Eric Thake

Thake was born in Auburn, Melbourne, on 8 June 1904, the only child of Emily Lockwood (née Doran) and Henry Thake, dairyman.{{Citation |last=Grant |first=Kirsty |title=Thake, Eric Prentice Anchor (1904–1982) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/thake-eric-prentice-anchor--15671 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en |access-date=2022-12-19}} Educated at Auburn Primary School, at age fourteen at the end of WW1 he was apprenticed to a process engraving{{Cite book |title=Dictionary of Occupational Terms : based on the classification of occupations used in the Census of population, 1921 |publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office |year=1921 |location=London |oclc=1158392529}} firm Patterson Shugg.{{Cite journal |last=Bunbury |first=Alisa |date=September 2020 |title=Windows, reflections and shadow play in the art of Eric Thake |journal=The La Trobe Journal |issue=105 |pages=6–23}} He enrolled in 1921 at the Drawing School of the National Gallery of Victoria under traditionalist painter W. B. McInnes, then went on to study painting and drawing part-time with the modernist Melbourne artist George Bell from 1925 to 1928.{{Cite journal |last=Bell |first=George |date=15 August 1933 |title=Eric Thake |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-354078602 |journal=Art in Australia |volume=Third series |issue=51 |pages=39–40}} In 1935 he married Grace Bessie Doris Godfrey.

From June 1930 Thake showed with 'The Embryos,'{{Cite news |date=26 June 1930 |title=Young Painters' Show |pages=13 |work=The Age |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203078380}} a group that included Raymond Lindsay, a son of Norman Lindsay, Constance Parkin (then the holder of the National Gallery Travelling Scholarship), Margaret Crombie, Shiela Hawkins, James Flett, Herbert McClintock, and Nutter Buzzacott; and in the Contemporary Group, Melbourne with George Bell, Daryl Lindsay, Isabel May Tweddle, Evelyn Syme, Ada May Plante, Arnold Shore, William Frater and Adrian Lawlor from 1932 to 1938,{{Cite journal |last=Burdett |first=Basil |date=February 1932 |title=Art in Melbourne |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-353742412 |journal=Art in Australia |volume=3 |issue=42 |pages=10–11}} and with the Contemporary Art Society from 1926 to 1956 and concurrently, he worked in commercial art as art director for the advertising firm Paton until 1956, producing work for clients including Pelaco shirts. Independently, he produced linocuts, which conveyed his laconic wit in clever visual puns, including bookplates and many Christmas cards he produced for friends, numbers of which are held now in national collections.

He was a war artist enlisted as a Flying officer in the Royal Australian Air Force (Service Number 145552) between 24 Nov 1943 and 28 Mar 1946, the second such R.A.A.F combatant artist commissioned during World War II and his two tours of duty covered Port Moresby, Noemfoor Island, Morotai, Alice Springs, Darwin and Koepang. During that time he produced Surrealist works as one of the first working in that style in Australia,{{Cite journal |last=Pinson |first=Peter |date=2014 |title=Eric Thake: A surrealist at war |journal=Art Monthly Australia |issue=274 |pages=50–55 |url=https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.613798522822232 }} alongside James Gleeson with whom he shared 1931 the Contemporary Art Society prize. His 1942 oil painting Brownout sold in 2010 for $228,000.[http://www.deutscherandhackett.com/node/21000009/ Brownout, 1942 | Deutscher and Hackett] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330075713/http://www.deutscherandhackett.com/node/21000009/|date=30 March 2012}}, deutscherandhackett.com. Retrieved on 5 November 2010.

His first solo exhibition was held after the war at Georges Gallery, Melbourne, in 1947.

