Danila Vassilieff (1897 - 1958), Born in South Russia in 1897 – the son of a Cossack father and Ukrainian mother – Danila Vassilieff cut an exotic figure in 1930s Melbourne. His liberated approach to art eschewed formal training and theory, and his belief that the creative act was something direct and physical, as opposed to being driven by aesthetics and intellect, garnered him enthusiastic friends and followers.1

Young artists including Albert Tucker, who described him as the ‘father figure for his generation’, valued his experience and example as a painter who refused to be constrained by rules and tradition.2

Although Vassilieff’s paintings had their detractors, others regarded them highly, celebrating their vitality and...