Showing 1337 items matching " australian art work"
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Wangaratta Art Gallery
Textile, Christine Upton, Gum Blossoms, 1989-1992
The inks used were fabric printing inks and two colours were applied at the one time on the same roller, the roller being inked with green on one side and red on the other. The roller was a sponge paint roller 100mm wide. The technique used was 'soft bed release'. This is where the fabric is placed over a soft bed (woolen blanket with cotton overlay) and the inked block is placed on top of the fabric, then body weight is applied to the back of the block by placing the hands on the block and transferring weight through the body and into the hands. The block is then lifted and the process starts allover again.Rural City of Wangaratta CollectionA repetitive pattern of gum blossoms that has been printed on a rectangular piece of pure silk twill in green and red ink by a lino block.wangaratta art galley, print, lino block, flora, gum, christine upton, textile, australian flora -
Wangaratta Art Gallery
Sculpture, Mandy Gunn, Fire Sticks, 2009
Gunn’s work explores political and social values through the mediums she uses and the inspiration she draws upon. In 'Fire Sticks', Gunn uses recycled material as an explorational response to throw away culture, while the design draws inspiration from the sticks used in firestick farming and the charred remains of flora after a fire, which highlights the history and place of fire in Australia.Wangaratta Art Gallery Collection. Winner of the 2009 Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award.This artwork was sculpted out of recycled inner tubes woven together with cotton thread on wooden poles.wangaratta art gallery, mandy gunn, sculpture, textile, wcta -
Wangaratta Art Gallery
Painting, Norma Bull, Lifting Waves, c. 1960s
Norma Bull is an Australian painter who is most famous for her paintings and sketches made during World War II in Britain as an official war artist. Bull was a finalist in the Archibald prize twice, in 1952 and 1953. Her work is featured in collections around the world including the Royal Collection, the Imperial War Museum, the National Gallery of Australia, and the Bright Art Gallery.traditionalRural City of Wangaratta Collection. Donated by Associate Professor Leslie E Bolitho AM.A windy seascape painted in oil using blues, browns, greens, yellows, and whites.Obverse: Norma Bull/ (bottom left)wangaratta art gallery, norma bull, seascape, painting -
Wangaratta Art Gallery
Painting, Mollie Hill, Borough Offices, 1962
Mollie Hill was a famous Welsh-born Australian watercolourist who studied at the Melbourne National Gallery Art School and is known for her 'eye for colour'. Her work features many landscapes of northern Victoria as she lived for some time in Shepparton and Wandiligong. She was also a well-known journalist. Depicted in this painting is the old council borough offices which were demolished in 1962. Rural City of Wangaratta Collection. Gift of Wangaratta Co-operative Housing Society No. 3 Ltd.A watercolour landscape of the old Wangaratta borough offices painted using shades of green, red, blue, and brown.Obverse: Mollie Hill/ (bottom right corner) PRESENTED/ TO THE BOROUGH OF WANGARATTA/ BY WANG. CO-OP. HOUSING SOCIETY/ NO. 3. LTD. IN APPRECIATION OF THE/ GENEROUS ASSISTANCE RECEIVED./ (in mounting board)wangaratta art gallery, mollie hill, watercolour, painting, landscape, borough offices -
Wangaratta Art Gallery
Painting, Ken Knight, Coastal Vista, c. 1992
Knight’s art style is heavily influenced by the Australian Impressionist movement of the late 19th century and he paints his work in outdoor settings, which is known as plein-air painting. Rural City of Wangaratta Collection, Wangaratta Art Prize Grand Winner 1992.An aerial landscape of a costal view painted in oil using a tonal colour palette of browns, blues, greens, oranges, and whites.Obverse: KEN KNIGHT/ (bottom right corner) WANGARATTA ART SHOW/ GRAND WINNER 1992/ 'COASTAL VISTA'/ By KEN KNIGHT/ (plaque mounted on frame)wangaratta art gallery, ken knight, landscape, painting, costal, plein-air, plein air -
Wangaratta Art Gallery
Work on paper, Gunnar Neeme, Haystacks in Estonia, 1965
Born in Estonia and immigrated to Australia after WW2, Gunnar Neeme is widely known around the world for his artistic abilities winning many awards in Australia, Germany, and Estonia, he is also a well-known writer. Neeme was a prominent figure in the Estonian society of Australia.Rural City of Wangaratta Collection. Gift of Verner Kentmann, Chief Clerk 1951-69.An illustration of a pastoral harvest scene in Estonia painted in watercolour and then overlaid with a black marking pen.Obverse: GNEEME/ 1965/ (bottom left corner) Gunter Neeme/ "RAY STOOKS IN ESTONIA'/ PRESENTED BY/ V. KENTMANN/ CHIEF CLERK 1951-69/ (plaque mounted on frame)wangaratta art gallery, gunner neeme, estonia, illustration, landscape, pastoral, haystacks -
Duldig Studio museum + sculpture garden
