ALBERT TUCKER: MOBILE HOME

Be an art detective and spell out the mystery words with this fun activity for kids and adults to do together. Follow the directions and use the clues to discover the answer. Detectives, please ensure you stay with an adult while in the gallery space and return your clipboard and your pencil to the front desk when you have finished. Thank you and have fun! DIRECTION SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT CLUE ANSWER

1. Start at Heide reception.

Walk through the Project

Gallery and into the Albert

and Barbara Tucker

Gallery. Look at the wall to

your left to see a huge

photograph of Albert

Tucker reading by his

caravan in Paris.

While staying in a hotel in

Paris in 1952, artist Albert Tucker

designed and constructed the

body of a caravan in his room. He

got it outside and onto the street

by lowering it piece by piece out

of his window. He mounted it

onto a trailer that he bought for

the cost of 1000 francs and an

American radio!

Look at the photograph. One

of the soles of Tucker’s shoes

is visible. Is it the left or right

shoe sole you can see?

__ __ __ __ __ The second letter is your first

clue. Write this letter in the

grey box

2. Turn to your right and look

inside the glass cabinet to

see a series of

photographs and letters.

Albert Tucker and his partner

Mary Dickson lived in the home-

made caravan on the banks of the

Seine river in Paris for several

months before heading off

through the south of France and

Italy. They towed their caravan

behind their Morris Minor car on

a journey of artistic inspiration.

How many photographs of a

car and a caravan can you

count in this cabinet?

__ __ __ __ The last letter of this number

is your next clue. Write this

letter in the grey box

3. Look above the glass

cabinet at a photograph of

Mary Dickson sitting by a

window. Take notice of

the paintings that are on

the wall around her.

Now look to your right to

see four paintings on the

wall near to you.

In the photograph, Albert

Tucker’s partner Mary Dickson is

sitting in an art gallery in Paris

called Galerie Huit where Tucker

exhibited some of the first works

he created after he left Australia

for Europe. Tucker did not sell

many works in the exhibition so

he decided to have another

exhibition outside next to his

caravan instead!

One of the four paintings in

the exhibition at Heide also

appears in the photograph of

Mary. In the centre there is a

red shape. What type of fruit

could this be?

The repeated letter in the

name of this fruit is your next

clue. Write this letter in the

grey box

A__ __ L __

4. SPOT THE DIFFERENCES – LOOKING ACTIVITY. ANSWERS ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE

Move along the wall to your right and look for a painting called Street Accident 1952. Examine it closely and compare it to the painting you see on this page below. Can you spot the SIX differences?

DIRECTION SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT CLUE ANSWER

5. Move along the wall to

your right to find another

group of four paintings,

each set in a city at night.

They share similar motifs

such as striped barriers,

flashing lights and

transport signage. Look

closely at the lower left

painting. Can you see a

tram?

The painting with the tram titled

Killing 1954 depicts a fictional

scene in Melbourne, Australia. By

this time, Albert Tucker had lived

overseas for seven years, so he

relied on his memories of

Melbourne and his imagination

when he painted this artwork.

What number can you see

painted on the tram?

___ ___ R ___ ___

The first letter of this number

is your next clue. Write this

number in the grey box

6. Now turn right and look at

the metal sculpture of a

caravan, chair and table

titled Point de

l’Archevệché 2007.

Notice how it is made from

lots of coloured metal

sections with holes in

them.

This sculpture was created by an

artist called Bob Jenyns as a

tribute to Albert Tucker’s home-

made caravan and travels

overseas. The French title of the

work means Archbishop’s Bridge,

which is a place near where

Tucker and Mary Dickson camped

on the Seine river in Paris. Bob

Jenyns uses the idea of children’s

building blocks to represent the

bold and playful side of Albert

Tucker’s adventures and artworks.

Find the label with the title of

this work on the wall to your

left. Next to it you will find a

description of the sculpture.

Read this description to

discover the name of the

building blocks that the

sculpture appears to be made

from.

M ___ C ___ A N ___ The last letter of this word is

your next clue. Write it in the

grey box

7. Turn right and look for

another glass cabinet. This

one is full of sketches of

bushrangers, gallery

invitations and letters.

There is a photograph

above the cabinet of two

artists taken in Cerveteri,

Italy in 1956. One of them

is Albert Tucker.

Albert Tucker met with the other

artist in the photograph while he

was travelling in Italy. This now

famous Australian artist showed

Tucker photographs he had taken

of the Australian outback, which

had been ravaged by drought.

This inspired Tucker to start

painting images of the outback

and the types of tough characters

who might live in this landscape.

Read the title of this

photograph nearby. One of

these men is Albert Tucker,

the other man is his friend and

fellow Heide artist:

S ___ ___ N ___ Y

___ O ___ A ___

The first and the last letter of

this person’s surname (last

name and second word) is

your next clue. Write this

letter in the grey box

8. SPOT THE CORRECT PAINTING – LOOKING ACTIVITY. Move along the wall to your right until you reach a large painting of three people with a blue back ground. Compare each of the paintings below with the painting you can see on the wall.

Which one is the correct painting A, B, C or D? WRITE CORRECT ANSWER IN THIS BOX

DIRECTION

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

CLUE

ANSWER

9. Move to your right,

and on the end wall

you will see a painting

of a blue and purple

head in an orange and

yellow landscape.

Look closely at the

texture of the head.

Can you see that

some of the areas of

the face have been

painted on rippled

cardboard?

The people in Albert Tucker’s

paintings of the Australian outback

were painted in a way that makes

them blend into the landscape.

Their faces and bodies look like they

are made from weathered rock

formations like those you would

find in the desert.

Do you know the name of the art

technique that uses different

mediums together to make an

artwork?

Look at the second line of the

label of this painting called

Explorer 1957 to find the answer.

synthetic polymer paint and

___ O L L ___ G E on composition board

The fifth letter of this word is

your final clue. Write it in the

grey box

FINAL PUZZLE!

Using all of the letters that you have collected, solve the puzzle below to find the mystery word.

QUESTION:

What is the name that Albert Tucker gave to the Australian head forms he created to unite the figures

with the landscape in his drawings and paintings?

ANSWER:

CONGRATULATIONS! You have found the mystery word! Now, can you pronounce it?

Answer to

question 9

Answer to

question 9

Answer to

question 7

Answer to

question 5

Answer to

question 1

Answer to

question 3

Answer to

question 6

Answer to

question 8

Answer to

question 2

Answer to

question 7

ART ACTIVITY: Now that you know all about Albert Tucker’s European travels, why don’t you try creating your own version of this artwork by Albert Tucker titled Head 1956? Simply place this page over a rough texture such as a tree trunk, some concrete, wood or stone (not a sculpture please!) and gently rub the white area with the side of your pencil lead and watch the different textures appear, bringing your own unique Antipodean head to life!