After the War Thake returned to Paton and was featured in advertising by a major client as No. 5 in Shell's "Australian Artists" Series, with a depiction of their refinery in Clyde.{{Cite journal |date=December 1949 |title=Advertising: No. 5 in SHELL'S " Australian Artists " Series. The Refining Of Petroleum Products: Clyde, N.S.W. with a scene {{as written|intep|reted [sic]}} by Eric |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-372894515 |journal=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=XX |issue=5 |pages=45}} By 1960 his work included illustrations for the Australian quarterly Manuscripts,{{Cite news |date=29 June 1935 |title=Manuscripts |pages=23 |work=The Age}}{{Cite journal |last=Thake |first=Eric |date=25 November 1934 |title=The Melbourne Contemporary Group: Beach Scene |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3076158890 |journal=Manuscripts: The Book Nook Miscellany |language=en |issue=11 |pages=47 |access-date=2022-12-23}}{{Cite journal |last=Thake |first=Eric |date=November 1932 |title=Still Life: Linocut by Eric Thake |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3076274601 |journal=Manuscripts: The Book Nook Miscellany |issue=3}}{{Cite journal |last=Thake |first=Eric |date=February 1934 |title=Cold Iron: Linocut by Eric Thake |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3076203003 |journal=Manuscripts: The Book Nook Miscellany |issue=8}} design works included the Australian Pavilion at the Wellington Centennial Exhibition in New Zealand that opened on 8 November 1939 at the outset of the Second World War,{{Cite journal |date=2011 |editor-last=Edquist |editor-first=Harriet |title=Addition to the Collection |journal=Rmit Design Archives Journal |publisher=School Of Architecture And Design |volume=1 |issue=1 |issn=1838-9406}} covers for the literary journal Meanjin,{{Cite journal |last=Huppatz |first=Daniel |date=2018 |title=Visualising Settler Colonialism: Australian modernism and Indigenous design |journal=RMIT Design Archive Journal |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=35–41}} designs for stamps, and concise medical diagrams he produced in the course of his employment from 1956 in the University of Melbourne’s Visual Aids Department where he remained until his retirement.

Thake's work started being reviewed from June 1930 when he was twenty-six and had started exhibiting with the group calling themselves 'The Embryos.' Reviewing their show at The Little Gallery in Melbourne The Age notes that "Eric Thake follows up the new wood engraving movement, and... also shows a clever two-block lino print, Returned Empty and a decorative lunette design in color." While The Australasian merely noted that his fan design was "very clever,"{{Cite news |date=12 July 1930 |title=Art |pages=17 |work=The Australasian |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article141801847 |access-date=22 December 2002}} reviewer for The Herald, Blamire Young, singled Thake out for particular attention for his "power of design";

It is surprising that Eric Thake, whose power of design has been so universally recognised has not secured more patrons. Probably the reason is that his point of view is more difficult to grasp than that of his comrades. One feels that his artistic horizon is wider, his mentality more complex, and his sense of color and arrangement more exotic than we are accustomed to find in Australian artists.{{Cite news |last=Young |first=Blamire |date=7 July 1930 |title=Young Artists' Work Impressive: Public Appreciation |pages=14 |work=The Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242806798 |access-date=23 December 2022}}

McCulloch notes that "his sensitivity towards the dispossession of Aboriginal people in his works in particular has been brought to light since his death, and there has been a growing interest in his wonderful Christmas card linocuts, produced from 1941 to 1975.{{Cite book |last=Thake |first=Eric |title=The Christmas linocuts of Eric Thake, 1941-1975 |publisher=Croft Press |year=1978 |isbn=9780959599206 |location=South Yarra |oclc=27627925}}

The National Gallery of Victoria held a retrospective of his work 15 May–4 July 1970.{{Cite news |last=Bandman |first=Ken |date=5 June 1970 |title=Ken Bandman's ART-WISE |pages=29 |work=The Australian Jewish News |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article262487075}}

• 1947: Georges Gallery, Melbourne
• 1981: Pubs and Bars, Geelong Art Gallery
• 1981: Retrospective exhibition, Victorian Ministry for the Arts Gallery

