Painter, was born in Sydney of American parents; her mother Vivienne (née Loucks, Berkstrasser, shortened to Berk) and her father Ludovic 'Victor’ Audette. The family lived in Illinois for a few years and then began travelling back and forth to Australia where Victor worked in sales-related enterprises. In the 1920s the family permanently moved to Australia, where they lived in the Sydney area, having four children Bobbie, Camilla, Billy and Yvonne. Victor died died 7 March 1933 when Yvonne was still a toddler, and businessman William Hauslaib became her stepfather.
She studied piano at the NSW Conservatorium of Music and from 1948-1952, painting at the Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney, initially under traditional tonalist Henry Gibbons, replaced by John Passmore in 1951 whose Cézanniste approach to colour as form inspired her. She also enrolled in Lyndon Dadswell’s sculpture course at East Sydney Technical School, and in the evenings went to Hungarian émigré Desiderius Orban at his Circular Quay studio. These latter taught her abstraction and biomorphism. Attending Godfrey Miller’s drawing classes at the Tech she experienced his abstract works intended to convey big metaphysical and transcendental concepts.
Supported by her wealthy American parents Audette sailed for San Francisco in October 1952, then went to New York and she studied at the National Academy of Design at a time when Abstract Expressionism was reaching its peak. She became part of the new movement associating with de Kooning, Franz Kline and Clement Greenberg. She also studied violin in New York. Returning briefly to Australia, she brought the Sydney art scene in touch with international modernism, especially influencing her erstwhile teacher John Passmore. There is some speculation that Passmore attempted to discourage her from exhibiting her NY works in Australia.
Music influenced many of Audette’s abstract expressionist paintings, as she explained to Jane Clark of Sotheby’s in July 2001. Sotheby’s included her comments in its 27-28 August 2001 catalogue to accompany the auction of Balancing 1978, oil on composition board 86.6 × 101.8 cm (lot 4 ill. est. $20,000-30,000).
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- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1999
- Last updated:
- 2023
