Images of Scottish Australia

The main reason for our stay in Ballarat was to visit the the Art Gallery of Ballarat's display For Auld Lang Syne:  Images of Scottish Australia, from First Fleet to Federation.

The exhibition comprises an extensive collection of materials, ranging from paintings, books, charts and photos to artifacts, bagpipes and even goblets.  It commemorates the contributions of Scots to the discovery and early exploration of Australia through to their contributions in areas such as industry and the artistic world.    Even Mary MacKillop had a Scottish heritage!

There isn't very much about the role of golf, but I didn't regard that as much of a loss.   However, it did have David Syme and Simon Fraser looking at each other, notwithstanding their reputed fall-out over protectionism.

At the entrance to the display is an explanation of the new Ballarat tartan!    This features prominently on the publicity.    It has only recently been officially recognised, but apparently new tartans can still be accredited.   The colours in it are grey for the basalt Ballarat is built on, blue and white for the Eureka flag and yellow for the gold mined in Ballarat.   Overall, it's a bit drab, but perhaps this is rather appropriate for this part of the world.

Italian Masterpieces from the Prado

The exhibition at the National Gallery covers three centuries of Italian art, from the Prado's collection.    Of course, Europe was a different place in those days, with Spanish rule extending at times into parts of what is now Italy.

Titian, Salome with the Head of John the Baptist

I can't claim to know a lot about Renaissance art, but I certainly enjoyed the exhibition, in fact more than I expected.  It covers three centuries from Raphael onwards.
  
The captions are comprehesive, describing both the individual pictures as well as the various themes.

Raphael, Holy Family with St John

We attended on the Sunday afternoon of the long weekend, so of course there were a lot of people present.  Even so, it was not over-crowded, but we were glad we'd pre-purchased tickets as there was a long, slow-moving queue to buy them on the spot (this had eased off later in the afternoon).


However, with tickets in hand, there were no delays at the entrance at all.  If you think you may wish to return, ask for a pass-out as you exit into the shop.

Also, on display, just off the lobby, was also a special exhibition of William Blake's works, although mostly etchings.

And, if you go, allow a few minutes to admire the bears in the lobby area.  Kitsch, yes, but amusing.

White Night (2)

I hadn't planned to go to White Night, but at the last minute I thought, "There's a train in a few minutes", and headed off.   Well, the train going to the city was packed but I merely thought, "Oh, well".   But it was a sign of things to come!

I got off at Melbourne Central, and walked - well, struggled - down Swanston Street.  People everywhere.  Notice the crowds in a number of  the images in this report.







There were quite a few performers, mostly on small stages or in small areas, quite interesting, but the word "busker" comes to mind (especially when at least a few of them had bags for donations!). 

Most people seemed in good humour, but I'm afraid that being mixed up in an immense crowd is not, for me, conducive to the enjoyment of relatively small scale performances. The lights on Flinders Street station and along Flinders Street  were impressive, I must admit. I was left wondering whether people just like to be part of a big crowd, at unusual time and on roadways normally occupied by traffic?   And eating fast food (good supply of that)?

Flinders Lane

I didn't get as far as the Arts Centre, but headed instead for the train at Flinders Street.   There were crowds here as well, and there was no way I could get onto the first train, but moved to the end of the platform and managed to board the next.  I was impressed that. when I got off the train, I noticed that an extra train (not on the timetable) was following, and waited until it arrived.   It, too, was full even though it wasn't going to the end of the line.   Nice to see Metro being a bit responsive (although, on reflection, given the number of people that were hoped for, ought not more trains have been provided?). 

Extra train to Moorabbin

And, by the way, when thinking about all that electricity that was used,  perhaps the people who gathered in the streets will be participating in Earth Hour on 29 March?

The National Library

I had never been to the National Library and, in fact, was only vaguely aware of its existence.  But I was given a ticket (thanks, A) to a guided tour of the current temporary exhibition, "Mapping Our World - Terra Incognito to Australia".  This is an impressive display of maps starting with some indigenous material and a Ptolemy map from about 90 AD (rediscovered in about 1300), and the amazing Venetian map by Fra Mauro. This is perhaps the highlight of the exhibition, given the size of the map and the complexities involved in bringing it from Venice to Canberra.

The exhibition then proceeds through the "discovery" era maps of the Portuguese, Dutch and of course Cook and the other English explorers and culminating in Flinders' "General Chart of Terra Australis or Australia".     All very interesting indeed.

There's also a permanent exhibition in the "Treasures Gallery", which contains a display of maps, pictures, photographs and objects designed to illustrate episodes in Australian history.   Again, the range of material on display is quite breath-taking.