• 1929, 6–20 May: Society of Artists' Special Exhibition. David Jones' Art Gallery, 7th floor (Mezzanine), Elizabeth Street, Sydney{{Cite web |title=Society of Artists' Special Exhibition. at David Jones' Art Gallery [Elizabeth St]. (1929) · Australian Prints + Printmaking |url=https://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/exhibitions/399/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au}}
• 1929, 7 September–4 October: Society of Artists' Annual Exhibition. Education Department Gallery, 5th floor, Loftus St., Sydney{{Cite web |title=Society of Artists' Annual Exhibition. at Education Department Gallery (1929) · Australian Prints + Printmaking |url=https://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/exhibitions/3749/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au}}
• 1930, 5 September–2 October: Society of Artists' Annual Exhibition. Education Department Gallery, 5th floor, Loftus St., Sydney{{Cite web |title=Society of Artists' Annual Exhibition. at Education Department Gallery (1930) · Australian Prints + Printmaking |url=https://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/exhibitions/985/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au}}{{Cite journal |date=17 September 1930 |title=The Palette |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-644910065 |journal=The Bulletin |volume=51 |issue=2640 |pages=31}}
• 1930, 1–12 July: The Embryos, opened by Bernard Heinze. The Little Gallery, 172 Little Collins Street, Melbourne.{{Cite news |date=1 July 1930 |title=Art In Embryo |pages=7 |work=The Age |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202455798 |access-date=23 December 2022}}{{Cite news |date=1 July 1930 |title=Artists In Embryo: Variety at Little Gallery |pages=5 |work=The Argus |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4096785}}
• 1930, October: Victorian Arts and Crafts. Melbourne Town Hall{{Cite news |date=29 September 1930 |title=Arts And Crafts: Exhibition at the Town Hall |pages=11 |work=The Age |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202250597 |access-date=23 December 2022}}
• 1935, Contemporary Art Group, Athenaeum, Melbourne{{Cite news |last=Streeton |first=Arthur |date=9 July 1935 |title=Contemporary Group |pages=5 |work=The Argus}}
• 1935, November: Contemporary Art with Mary Cecil Allen, Lady Barrett, George Bell, Rupert Bunny, Mrs. Casey (wife of the Commonwealth Treasurer), William Frater, Adrian Lawlor, Lionel Lindsay, Daryl Lindsay, Ada May Plante, Arnold Shore, Eric Thake, Louise Thomas, and Jessie C. Traill. Geelong Grammar{{Cite news |date=8 November 1935 |title=CONTEMPORARY ART: Exhibition at Geelong Grammar |pages=8 |work=The Argus}}
• 1935, September: with Kate Van Sommers and Adrian Lawlor.{{Citation |last=Fry |first=Gavin |title=Lawlor, Adrian (1889–1969) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lawlor-adrian-7112 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en |access-date=2022-12-19}} Collegiate Galleries, 357 Little Collins St., Melbourne {{Cite news |last=Lindsay |first=Lionel |date=18 September 1935 |title=Felt Rugs And Modernism |pages=8 |work=The Herald |location=Melbourne}}
• 1946, June: R.A.A.F. Paintings. National Gallery of Victoria{{Cite journal |date=19 Jun 1946 |title=Women's Letters |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-550188474 |journal=The Bulletin |volume=67 |issue=3462 |pages=21}}
• 1978: Survey of Australian Relief Prints 1900–1950, Deutscher Gallery

• 1988-9: The Great Australian Art Exhibition, Art Gallery of South Australia travelling exhibition, Queensland Art Gallery [2]. (17 May 1988 – 17 July 1988); Art Gallery of Western Australia. (13 August 1988 – 25 September 1988); Art Gallery Of South Australia. (23 May 1989 – 16 July 1989)
• 1992: Classical Modernism: The George Bell Circle, National Gallery of Victoria
• 2000-02: Federation: Australian Art and Society, National Gallery of Australia and touring
• 2002: Christmas Greetings from Thake's Flat, IPMA
• 2003: Australian Surrealism: The Agapitos/Wilson Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia
• 2005: Retrospective. Geelong Art Gallery
• 2005: Bookplates from the Corrigan Collection, Bendigo Art Gallery
• 2005, to 8 July: Linocuts, drawings and photographs. Bridget McDonnell Gallery, 130 Faraday Street, Carlton{{Cite web |date=2005-06-28 |title=Eric Thake 1904-1982 |url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/eric-thake-1904-1982-20050628-ge0f40.html |access-date=2022-12-23 |website=The Age |language=en}}

• 1931: Honorable Mention, Los Angeles Bookplate Exhibition, USA
• 1931: Contemporary Art Society prize (shared with James Gleeson),
• 1941: Geelong prize,
• 1947: Yorick Club prize,
• 1956; Cato Prize, VAS

