Peter Booth
1940 - Abstract 1973- acrylic on canvas
PETER BOOTH
b1940
lives and works in Melbourne
Abstract 1973
acrylic on canvas
212.5cm x 151.7cm
Acquired in 1989
'Abstract 1973 has much in common with other Australian paintings of the period that deal with the impact of American abstract painting; the treatment of the composition as a field of bright pattern, a concern with scale and surface.
At this time, Booth was searching for a way beyond his minimal black-door paintings of the late sixties but had not yet commenced figurative work, begun in 1977. He became increasingly concerned with paint as a physical substance; thick, sensual and bright, sometimes adding sand, pumice or brick dust.
Booth has consistently used black and red throughout his career. Black denotes anxiety and pain and also highlights the purity of other colours. Red is used to symbolise life-force.'
Source: Naomi Horridge in The Song of the Lamb: The Wesfarmers Collection of Australian Art, published by Wesfarmers and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 1989, p101
© Peter Booth/Copyright Agency, 2018