Ceramic, Karl Duldig, Gumnut Bowl by Karl Duldig c.1948, c. 1948
Karl Duldig’s ceramic bowl is a particularly interesting example of Karl’s ability to creatively respond to a new environment with a fresh visual repertoire, in this case, the flowering Eucalyptus in a design reminiscent of traditional European folk art. The bowl is an excellent example of the utilitarian and decorative studio pottery produced by Karl and his wife Slawa Horowitz-Duldig between 1944 and 1960. Clay was an important medium for Karl. When he was forced to flee Austria for Switzerland, working with clay became a convenient medium; and he continued to expand his use of clay in Singapore. In Australia his work in clay extended from domestic hand-made pottery to public sculptures and architectural reliefs. In 1944 Duldig purchased a kiln, which was installed in the garage of the family’s St. Kilda flat, soon after a pottery wheel was acquired. It was the beginning of a cottage industry that supplemented the family income during the war years and beyond. Duldig initially sold his decorative ceramic wares through a local florist in St. Kilda, and subsequently through shops such as the Chez Nous French Art Shop (Howey Place) and Light and Shade (Royal Arcade), and the Primrose Pottery shop in Collins Street. The Primrose Pottery shop was an extremely important commercial outlet, and hub, for emerging artists, potters and designers from 1929 until 1974. Its proprietors Edith and Betty MacMillan worked closely with their suppliers, commissioning and taking items on consignment. In the post war period important Melbourne studio potters such as Allan Lowe, Arthur Boyd, John Perceval and Neil Douglas exhibited and sold domestic wares in the Primrose Pottery shop. The Duldigs studio pottery provides a counterpoint to the ceramics produced at Arthur Merric Boyd Pottery in Murrumbeena, which was established in 1944 by Arthur Boyd, John Perceval and Peter Herbst. The emphasis on painterly decoration was important and the AMB potters also produced simple household wares decorated with Australian flora and wildlife, for example Neil Douglas also made small bowls decorated with the fairy wrens, lyrebirds, gumnuts and eucalypts. Ann Carew 2016The Duldig Studio’s collection of ceramics has national aesthetic and historic significance. It contains a representative sample of works of art in ceramics created by Karl Duldig during his lifetime, including small sculptures, as well as functional and novelty items for the tourist market during the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. The artist’s working methods and the development of his practice are comprehensively demonstrated in the collection. This in-situ collection demonstrates the philosophy of the Vienna Secession and its inheritors that handcrafted, simple functional domestic wares might enrich both the lives of the maker and the user. This bowl is part of a collection of ceramics that has national historic significance in providing a rich illustration of an immigrant and artistic experience, and touching on the themes of settlement adaptation of artistic practice. The collection is also associated with places of cultural and historical significance in Melbourne such as the Primrose Pottery Shop, and the story of Australian studio ceramics in the post-war years. Ann Carew 2016Cream earthenware bowl with flowering gum motif and sponged green background.Duldig in script incised under. -
Duldig Studio museum + sculpture garden
Sculpture, Karl Duldig, Moses by Karl Duldig 1956 (Bronze Cast 1979), 1956 / 1979
This sculpture is a bronze cast of Karl Duldig’s 1956 terracotta sculpture titled 'Moses'. The terracotta sculpture won the 1956 Victorian Sculptor of the Year award, an honor given by the Victorian Society of Sculptors. The National Gallery of Victoria purchased the original terracotta sculpture for the Gallery’s collection in 1956. In 1979 the NGV allowed Karl to cast the original terracotta sculpture in bronze (to a limited edition of 5). The National Gallery of Victoria holds one of these casts and one is in Duldig Studio collection. The original terracotta sculpture was exhibited in 1956 at the Olympic Arts Exhibition in Wilson Hall at the University of Melbourne. Two other works by Karl were also exhibited, a sandstone titled 'Adam and Eve' and a work titled 'Fountain'. The catalogue for the Olympic exhibition, which promoted modernism across a variety of disciplines, noted that Australia’s post war immigration program had given ‘further momentum to the modernist cause’. The identification of émigré artists, such as Karl Duldig, with the acceptance of modernism in Australia became a major theme in any discussion of art and design in the post war period. Ann Carew 2016The subject Moses and the tablets of law is an important theme in the history of art. For example the National Gallery of Victoria collection includes paintings on this topic by the Australian Aboriginal artist, Queenie McKenzie (1991), prints by the Russian-French modernist artist, Marc Chagall (1956), and a painting by 19th century British academic painter, John Rogers Herbert (1870s). Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses is perhaps the most famous sculptural interpretation of the subject. In Karl’s hands we have a modern interpretation of the theme. His simplification and abstraction of form and attention to surface modeling is masterly. The figure has an emotional intensity and despite its relatively small scale, a ‘forceful monumentality’. The sculpture is aesthetically significant for its craftsmanship, expressive qualities and modernity. It is historically significant because of its associations with the 1956 Olympic Arts Festival. The Duldig Studio’s bronze cast of the sculpture was exhibited in the exhibition '1956: Melbourne, modernity and the XVI Olympiad, Museum of Modern Art at Heide.' Apart from the formal qualities of a work like Moses, its relevance as a motif in Judaism and Christian faiths ensures its place as a work of spiritual significance. Ann Carew 2016Bronze cast from terracotta sculpture. Depicts Moses as in Exodus 32 when he returns from Sinai with the tablets of the law to find his people worshipping the golden calf, in his fury he holds the tablets aloft above his head before crashing them down on the ground. -
Duldig Studio museum + sculpture garden
Photograph, Karl Duldig, Slawa and her sister Rella, Paris, 1968, 1968
This photograph was taken by Karl Duldig when he and Slawa visited Slawa's sister Rella Laisne in Paris in 1968. They went to Paris as part of a world trip on the occasion of the unveiling of Karl's sculptural monument, Dawn, at the Maccabiah Village, Ram Gat, Israel. Commissioned by Hakoah and World Maccabi Union his monument commemorates the sportsmen and women of Hakoah Sports Club who were among the victims in the Holocaust. Karl had played for Hakoah in his youth. This is one of a large collection of photographs taken by sculptor Karl Duldig, documenting his art, life and family. The collection is of historical and aesthetic significance as a personal record of the work, cultural and social milieu of an Austro- Australian sculptor and his family from the early to late 20th century. it is also a record and representative of the experience of those people who came to Australia at this time, displaced by the upheavals of the Second World War. -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Sculpture: Angela NAGEL, Angela Nagel, How to Explain Genetics to a Thylacine, 2009
Entry into the 2009 Nillumbik Prize. Angela holds a Masters of Fine Art and has worked with clay for over 20 years. Her work is held in collections around Australia.Angela Nagel's creative practice is informed by an interest in the human condition, universal symbols, mythology and Jung's theory on the 'collective unconscious'. Her hybrid part human/animal creatures reference introduced species and indigenous Australian animals as a way for her to explore a personal mythology, and narrative, of home and environment. Recent work is developing around the relationship of ceramics to other materials such as glass, printmaking and found objects. Angela holds a Masters of Fine Art and has worked with clay for over 20 years. Her work is held in collections around Australia.Human and animal like figure in the stance reminiscent of classical sculpture. Hand built ceramics with engobes, oxides, glaze and gold leaf Medium: Porcelain, oxide, underglazeangela nagel, nillumbik shire council collection, victoria, nillumbik prize, ceramic -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Print (Lithograph) Clifton Pugh, Clifton Pugh, Untitled (Black Birds) from the Bodford Terrace Suite 1978, 1978
Pugh was one of many artists who brought an Australian experience to attention. This work reveals the colour, textures, harshness and inhabitants of the natural bush, with the angular forms found on the ‘black birds’ dominating the composition with dramatic effect. Shanahan, Albert Tucker, Frank Werther and Fred Williams have at one time settled and or work there. Untitled (Black Birds) from the Bodford Terrace Suite 1978, created by Clifton Pugh - a celebrated Australian artist known for his landscapes and portraiture as well as (three-time) winner of Australia’s Archibald Prize. This piece plays a significant role within the Nillumbik Shire Collection due to Pugh’s strong connection to the local land where he settled in Cottle’s Bridge in 1951, purchasing 15 acres and named it Dunmoochin. Artists, potters and others settled at Dunmoochin and formed the Dunmoochin Artists Co-operative in order to collectively protect the land. Numerous renowned artists worked or resided at Dunmoochin including: Rick Amor, Fred Williams, Albert Tucker, Frank Hodgkinson, Mirka Mora, John Olsen, John Percival and John Howley amongst others. Upon his death in 1990 he left an art collection and extensive properties at Dunmoochin to be appreciated and utilised by artists for years to come lithographic print on French Arches paper. Dynamic and expressive depiction of black birds in flight on far left of composition, cropped elements of Australian landscape in blue and red in the background (trees, shrubs, rocks). Inscribed lower right 'Clifton'; 1:1; 179/300clifton pugh, bodford suite, dunmoochin -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Painting, Clifton PUGH, White Choughs in the Landscape, 1958
