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.
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
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