• National Gallery of Australia{{Cite web |title=Eric Thake |url=https://searchthecollection.nga.gov.au/artist/15101/eric-thake |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=National Gallery of Australia |language=en}}
• Art Gallery of New South Wales{{Cite web |title=Works by Eric Thake {{!}} Art Gallery of NSW |url=https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/?artist_id=thake-eric |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Art Gallery of New South Wales}}
• Art Gallery of South Australia{{Cite web |title=Eric Thake |url=https://www.agsa.sa.gov.au/collection-publications/collection/creators/eric-thake/3629/www.agsa.sa.gov.au/collection-publications/collection/creators/eric-thake/3629/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Art Gallery of New South Wales |language=en}}
• Art Gallery of Western Australia{{Cite web |title=Eric THAKE |url=https://collection.artgallery.wa.gov.au/persons/8222/eric-thake |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Art Gallery WA Collection Online |language=en}}
• National Gallery of Victoria{{Cite web |title=Eric Thake |url=https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/artist/557/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=National Gallery of Victoria}}
• Queensland Art Gallery{{Cite web |title=THAKE, Eric |url=https://collection.qagoma.qld.gov.au/creators/thake-eric |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Queensland Art Gallery}}
• Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
• Australian War Memorial{{Cite web |title=Flying Officer Eric Thake |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P65147 |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Australian War Memorial |language=en}}
• State Library of Victoria
• State Library of New South Wales
• Art Gallery of Ballarat{{Cite web |title=Eric Thake |url=https://www.artgalleryofballarat.com.au/explore/the-collection/search?query=%22Eric+Thake%22 |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Art Gallery of Ballarat |language=en}}
• Bendigo Art Gallery{{Cite web |title=THAKE, Eric |url=https://collection.bendigoartgallery.com.au/persons/365 |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Bendigo Art Gallery |language=en}}
• Castlemaine Art Museum{{Cite web |title=Eric Thake (b.1904, d.1982) |url=https://collection.castlemainegallery.com/persons/576/eric-thake-b1904-d1982 |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Castlemaine Art Museum Collection Online |language=en}}
• Geelong Art Gallery{{Cite web |title=Eric Thake |url=http://collections.geelonggallery.org.au/collections/?record=eparties.1128 |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Geelong Art Gallery}}
• Horsham Regional Art Gallery{{Cite web |title=Photograph, Eric THAKE, Torn posters, 1963 |url=https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/6392cffab0477ca7314c7804 |access-date=2022-12-23 |website=Victorian Collections |language=en}}
• Mornington Peninsular Regional Gallery
• Newcastle Art Gallery{{Cite web |title=Hollow log at Alice Springs (1948) by Eric Thake (1904–1982) · impression details · Australian Prints + Printmaking |url=https://printsandprintmaking.gov.au/impressions/42824/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Prints and Printmaking}}
• Deakin University{{Cite web |title=Deakin University Collection – list of artists |url=https://www.deakin.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/2192259/deakin_university_art_collection_artists.pdf |access-date=19 December 2022 |website=Deakin University}}
• La Trobe University{{Cite web |title=Artists A-Z |url=https://www.latrobe.edu.au/art-institute/collections/artists |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=La Trobe University Art Institute |language=en-AU}}
• University of Adelaide Library
• University of Melbourne{{Cite journal |last=McAuliffe |first=Chris |date=June 2010 |title=Joseph Brown |url=https://museumsandcollections.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/1378901/collections6.pdf |journal=University of Melbourne Collections |issue=6 |pages=39, 40}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://victoria.slv.vic.gov.au/ericthake/index.html Eric Thake] at the State Library of Victoria
• [http://www.awm.gov.au/people/artist_profiles/thake.asp Eric Thake] at the Australian War Memorial
• [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/thake-eric-prentice-anchor--15671 Eric Thake] in the Australian Dictionary of Biography

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Category:1904 births

Category:1982 deaths

Category:Artists from Melbourne

Category:Australian surrealist artists

Category:20th-century Australian male artists

Category:Australian male painters

Category:Australian photographers

Category:Australian printmakers

Category:Australian graphic designers

Category:Australian engravers

Category:20th-century Australian painters

Category:Australian modern painters