Pugh was one of many artists who brought an Australian experience to attention. His landscapes reveal the colour and textures of the natural bush, often with a dramatic emphasis. His reference to the harshness of the bush consistently arises, with angular forms dominating the composition. White Choughs in the Landscape is typical of his representations of the bush as a dynamic environment. White Choughs in the Landscape, 1958, created by Clifton Pugh - a celebrated Australian artist known for his landscapes and portraiture as well as (three-time) winner of Australia’s Archibald Prize. This piece plays a significant role within the Nillumbik Shire Collection due to Pugh’s strong connection to the local land where he settled in Cottle’s Bridge in 1951, purchasing 15 acres and named it Dunmoochin. Artists, potters and others settled at Dunmoochin and formed the Dunmoochin Artists Co-operative in order to collectively protect the land. Numerous renowned artists worked or resided at Dunmoochin including: Rick Amor, Fred Williams, Albert Tucker, Frank Hodgkinson, Mirka Mora, John Olsen, John Percival and John Howley amongst others. Upon his death in 1990 he left an art collection and extensive properties at Dunmoochin to be appreciated and utilised by artists for years to come White Choughs in the Landscape is typical of Pughs' representations of the bush as a dynamic environment. The brittleness and fragility of the landscape is recorded in the surface of the work, where paint is applied in thin layers.Signed 'Clifton Sept. 1958'clifton pugh, dunmoochin, white choughs -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Drawing (Pastel): Nicholas Nedelkopoulos (b.1955 Melb, AUS), Nicholas Nedelkopoulos, The Sneeze, 1995
Nicholas Nedelkopoulos is an established artist, his work is represented in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the National Gallery of Australia and in numerous International and Australian Public and Private Collections. His work has been included in major historic exhibitions: the National Gallery of Australia's Federation touring exhibition, The Australian Bicentennial Folio and Victoria's 150th Anniversary exhibition curated at The State Library of Victoria and National Gallery of Victoria. He has a Diploma of Fine Arts from Victorian College of the Arts, a Master of Fine Art from the University of Melbourne (Victorian College of the Arts) and has a Doctorate from Monash University. Nedelkopoulos' work is based strongly in graphic tradition which can be seen throughout all of his media.'The Sneeze' alludes to a feverish response, an irritation, a period of temporary discomfort, or a sign of sickness. On a visit to Eltham in 1995 Nedelkopoulos became aware of the disquiet felt by many residents because local government was not in the hands of elected representatives. 'The Sneeze' is an allegorical work, which serves as a reminder of this period in our municipal history. Nedelkopoulos has constructed an environment similar to a theatre set in which every element is a symbol to be deciphered. Whether you read the red-nosed figure as democracy being challenged by the political circumstance, as representing the unelected commissioners surrounded by the criticism of the community, or as another player in the story, to unravel the meaning of individual elements will provide direction and add weight to your interpretation. Without knowledge of the artist's intention the work can convey quite straightforward messages and responses. For example, the misery of hayfever in Spring, or how germs spread from a single sneeze. Such ideas are relevant and provide the metaphoric basis for a more in-depth analysis.Pastel drawing on paper. Image depicts a small black figure with a small monkey on a lead. The figure has a red nose to which he is holding a tissue. He is walking through what appears to be a flowering forest.nedelkopoulos, the sneeze -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Painting: Penelope AITKEN (b.1967 Melb. AUS), Penelope Aitken, Mapping Mass & Void 10, 2008
