Working in oil and collage
Aldona Zakarauskas, Regimented Mr. Jones , 1968. Whilst browsing the Lawsons, Sydney, art auction website during February 2019, the author was struck by a work of mixed media collage on offer (reproduced above). It dated from January 1968 and featuring a number of pop culture characters, including what appeared to be Michael Caine from the 1966 British film Alfie . The work was by Lithuanian-born Australian artist Aldona Zakarauskas (b.1943). Its English air and Pop art sensibilities reminded one of the little known, though much lamented British artist of the early 1960s, Pauline Boty (1938-1966), who featured male film and pop culture personalities such as Jean Paul Belmondo and Elvis Presley in here work. Her British contemporaries included David Hockney (b.1937), Peter Blake (b.1932) and Bridget Riley (b.1931), though the male focus was on sexualised females such as Marilyn Monroe and Bridget Bardot. Figurative and abstract pop culture elements were presented in Zakarauskas...