As for the library itself, sorry, no bookstacks at all!    I guess they must exist somewhere but seemingly are not for public access.    There are various reading  rooms (complete with arrays of computer terminals, as well as people reading hard copies).  There are also some Leonard French windows - quite nice but not as impressive as the ceiling in Melbourne's National Gallery.

Edit:   As we were leaving Canberra, I noticed a warehouse-type building with a National Library sign on it.    Maybe the bookstacks are out in a warehouse, instead of on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin!

The National Portrait Gallery

I've previously blogged with my thoughts about the National Portrait Gallery.    As I stated in that post, I quite like this Gallery.  In particular, a reasonable proportion of the art is relatively conservative. Ar least, that is, until you get into the "Australia Now" room.

I revisited the gallery when in Canberra and confirmed my belief that I don't really like the Princess Mary portrait, even though it still has a very prominent position.   And this time there was even a religious portrait (mind you, just one, at least so far as I could see), being Bishop Burgman. Even this work (on loan, and there because Judy Cassab's work was being highlighted) is an "interesting" choice.  I've always thought this secular trait in this Gallery suggests a particular "take" on its claim to select portraits of Australians who have been "significant in the field of endeavour".    For example, Eddie Mabo, Clarles Perkins, Neville Bonner and Harold Blair are all there, side by side.   And the Gallery has managed to obtain photographs of Lee-Lin Chin and Tim Winton.


Anyway, Whitlam and Kerr still hang side-by-side.   Menzies and Evatt are separated by two other portraits,  both politicians (one Liberal, one Labor).

There was a special display of Elvis Presley photos, but I didn't have a lot of time so decided not to pay the charge to enter this section.

[Edited 26 Jan 14]

Qdos

While at Lorne, we made what has become our annual visit to Qdos for coffee on the deck and a walk around, viewing both the art and the sculptures.   

View from the deck

All very interesting, but while (as always) we enjoyed the coffee and ambiance, we didn't find a sculpture for our courtyard to our taste, particularly having regard to the prices being asked!

Lily pond

Looking up towards the gallery and the deck

Beating the Bounds

We attended a function at the Melbourne Savage Club during which we were told about some of the artifacts and paintings in the Club's extensive collection.   Unfortunately the Biwat figure which was recently auctioned is no longer held by the Club, but it's obvious that there are still a great number of interesting pieces in the remaining collection.

Blainey

In addition to the extensive collection of artifacts (many but not all from Papua New Guinea and the Pacific islands), there are so many paintings that there's hardly room to display them all.   Australian Impressionist painters are well represented; several were members of the Club.    Some of the more contemporary pieces are great, too, including one of Menzies and a recent addition Geoffrey Blainey.

(Apologies for the poor quality of the images).

A past president

The Eureka Flag

I see that the original Eureka flag has been moved to a new home.  

It has been tucked away in the Ballarat Art Gallery, and many visitors (especially if they're heading for a special exhibition) may not have been aware that it was there.   Although we found it when we visited the gallery, it was almost by chance that we did so.

No doubt it will get greater prominence at the new "Museum of Australian Democracy" at Sovereign Hill. 

Norman Lindsay

I can remember really enjoying The Magic Pudding as a child!   However, at that time, I didn't know very much about Norman Lindsay, and in particular wasn't aware of the fact that he liked to paint voluptuous nudes!    Even though this particular omission was rectified in later life, when we visited his former house at Faulconbridge - now a museum  -  I was able to fill in some of the remaining details of his life and work of which I had previously been unaware.

The house contains an impressive collection of his works, especially his paintings.    It also contains a number of large model sailing vessels, which he built for relaxation.  The meticulous detail of these is really quite amazing.  

Outside are a number of his statues.   The painting studio was closed, but we joined a short tour which included admission to the etching studio.  This left us with a great respect for the time and effort that Lindsay put into the creation of his etchings (consistent, I suppose, to his approach in constructing the model sailing ships) and just as much respect for the efforts of his second wife, Rose, who laboured long and hard printing them - a task in which Lindsay himself apparently didn't participate.




We finished up with coffee and scones at Lindsay's Cafe, which is within the grounds.

The Toulouse-Lautrec exhibtion

I visited the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition at the National Gallery while we were in Canberra.    I admit that that I didn't know very much about Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec before I started planning to visit this exhibition, even though I'm now aware that he is one of the best known post-Impressionist painters.  Certainly, his paintings, drawings and posters and other lithographs are often vivid and dramatic.


Being a bit of a fan of the Heidelberg school of painters, it was food for thought for me to read that Toulouse-Lautrec was disdainful of the plein air school, and apparently many of his paintings (and, I think, all those in this exhibition) are portraits or of groups. Of course, generally these are of people from what may be regarded as the "under-belly" of Paris.    I particularly liked At the Bastille.