Penelope Aitken lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. She makes paintings and installations about relationships: between people, between things and between people and things. Recurring subjects include friendship, genealogy, romantic liaisons, and cross-cultural exchange as well as gardening, craft and landscape design. 'I am interested in the social, psychological and aesthetic motives behind organisation, belonging and displacement and I often make work that investigates such arrangements.' She has held regular solo exhibitions since 1995 and has been represented in group exhibitions since 1989. These have included shows in public and commercial galleries, artist run spaces, outdoor projects and festivals in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Bundaberg, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Tokyo and Famagusta, Northern Cyprus. Aitken has previously worked at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and at Asialink at the University of Melbourne. From 2006 - 2009 she was a board member of the Melbourne artist run gallery, West Space and she has also curated and coordinated numerous exhibitions and written and edited catalogues, articles and essays. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education (Visual Arts) both from The University of Melbourne and completed her Masters of Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2004. In 1997 Aitken was selected to be a studio artist for two years at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne and in 2000 she undertook an Australia Council Studio at the Taipei National University of the Arts, Taiwan. More recently she spent two months in 2007 at the Laughing Waters Residency, Birrarung, in Eltham, Victoria. There she began her current interest in the rocks used in the landscape designs of Gordon Ford. Paintings of Ford's rocks made since 2007 as well as glacial erratics, meteors, and other natural and displaced rocks were exhibited in March 2011 at the Light Factory Gallery in Eltham in a show called My History of here, and Second Nature, one work from this exhibition, was awarded first prize at Eltham Masterworks 2011. Other work made about rocks in nature and culture include: the project, A dark archive, as well as in two installations: You seem so settled for one that doesn't belong held at West Space in 2009 and Gathering these things to remind me of home shown in 2010 at the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery, Queensland. In July and August 2007 Aitken undertook an arts recidency at Birrarung, a house and garden designed by Gordon Ford and managed as the Laughing Waters Artist in Residence Program by the Shire of Nillumbik Victoria. The rocks depicted in the painting 'Mapping Mass & Void 10' are all taken from the garden at Birrarung. Aitken has made reference to those rocks and the way in which Ford thought of the rocks as individuals that need to be handled and placed with consideration to show off their best aspects.oil and acrylic on linen ek prac 2015 -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Print (lino): Kate HUDSON (b.UK - a.1990 AUS), Kate Hudson, Wattle and Circle Vase, 2012
Kate Hudson's highly patterned and decorative prints reflect her love of Australian birds and flowers from her immediate environment, as well as oriental art and her training in textile design. Her work is influenced by the Australian artist (printmaker) Margaret Preston and the vases depicted in her prints are based on the ceramic works of her husband Stephen Hudson. The wattle depicted is the Acacia Terminalis (Sunshine Wattle), a shrub or small tree that grows to six meters in height. It’s an Australian native commonly found in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.A reduction coloured lino print. A ceramic vase with a black and white target print at its' centre holds a bunch of Acacia Terminalis (Sunshine Wattle). The vase rests on an orange table cloth decorated in white stylised flowers. The background is light pink. Hand written in pencil: low left '8/26'; bottom centre ' Wattle and Circle Vase'; low right 'Kate Hudson' hudson, linocut print, sunshine wattle, acacia terminalis, still life, margaret preston, ceramics, textiles, orient -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Public Art: Edward GINGER (b.1951 Kegalle, Sri Lanka - arrived 1975 Aus), Edward Ginger, The Breeze, Location: Main Road, Research - opposite Eltham Little Theatre, 1990
The first sculpture awarded the Shire of Eltham 'Art in Public Places' Award/Commission. The Judges were Inge King, Jenny Zimmer and Daryl Jackson. The work deals with the juxtaposition of suburban and rural surroundings. This scupture is a typical example of the artist's oevre of the period. This sculptre is site specific and refers to the nature of the environment. The colour - bushfire red / sienna - alludes to the history of fire in the urban/rural fringe and the title, as well as the sculpture's shapes, forms and material refer to the natural and local elements. Judges report noted: "The most vital and expressive work for the site...with a great sense of dynamic movement and vibrant colour. Its' abstract forms will enliven the surroundings and the urban and natural environment. This work is the most appropriate for the site and expressive of the dynamics of an evolving community in which artistic discourse and debate has always thrived." The work has acquired the status of a major