Deutscher and Hackett

JOHN BARNES – A DISCREET COLLECTOR

John Barnes.jpg

Dr John Barnes receiving the Reserve Force Decoration for his years of service with the RAAF.

 

Melbourne surgeon and collector, Dr. John Barnes (1938 – 2024), enjoyed an enduring enthusiasm for art and architecture. A lifelong resident of Melbourne, John graduated from Melbourne University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine in 1962, before pursuing further studies at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, specialising in the aliments of the ear, nose and throat. He dedicated his life to this field of medicine, working as an ENT surgeon at the Royal Melbourne Hospital from 1969 to 1988, and Senior ENT surgeon in the Department of Surgery at Preston and Northcote Community Hospital and the Northern Hospital from 1972 to 2005. John also served as an ENT Surgeon to the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve between 1972 – 2003, attaining the rank of Wing Commander.

Outside of medicine, John embraced many interests, but it was art and architecture that became his greatest fascination. His frequent travels overseas saw him seeking out examples of important architecture, visiting historical monuments and spending countless hours exploring art galleries and museums across the globe. In the early 1980s, he embarked upon curating his own personal art collection, regularly frequenting galleries across metropolitan Melbourne to select paintings and sculpture pieces that appealed to his keen eye. Although initially collecting quite broadly, including fine examples by modern masters such as Fred Williams (lot 19) and Arthur Boyd (lot 18), he later developed a particular passion for abstraction and minimalism with a focus on art and sculpture from the 1960s though to the 1980s – no doubt ignited by a visit years earlier to the landmark Field exhibition at the newly opened National Gallery of Victoria in 1968. He consequently spent decades carefully collecting quality pieces from galleries and auction houses, and building relationships with gallerists such as Charles Nodrum who would propose examples to augment his collection. Collecting in bursts, by the end of the first decade of the twenty first century, his art collection adorned the walls of his similarly restrained Toorak home, designed by the acclaimed post-war modernist Australian architect, Guilford Bell. Reflecting his abstractionist sensibilities, Barnes’ art collection thus featured paintings by Ralph Balson (lot 38), Tony Tuckson (lot 24) and John Olsen (lot 23) which complemented Bell’s aesthetic restraint, strong forms and symmetry – all of which combined the tenets of post-war modernism with classical principles. Accompanying the paintings were sculptural pieces by celebrated artists such as Inge King (lot 22), George Baldessin (lot 20) and Clement Meadmore (lot 21) which filled voids or stood in courtyards within the home.

Deutscher and Hackett are pleased to offer this first tranche of paintings and sculpture from the collection of Dr. John Barnes, with further works from the collection appearing in a dedicated single owner D+H ONLINE auction in September.

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