Interestingly, the Gallery has assembled this exhibition from numerous sources.  Many of the posters are in its own collection.   However, only three paintings have been contributed by the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum at Albi.    I leave it to the experts to say whether this means the paintings in this exhibition are less than fully representative of his work, although as a lay observer, it did seem that there was an adequate number. 

On a minor logistical note, I was able to buy a ticket for immediate admission shortly after the Gallery opened on the Saturday morning of a long week-end.   Of course, I realise that I was taking a  chance by not pre-purchasing, but at least on this occasion, things worked out satisfactorily.

Qdos

Qdos is a gallery/cafe/retreat in the forest not far from Lorne.    We headed up there for coffee (as we do each year - see here), but their power was out!    However, we spent a few minutes absorbing the relaxing environment and checking the latest exhibitions - including both the art inside and the sculptures outside - before heading elsewhere for our caffeine fix.

Sculpture

Capturing Flora

Such precision and attention to detail!   The patience required must be incredible!    I'm referring of course to botanical art in general and the Capturing Flora exhibition at Ballarat in particular.
The exhibition spans Australian botanical art from Dampier's expedition in 1699 right up to the present day, and includes the work of artists who accompanied botanists such as Joseph Banks (apparently Banks didn't prepare the artwork himself, it was an artist named Sydney Parkinson) through the era when such art was deemed a suitable pastime of upper middle class ladies and to the present day when there are a number of botanical artists hard at work despite the advances of digital imagery and DNA analysis.

The exhibition is captivating and enjoyable.    We were told that there are about 400 items on display - an impressive number, I might add - of which something like 350 are owned by the Ballarat gallery itself (many of which appear to have been acquired in the last few years).    Of the remainder, some are on loan from other galleries (and from the Botanical Gardens in Melbourne) as well as from private collectors, but interestingly several contemporary works have been lent by the artists themselves.

One aspect that I hadn't previously appreciated is that until colour printing was developed (mid 19th century?), it was quite usual for prints of botanical art in books and even in mass circulation periodicals (as forerunners of magazines, they were distributed in installments) to be hand coloured!   Hence, minor differences could exist between different copies, and one of the exhibits lines up 3 different examples of the same hand coloured print.

Actually, the annotation, while referring to the slight differences in shades, includes the comment that perhaps it's surprising that the colours vary so little!   The annotation also discusses the theory that orphans and old women in poorhouses were employed for this purpose, but suggests that this may be a popular myth!

In relation to another exhibit - a grevillea - the curators observe that perhaps the artist was provided with a cutting of the plant to work from, and hadn't seen it growing - because they think the artist has portrayed it upside-down (they provide a photograph for reference).

If you visit, take note of the darkened alcove off to the left just before the entrance to the exhibition.  It's not very well signed, and hardly anyone looked in here, but there on display is what remains of the original Eureka flag - truly a real piece of Australian history.


Note - photography isn't permitted in the Captivating Flora exhibition, so images are from publicity materials.   However, photography is permitted, without flash, in other parts of the gallery, so the image of the Eureka flag is of the actual exhibit.

The Leonard French ceiling

When we were at the National Gallery recently, I took the opportunity to re-acquaint myself with the Leonard French stained glass ceiling.   Hardly anyone else was in the Great Hall.   Does everyone just take this work for granted?  I accept that my rather poor photos don't do it justice, but perhaps they'll serve as a reminder.

Napoleon

We were encouraged to visit the Napoleon "Revolution to Empire" exhibition after reading this blog:

 http://tonyan598.blogspot.com.au/

  Indeed, an impressive exhibition.  There is a great range of materials, drawn from a whole range of institutions.  They include paintings, engravings, a tapestry or two, books, furniture, weapons, clothing, gold and other jewellery, medals, porcelain and other dishes and other items, . ..the list goes on.   They're supplemented by a number of multi-media displays and music from Napoleon's coronation.   The panels contain a lot of information, not all of it directly relevant to the displays, but they do set the context.   

The exhibition covers a lot of ground, but three aspects that I found to be of  particular interest are the French explorers in this part of the world during that period (and the impact that they had on France), the  Malmaison items and of course the opulence of the Empire era.

Bust of Napoleon by Lorenzo Bartoli

Interestingly, the coverage of military issues is not consistent.  Of course, it's all about fashion, style, the arts and so on, thus the military efforts of the era are a backdrop, not the main story.  Hence, although Napoleon's Orient campaign is covered in some detail - perhaps because it ushered in a focus on things Egyptian - other military matters, such as the victory at Austerlitz, the retreat from Moscow and Waterloo are hardly mentioned.  

We noticed Barry Humphries was there while we were (after the unveiling of the gladioli).   We can only imagine what Dame Edna might have to say about Josephine's style!