Title

Kane, Julius.

Author

Australian Prints.

Source

[Not applicable]

Publication date

2001

Type

Biography

Language

English

Country of context

Australia

Full text

Julius Kane

Julius Kane, originally Kuhn, was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1921. He began his studies in law and economics at the Budapest University. In 1946 he moved to Munich to study at the Academy of Fine Arts, under Anton Hiller. Here he received traditional training in sculpture. He remained at the Academy until 1949, the year he moved to Australia. He became an Australian citizen in 1956 and changed his name from Kuhn to Kane, the name under which he established himself as a prominent figure in the Australian sculptural scene. Between 1960 and 1961, Kane undertook further study, travelling to the USA, Mexico and Canada, where he studied at the Ontario College of Art. He then returned to Melbourne, where he died in 1962.

Kane was central to the establishment of the influential Centre Five Group of sculptors, drafting the five-point plan that gave the group its name. His militancy and energy lifted the profile of sculpture in Melbourne. The first work Kane exhibited in Australia displayed the traditional methods and motifs in which he had been trained, but he quickly moved away from this into the world of abstraction, producing strong fluid works which focused on the irrational and contradictory elements of life.

© Australianprints