A rare program from the time when films were shown at the Athenaeum Theatre while Frank Talbot leased the theatre. The program has a managerial announcement from Talbot announcing the new policy: "under which the theatre will be devoted exclusively to English and Australian pictures". The company supplying the British films was called British Dominion Films Ltd. Talbot also stated: "It will be part of the managerial policy to screen such Australian films as may be available". The films were preceded by "The Herald" news reel and "The Daily Dozen at the Zoo". The theatre orchestra, playing before and during interval was conducted by Mr J Kost. The music included "Tales of Vienna Woods by Johann Strauss and selections from Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance". The program represents a time when films were shown at the Athenaeum Theatre. Records indicate that graphic entertainments started with magic lantern slides in the 1890s and continued with silent movies. The first full-feature film shown in Australia was "The Story of the Kelly Gang" in 1906 at the Athenaeum Theatre and the first talkie to be shown in Victoria, "The Jazz Singer" shown in 1928. Later when Hoyts took over the lease, Cinemascope films were exhibited completing a history of film shown at this one theatre. paper program; 10 pages; coloured front page.

Nunawading Council has approved applications for two new entertainment complexes at Forest Hill Chase, a bingo centre and a comedy theatre restaurant.Nunawading Council has approved applications for two new entertainment complexes at Forest Hill Chase, a bingo centre and a comedy theatre restaurant.forest hill chase, athan, savvas, bingo centre, theatre restaurants

non-fictionA description of the new Whitehorse Performing Arts Centre called The Round. Opening night 13/10/2023city of whitehorse, the round

non-fictionAn A3 photocopy of an article about the design of the new Performing Arts Centre in Whitehorsewhitehorse arts centre, theatres

Tom Thumb and Lady were performers in P.T. Barnum’s circus. Once they became engaged, the public developed a fascination for them—nicknaming them the “little couple.” Barnum used their engagement to publicize his show, parading the couple around to different nations’ leaders and placing newspaper announcements detailing their upcoming wedding ceremony. On their wedding day in New York City, over 2,000 people entered the church to watch the couple say their vows. Fellow performers Minnie Warren (the bride’s younger sister) and “Commodore Nutt” (George Washington Morrison Nutt) served as the maid of honor and best man.Photographic tintype portrait of a child.General Tom Thumb and Wife, Commodore Nutt and Miss Minnie Warren, In the indentical costumes worn before Her Majesty Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle, June 1865.fullarton, tom thumb, theatre, commodore nutt, minnie warren, queen victoria

Cassette magazine in vinyl cover. Contents includes onemagazine, one audio cassette, one subscription card, one subscription pamphlet, one track list card, one advertisement for Rash (Decisions) cassette release, and one advertisement for New Order with The Saints and John Cooper Clarke at the Palais Theatre.ink, paper, plastic, vinyl

Captured in New Guinea 11/9/1943 by Australian forcesTelescopic sight for 6.5 LMG type 96No 25235 2.5 x 13 above a symboljapanese army, ww2, wwii, world war two, second world war, pacific theatre, type 96, lmg, scope, new guinea

Yields information about the appearance of the ex Melbourne bogie trams, in the interim before the renumbering of the tram was completed.Negative and Digital image of the Wal Jack Ballarat Negative file of at new bogie tram to Ballarat, turning from Lydiard St North into Sturt St, with the destination of Gardens via Drummond North. Most likely No. 22, based on Reg Item 5273 - 16/12/1945 Has the Commonwealth Bank, Beacham's Unicorn Hotel, A. J. Rowland Estate Agent, Hagers Cafe?, Her Majesty's Theatre, The Ballarat Wattle, the newsagent kiosk and at the time, the Methodist Church of Ballarat. trams, tramways, lydiard st, sturt st, new tramcars, bogie trams, tram 22

Bendigo Operatic Society Production Oklahoma Capital Theatre Bendigo Opening Friday, 14th July, 1961 For Six Nights. Produced By Norman Lee. A Rodgers & Hammerstein Musical based on Lynn Rigg's play 'Green Grow the Lilacs.' A Chappell & Co. Ltd Production. Songs Include: 'Oh What a Beautiful Morning,' 'The Surrey with the Fringe on Top' 'Many A New Day' People Will Say We're in Love,Oklahoma. Cast: Gertrude Perry, Harry Brewer, Dawn Beckwith, Leonard Carr, Peter Houston, Gerald Gleeson, Bryan Brewer, Brian Thomas, Annette Wilson, Alfred Annison, Wendy Griffiths, Emily Westgarth, Joan Crane, Carol McKenzie, Aileen Simmonds, Patricia McCraken, Frederick Trewarne, Reginald Boromeo, Gerald Hayward, Victor White, Peter Haines, Terry Carr, Bronwen Townsend.Cambridge Press.clubs and associations, theatre, bendigo operatic society, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/oklahoma!_(1955_film)

