Iconic artist and broadcast pioneer John Pickup passes away at 91
John Pickup OAM passed away on Tuesday at home in Murwillumbah.
The broadcast pioneer, who spent over 40 years working at the ABC, enjoyed a varied career across Australian TV and radio.
As well as his broadcast work, John found success with the Brushmen of the Bush - a group consisting of five Broken Hill artists. They dedicated their time to depicting the outback and garnered international recognition during the '60s and '70s.
The group - John Pickup, Erin Minchin, Pro Hart, Hugh Schulz, and Jack Absalom - came together when artist Erin Minchin needed help with a charity fundraising exhibition. They went on to showcase their work around the world, raising thousands for charity along the way.
"They donated a lot of paintings to charities all over the country," fellow Broken Hill artist Howard Steer said of their generosity.
Pro Hart’s wife, Raylee Hart, told the ABC that “there was a great sense of community” around them while reflecting on time spent with the Brushmen.
John was the last surviving member of the Brushmen of the Bush after Jack Absalom’s death in March 2019.
Despite John’s skill with a brush, it was not his painting that saw him awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2020, but instead his 57 years of service to broadcasting.
Opening up to AnArt4Life about the honour, John said, “while I am extremely proud to receive an OAM, I was also honoured to receive numerous messages from people thanking me for training them in broadcasting as that training sent them on their present career path: to receive these messages of congratulations was very gratifying".
John launched his media career in 1947, and moved to the ABC in 1950, where he remained for more than 40 years. He spent time in the sound effects department, as a manager, and as a broadcaster for the company.
But his most unique role comes from his time with sound, when his right hand secured itself a place in the history books by becoming the first “animated object” ever seen on Australian TV in 1956.
John was a floor manager at the time, tasked with opening a book set to feature in the broadcast’s opening shot.
"I took my right hand up to makeup, had it satisfactorily made up," he told ABC Radio National's Late Night Live of the incident.
“Come eight o'clock, I get the cue from the floor manager. I pick up the book, I open to the first page,” John went on, “it just so happens that … my right hand is the first animated object seen on national television."
Raylee Hart, while speaking of John, noted that Pickup’s death marked the end of an era, but shared her hope for the future in knowing that “there’s always something else for another era.”
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