Barbara Tucker: The Art of Being presents a multifaceted view of Tucker and the life she made with her artist husband Albert.
Inspired by accounts of family, friends and admirers attending her memorial, it contains speeches, essays, memoirs and a photo journal.
Her nephew Darren Jones and niece Caitlin Graham-Jones give beautifully realised accounts; her godson, Justin O’Brien, rails against a world that seemed to ignore or misinterpret her life; her brother, Peter Bilcock, gives a moving eulogy.
Judith Pugh’s tribute evokes a marvellously vivid woman and loyal ally; Jinx Nolan’s is filled with gratitude and gladness for Barbara’s presence.
The collection contains contributions from Heide Museum of Modern Art and other institutions that benefited from her foresight and generosity.
Tucker emerges not just as a woman bound by the role prescribed in her times, but as a complex person with a great gift for friendship, as well as an artist’s advocate, agent, defender and facilitator who should carry her own story, independently and unobscured, alongside the story of Albert Tucker and art in Australia.
Hermina Burns is a Melbourne poet, writer, editor and podcaster. She has published six volumes of poetry: Against Separation Creek, Bite of a Bluebottle, Crossing a Line, Dodging the Relative, Edging Them Out and Facing the Music. She is co-creator and co-presenter of poetry podcast Between the Leaves, commissioned by the Victorian Women’s Trust in 2020.
Barbara Tucker: The Art of Being is published by Melbourne University Publishing (The Miegunyah Press) and is available from all leading book retailers including Booktopia.
Image: Barbara Tucker: The Art of Being – courtesy of Melbourne University Publishing