Black on grey

Sydney-born Yvonne Audette formed part of a generation of artists (including John Olsen, Robert Klippel, William Rose and Peter Upward) who came to prominence from the mid 1950s with a diverse range of abstract modes aligned to both contemporary European and New York School tendencies. Their work represents the first significant movement of abstract art in this country.

After initially studying under teachers including John Passmore and Godfrey Miller and developing from their tutelage a ‘Cezannesque’ figurative style, Audette left Australia in 1952 to seek further instruction in America and Europe. She first settled in New York where she found herself at the heart of the avant-garde movements of abstract expressionism. The experiences of studying in the city introduced her to a new conception of art.

It was not until Audette left America for Europe in 1955 that she embarked on her first significant series of abstract paintings. Working in Florence in the late 1950s, Audette developed a distinct form of abstraction; one that toned the heady expressionism of the New York School, while maintaining a sense of its gestural energy. She more readily identified with forms of Tachisme, and Art informel; the more subtle movements of European expressionism that would remain as an enduring influence on her work.