'Mirka Mora features a rich insight into the intellectual life and art practice of one of Australia's most versatile, creative and prolific modern artists. A Melbourne cultural icon, Mirka, along with her ex-husband Georges, was instrumental in helping to establish Australian modern art on a global stage. She was integral in reviving the meetings of the Contemporary Artists Society, whose members included friends John Perceval and John and Sunday Reed, and later in creating hubs for artistic figures at Mirka cafe and the Balzac restaurant. Among her many artistic achievements, Mirka is much admired for her Flinders Street mural, Adelaide Festival frieze and stained-glass paintings at Heide. This book focuses on her idiosyncratic processes, which are largely self-taught and blend traditional techniques with modern creativity.With privileged access to Mirka and her studio, Sabine Cotte offers an intimate portrait of one of Australia's best-loved artists.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
'John Brack’s famous 1955 painting, Collins St, 5pm, reminds us that Australian life in the 1950s could be dull. Really dull. Brack’s lugubrious grey commuters march down a grey Collins Street, committed to a life of slavish uniformity. But many of his contemporaries took a different approach. They embraced colour, and excelled at it — from the violent colours of Arthur Boyd to the intricate, subtler pigments of Fred Williams, through art the colour and vividness of the Australian landscape could drip into its cities. And Mirka Mora, the Melbourne painter and local celebrity who died last year aged 90, has to be one of the most colourful of all.' (Introduction)
'A year after her death, Mirka Mora is still regarded as a ‘phenomenon’ in the Melbourne art world, not least for her vibrant personality and provocative behaviour. Now Sabine Cotte, a French-Australian painting conservator, in this modest account of her research into the artist’s methods and materials, offers a new perspective on Mora’s creative process and the significance of her work.' (Introduction)
'A year after her death, Mirka Mora is still regarded as a ‘phenomenon’ in the Melbourne art world, not least for her vibrant personality and provocative behaviour. Now Sabine Cotte, a French-Australian painting conservator, in this modest account of her research into the artist’s methods and materials, offers a new perspective on Mora’s creative process and the significance of her work.' (Introduction)
'John Brack’s famous 1955 painting, Collins St, 5pm, reminds us that Australian life in the 1950s could be dull. Really dull. Brack’s lugubrious grey commuters march down a grey Collins Street, committed to a life of slavish uniformity. But many of his contemporaries took a different approach. They embraced colour, and excelled at it — from the violent colours of Arthur Boyd to the intricate, subtler pigments of Fred Williams, through art the colour and vividness of the Australian landscape could drip into its cities. And Mirka Mora, the Melbourne painter and local celebrity who died last year aged 90, has to be one of the most colourful of all.' (Introduction)