Bendigo Operatic Society Programme Booklet 'Production Ánything Goes Capital Theatre Bendigo Opening, 6th April 1962. For Four Nights. Former Producer The Late Norman Lee, New Producer Miss Beatrice Oakley. Arrangement Samuel French Ltd. Lyrics & Music Cole Porter, Book By P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton. Musical Numbers Include: Ï Get a Kick Out of You' Ýou're the Top', 'There'll Always Be A Lady Fair, 'Ánything Goes' 'Gypsy in Me'' Cast: Denis Cremen, John Stephens, Ferd. Lorenz, Heather Lindhe, Margery Reed, Len Carr, Fred Trewarne, Carol McKenzie, Bernice Boromeo, Max Beckwith, Peter Unmack, Daryl Walker, Ian Beckwith, Rick Perry, Victor White, Roger Sprawson, Roy Cronin, George Steele, Joan Crane, Joan Heard, Alfred Annison, Kath Alexander, Reginald Boromeo, Ray Austin, Peter Houston.Cambridge Press.clubs and associations, theatre, bendigo operatic society, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/anything_goes

Bendigo Operatic Society Programme Booklet 'The New Moon' performed at the capital Theatre View Street Bendigo for six nights opening September 27th, 1963. Bendigo Operatic Society with permission of J.C. Williamson Theatres Ltd presents 'The New Moon' A Beatrice Oakley Production. Music Sigmund Romberg Book & Lyrics Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel & Lawerence Schwab. The New Moon is the name of an operetta ,the show was the third and last in a string of Broadway hits for Romberg (after The Student Prince (1924) and The Desert Song (1926)) written in the style of Viennese operetta. It spawned a number of revivals and two film versions, and it is still played by light opera companies. The piece turned out to be "Broadway's last hit operetta",] as World War II and the Golden Age of musicals approached. Songs Include: 'Dainty Wisp of Thistledown,' 'Marianne,' ''The Girl on the Prow,'' ''Gorgeous Alexander,'' ''Softly as in a Morning Sunrise,'' ''Love is Quite a Simple Thing'' and many others. Cast: Mary Speedy, Victor White, Desmond Duguid, Peter Houston, Alfred Annison, Leonard Carr, Fred Trewarne, Reginald Boromeo, Roger Sprawson, George Steele, Aileen Simmonds, Graham Filcock, Max Rule, Gertrude Perry, Graham Filcock, Erica Scharp, Anne PearsonArthur Hocking Press.clubs and associations, theatre, bendigo operatic society

Under the direction of Mr Joseph Post 50 members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) performed to at crowded house at the Capital Theatre in Bendigo July 1st, 1948. The programme included the Max Bruch's Violin Concerto in G Minor, op. 26; Dvorak 'New World'' Symphony; Weber's ''Oberon'' overture, Debussy's 'L'Apres midi d'un Faune''; chorale, 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring'' (Bach-Roberts,) gavotte from Suit No. 6 (Bach-Wood), Brahms'Fifth and Sixth Hungarian Dances, Percy Grainger 'Country Gardens; (Arr, Earle) 'The Mermaid'' and (Martin Shaw) 'The Song of the Music Makers'' Soloists for the event included: Miss Bertha Jorgenson a Castlemaie Local and well known talent on violin; Miss Kathleen Moore violin; Miss A Walk flute. The concert was sponsored by Bendigo Musical Advancement Society in conjunction with the Austrlisn Broadcasting Commission.bendigo, tourism, theatre performances music

Pale Green Paper With Black Text Theatre Programme Bendigo Training Prison 'Stalag 17' Three Act Melodrama Capital Theatre April 14th, 15th, 1959. Sponsored by Lions Club of Bendigo. Programme Price 6 Shillings. Cast Neville D, Des Nicholas, Don G. Bill Galvin Jr, Robert K, Donald C, Bob K, Alan R, Leslie B, Donald T, Kenneth B, Ken B, Terry B, Peter B, Steve C, Don C, Roy A, Kenneth H, Ronald D, Graeme B. Setting Barracks of 'Stalag 17' POW Camp somewhere in Germany during World War II.Arthur Hocking Printerclubs and associations, theatre, bendigo training prison, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-19/old-meets-new-as-sandhurst-gaol-becomes-ulumbarra-theatre/6022058 source for sandhurst prison. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/stalag_17 source for stalag 17 play

Performance in Bendigo: ''The New England Guitar Duo'' 1994 - performance at Bendigo Building Society Theatre. Collection includes Programme; newspaper cuttings and advertisement; Spring tour information.

