Castlemaine, Vic.
Bellas Gallery, Brisbane

1991 Robert Jacks - Works from New York 1969-1978, Deutscher Fine Art

1990 Robert Jacks- On Paper 1958-1990, The Ian Potter Gallery, The University

1989 Australian Galleries, Melbourne

1987 Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Australian Galleries, Melbourne

1986 Gallery 52, Perth
Arts Gallery, Auckland, N.Z.

1985 Realities Gallery, Melbourne
Anima Gallery, Adelaide

1984 Realities Gallery, Melbourne
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
ACCA, Melbourne

1983 Gallery 52, Perth
Realities Gallery, Melbourne
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

1982 Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane
Realities Gallery, Melbourne
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

1981 David Reid Gallery, Sydney
Realities Gallery, Melbourne

1980 David Reid Gallery, Sydney
Art Projects, Melbourne
Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane

1979 Arts Projects, Melbourne
Rex Irwin Gallery, Sydney
Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane

1978 Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane
University Gallery, The University of Melbourne

1977 Works on Paper Gallery, Sydney
ACT, Toronto, Canada

1975 South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne

1973 South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne
Bonython Gallery, Sydney
A Space, Toronto

1972 A Space, Toronto, Canada

1971 New York Cultural Centre, New York
Whitney Museum Artists Resource Centre, N.Y.

1969 Pollock Gallery, Toronto, Canada
South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne
Clune Gallery, Sydney

1967 South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne

1966 Gallery A, Melbourne

Selected Group Exhibitions

2008 2 x 2 Group Exhibition, Tim Olsen Gallery Annex, Sydney

2007 Australian Drawing, John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne

2006 Neo Minimalism and some Antecedents, John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne

2005 Pitch your Own Tent, Monash University Museum of Melbourne

2004 Barnados, The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2002 Towards Colour, McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin, Victoria

2000 Significant Contemporary Artists, Smyrnious Gallery, Melbourne

1999 A Letter to Picasso: The Stamp in Contemporary Art, National Philatelic Centre and Archives, Melbourne

1998 A Decade of Contemporary Australian Printmaking, Metrapolitan Museum of Seoul, Korea
Australian Contemporary Art Fair 6, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne
Sketches Of Spain, Philip Bacon Gallery, Brisbane

1995 The Situation Now: A Survey of Local Non-Objective Art, University Art
The Festival, the Foundary and the Artist, Melbourne International Festival
Deakin University Art Collection, Geelong Art Gallery, Geelong

1993 From the Lithographer's Workshop, Art Gallery of N.S.W., Sydney

1992 Contemporary Australian Drawing, Art Gallery of N.S.W., Sydney
Re-View, Gore Street Gallery, Melbourne

1990 Central Street, Charles Nodrum Gallery,Melbourne

1989 Interior Views, Victorian Regional Galleries

1987 Surface and Reflection, Art Gallery of N.S.W, Sydney
Painters and Sculptors - Diversity in Contemporary Australian Art,
Contemporary Australian Art, The Museum of Modern Art, Japan
Selected Contemporary Drawings, Heide Parkland Art Gallery, Melbourne
Voyage of Discovery, The Crescent Gallery, Dallas, Texas

1986 Colour and Transparency, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
A Resistant Spirit, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney and Realities Gallery, Melbourne

1985 The Subject of Painting, Art Gallery of N.S.W.
Victoria: Views of Contemporary Artists, Benalla, Victoria

1984 The Field Now, Heide Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne

1983 Wynne Watercolour Prize, Art Gallery of N.S.W., Sydney
Sydney Opera House Tenth Anniversary, Art Gallery of N.S.W., Sydney
The Mosaic, The Grid, Art Gallery of N.S.W., Sydney
Recent Australian Painting: A Survey of the 70s and 80s, Art Gallery of S.A.,
Classicism and Romanticism in Contemporary Painting, Geelong Art Gallery,
Twelve Australian Painters, Art Gallery of W.A., Perth
Continuum 83, The First Exhibition of Australian Contemporary Art in
Australian Abstract Art, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,
A Melbourne Mood: Cool Contemporary Art, Australian National Gallery

1981 Australian Perspecta Art Gallery of N.S.W., Sydney

1978 Four New York Painters: Fundamental Minimalism, Institute of Modern Art

1977 University Art Collections, Grey Gallery, New York

1974 Third Annual Contemporary Reflections, the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Connecticut, U.S.A

1973 Recent Australian Art, Art Gallery of N.S.W., Sydney

1972 Large Works on Paper, Reese Palley Gallery, New York

1970 Group Show, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

1968 The Field, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne,

Tour to Art Gallery of Canadian Artists '68, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

