Image of modern evil: Tram

Worried about the rise of vice during the war including crime, public drunkenness and carnality in certain streets, Tucker's works began to reflect these themes. Presenting the city as a threatening, cold and oppressive place, huge areas of the picture spaces are plunged into impenetrable darkness with figures abstracted and hard to discern. In many works in the series a tram can be seen from the front, bearing down on the spectator. The tram became a symbol of threat and fear in these works after Tucker was almost hit by one when he was on the track on St. Kilda Road at night. Albert Tucker was one of Australia's finest and most important figurative expressionist painters. Much of his work had an emphasis on moral and ethical themes and the 'Images of modern evil' series is one of his strongest in this area. The 'Images of modern evil series is an embodiment of Tucker's personal reaction to the years of the Second World War in Melbourne and to the blackout periods in particular. At that time Tucker recalled reading newspaper reports about Victory Girls (mostly schoolgirls) and seeing them in the streets of Melbourne with American soldiers with whom they would go drinking and provide sex. Tucker described himself as 'the outraged Edwardian puritan' when encountering this. He also recalled the strange kind of lighting effects from the moon and tram and traffic lights in the blackouts. The drawing is dark and menacing with glimpses of naked figures emerging, red traffic lights like warning signs and a tram with a single baleful yellow headlight rushing out at the right. The 'Images of modern evil' series is one of horror and anxiety and this drawing exemplifies Tucker's reaction to the moral degradation and danger he felt around Melbourne. It distills the essence of that period for the artist into an image charged with foreboding.