In 1977, artist Annette Meikle undertook a commission to illustrate a book recording stories of places and people in the Bayside area. It was published in 1978 as Sandringham Sketchbook, with text by Elizabeth Waters. The sketches were intended to record remaining examples of Bayside’s early architecture and environment, as well as reflect newer architectural changes. Meikle went on to donate 22 of these sketches to Bayside City Council in 2003. Tasmanian architect J.H. Esmond Dorney developed this ground-breaking design for the Sandringham Hospital, which opened in 1964. Dorney had spent significant time recuperating in hospital in the post-war years and developed a special interest in hospital design. The hospital included circular wings with nurses’ stations at the hub and wards radiating outwards like spokes on a wheel. The hospital included 100 beds, two operating theatres and four delivery rooms and baby nurseries. Each ward of two to four beds had its own bathroom, and featured wide windows with garden views. The design was considered radical at the time and was copied as far afield as England and the United States.Annette Meikle, Sandringham Hospital 1977, ink and watercolour, 25.5 x 35.5 cm. Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection. Donated by the artist, 2003annette meikle, sandringham sketchbook, elizabeth waters, sandringham hostpital, jh esmond dorney, hospital, architecture, sandringham

Speaking Made Easy is a registered name of The Penguin Club of Australia Inc which was founded in Sydney in 1937 by women for women. The late M. Jean Ellis O.B.E. was the co-founder of the Penguin Club and developed the organisation in each State and Territory of Australia, and in Port Moresby and Mount Hagen in Papua New Guinea. In an era when women were not so active in public life, one woman’s courage and foresight has inspired members during the decades to continue to support women to develop their speaking skills and become articulate, confident women in all aspects of their lives. Well-known Penguin Club members have included the late Margaret Whitlam, wife of the late former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam; Mary Tenison Woods, first female lawyer and public notary in SA; and Gertrude Johnson, Australian coloratura soprano and founder of the National Theatre in Melbourne.Grey cover booklet. The booklet has twenty pages and is titled the constitution of the Penguin Club of Australia. Incorporating amendments up to September 30th, 1949. published by Oxford Press, 2-4 Bedford St. Sydney. Aileen and John Ellison Collection.penguin club, consitution

Sixteen theatre programmes from the Royal Princess Theatre: 1) ''A chapter in her life'' with Claude Gillingwater, Jacqueline Gadsen & Jane Mercer - ''Within the law'' with Norma Talmadge. 2) ''Who's Who'' directed by William Anderson. 3) ''The old woman who lived in a shoe'' with Lily Clarke, Fred Heinz, Neal Connelly, Gladys Spencer, Nellie Hornby, Willie Howard, Mary Nuttall, Frank Rossmore, George McGuire, May Bryer, Claud Chevely, Vera Nuttall, Vera Bromley, Dorothea Liddle, Coral Spencer, Ruby May, Irene McGuire, Nellie McGuire, Euston Moloney. 4) ''Splendid Fellows'' with Isabelle Mahon, frank Leighton, Eric Colman, Leo Franklin, Frank Bradley. 5) ''David Copperfield'' with W.C. Fields, Lionel Barrymore, Madge Evans, Maureen O'Sullivan, Edna May Oliver. 6) ''The Gay Divorcee'' with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. 7) ''One Night of love'' with Grace Moore. 8) grand Operettas ''Life at sea'' by the pupils of the Marist Brothers' College. On Saturday, December 16th, 1916. 9) ''John Gilpin'' music by Sr Frederick Cowen. First appearance of the Marist Bros. Boy's brass band with miss Pauline Bindley, Miss Mary Bentley, Miss Vera O'Donnell, Mr. Hector Goldspink, Mr. Tom Pritchard, Mr. Frank Bensen. Wednesday, December 7th, 1910. 10) ''A night at a Maori Pah'' featuring forty full blooded Maoris from the thermal regions of New Zealand. 11) Royal Princess Bendigo eighty first birthday souvenir programme. 31st August, 1955. 12) '' The Merry Widow'' royal comic opera company with Gladys Moncrieff, Arthur Stigabt, Leslie Holland, Lance Lister. 13) ''Grand National Concert'' Tuesday, 17th March, 1925 with Rita Miller, Vera O'Donnell, Percy Blundell, W. Donohue, Donald McNeath, Pat Coleman, Arthur Douglas. 14) 15th Annual tour of the original ''Blind Entertainers'' Monday, September 3rd, 1928. 15) The joy event of the year. 5th annual Paramount week, August 31st to September 5th. 16) Princess Bendigo, programs December 5 to January 4, 1933entertainment, theatre, royal princess

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.