1963 4/5 New Generation, Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne

1962 Contemporary Art Society Annual, Argus Gallery, Melbourne

Selected Collections

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
New Parliament House, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
Centre for Contemporary Art, Hamilton, New Zealand
New York University, New York, USA
Wesleyan University, Connecticut, USA
Artbank, Sydney
Reserve Bank of Australia, Sydney
Sony Corporation, New York, USA
BHP Corporation, Melbourne
UNESCO, Sydney
The University of Melbourne, Parkville
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne
University of Queensland, Brisbane
Albury Regional Art gallery, NSW
Australian club, Melbourne
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Victoria
Bendigo art Gallery, Victoria
Burnie Art Gallery, Victoria
British Museum London
Castlemaine Art Gallery, Victoria
Centre for Contemporary Art Hamilton New Zealand
Darwin Community College, Darwin
Geelong Art Gallery
The Holmes a Court Collection, Heytesbury
La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria
Monash Medical Centre
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Museum Of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ
National Gallery Of Australia
National Gallery of Victoria
New York University, NYC
Newcastle Regional Gallery NSW
Parliament House Art Collection Canberra
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Reserve Bank of Australia, Sydney
RMIT University, Melbourne
Shepparton Art Gallery, Victoria
State Bank, Sydney
Tarrawarra Museum of Art , Victoria
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
Toowoomba Community College
University of Melbourne
University of Queensland, Brisbane
University of Western Australia, Perth
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Connecticut, USA
Weseyan University, Connecticut, USA
Wollongong City Art Gallery, NSW

W
91.5
x
H
91.5
x
L
91.5
Untitled
Robert Jacks
$ 14,000.00 AUD
Robert Jacks, Untitled, Oil on linen, 91.5 x 91.5 cm
Buy now
enquire
W
182.5
x
H
182.5
x
L
182.5
Untitled
Robert Jacks
$ 100,000.00 AUD
Robert Jacks, Untitled, 1989, Oil on linen, 182.5cm x 366cm
Buy now
enquire
W
182.5
x
H
182.5
x
L
182.5
A pillar of the sun by day
Robert Jacks
$ 40,000.00 AUD
Robert Jacks, A pillar of the sun by day, Oil on linen, 182.5cm x 152.5cm
Buy now
enquire
W
168.5
x
H
168.5
x
L
168.5
Untitled
Robert Jacks
$ 65,000.00 AUD
Robert Jacks, Untitled, Oil on linen, 168.5cm x 251cm
Buy now
enquire
W
167.5
x
H
167.5
x
L
167.5
Kingstown Pier
Robert Jacks
$ 65,000.00 AUD
Robert Jacks, Kingstown Pier, ca. 1989, Oil on linen, 167.5cm x 251.5cm
Buy now
enquire
W
122
x
H
122
x
L
122
Untitled
Robert Jacks
$ 30,000.00 AUD
Robert Jacks, Untitled, Oil on linen, 122cm x 244cm
Buy now
enquire
W
91.5
x
H
91.5
x
L
91.5
Flambeau under a bushel
Robert Jacks
$ 22,000.00 AUD
Robert Jacks, Flambeau under a bushel, 1996, Oil on linen, 91.5cm x 223.5cm
Buy now
enquire
W
61.5
x
H
61.5
x
L
61.5
Untitled
Robert Jacks
$ 18,000.00 AUD
Robert Jacks, Untitled, 1999, Oil on linen, 61.5cm x 244cm
Buy now
enquire
W
91.5
x
H
91.5
x
L
91.5
Untitled, from Metropolis Series
Robert Jacks
$ 14,000.00 AUD
Robert Jacks, Untitled, from Metropolis Series, Oil on linen, 91.5cm x 91.5cm
Buy now
enquire
W
91
x
H
91
x
L
91
Untitled
Robert Jacks
$ 14,000.00 AUD
Robert Jacks, Untitled, Oil on linen, 91cm x 91cm
Buy now
enquire
W
91.5
x
H
91.5
x
L
91.5
Burke's Sphinx
Robert Jacks
$ 14,000.00 AUD
Robert Jacks, Burke's Sphinx, Oil on canvas, 91.5cm x 91.5cm
Buy now
enquire