landmark from the National Trust. The Breeze is an abstract work made out of welded steel and painted in enamel in bush fire red / sienna. It comprises a series of flat, cut-out shapes, interlocking at different angles, giving the impression of being hinged together rather than fixed. The work references nature and the built environment. Its geometric shapes suggest man-made structures within industry and suburban life, while rural areas can be identified by the organic flame-like shapes fanned by the wind. The circular cut-out in the eye mimics the sun, symbolising the intense heat of the Australian climate, while the colour red alludes to the history of bushfire within the urban and rural fringe. N/Apublic art, ginger, red, sienna, elements, steel, abstract, breeze, fire, sculpture -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Sculpture: Tony Trembath (b.1946 Sale, Victoria), Tony Trembath, The Fences Act 1968 - Location: Edendale Farm (entrance) 30 Gastons Road, Eltham, 1989 - 1994
Eltham Council (now the Shire of Nillumbik) commissioned this work in 1989 to create an entrance / gateway to Edendale Community Farm. It was also aided by a grant from the Ministry of the Arts (now Arts Victoria). The former name of this work was "Gateway to Edendale Farm". Edendale Farm is a demonstration farm modelling sustainable environmental practices, providing support to the local residents of Nillumbik. Established in 1986, the land was purchased in 1970. It was previously an English gentleman's residence and was used for grazing. It consists of 5.6 hectares, with the Diamond Creek meandering through the property. The Victorian Fences Act 1968 governs liability of occupiers of adjoining lands to fence, and deals with disputes between neighbours regarding boundaries fences and costs. This work took into consideration ideas and suggestions from residents and committees, who required the use of recycled materials and that the work celebrate man's relationship with nature, animals and the earth, as well as relate to the fence-line on the far side of the carpark. Trembath also absorbed significant aspects of local history, making references to Eltham's agricultural past, the clearing of the land, the destruction of trees, the ruthless pruning of trees by suburban Councils and incorporated such Australian features as the post and rail fence. 'The Fences Act 1968' is significant for aesthetic, historic and social reasons at a regional level. It makes prominent the historical and social significance of Edendale and the rural aspects of Nillumbik. The use of existing tree stumps and salt pots in the work explores the iconography of the countryside such as the isolated farmhouse, pioneering farming practices, post and rail fencing and the regrowth of lopped trees. The title of the work, as well as the extensive community involvement in its creation, also makes reference to the Victorian Fences Act 1968, which makes neighbours jointly responsible for the cost of construction and maintenance of fences in the partitioning of land for settlement. 'The Fences Act 1968' has been classified as of regional significance by the National Trust of Australia. The work is an installation of wood and metal, approximately twenty five meters long. The design is very informal and rustic and runs the full width of the fence-line. It comprises groups of recycled tree trunks fitted with metal caps (chrome-nickel 'salt pots' that are shaped like tall bowler / top hats). Metal rods protrude from the trunks and some of these rods have metal birds. Two larger, sentinel-like stumps at the two outer ends have metal flame-like wings, which bend inward. To the left of the entrance, a simple architectural element indicates an isolated farmhouse. The rustic fence runs between the groups of tree trunks with native planting in clumps along it. The fence-line incorporates a functional engineered double gate and post and rail fencing. There may be many interpretations of the work and the intention is to stimulate interest and imagination rather than alienate. Interpretation is based on the personal experience that a visitor brings. The artist recommended that no explanation of the design logic be positioned with the work. N/Apublic art, sculpture, edendale, recycled, wood, metal, fences act 1968, gate, trembath, salt pot, tree stumps -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Public Art: Marcus SKIPPER (b.1950 Melb, Aus), Marcus Skipper, Alan Marshall (Location: Grounds of Eltham Library, Panther Place, Eltham), 1995
Alan Marshall was an author of more than fifteen books, and lived much of his life in Eltham. He became a central figure in the area's arts community of writers, artists, sculptors, film makers, actors and musicians. He is shown stroking a book to his heart, perched on a crutch, which references his disability (contracted polio when he was young), and his status as one of Australia's most successful and loved authors. His most famous book, 'I Can Jump Puddles' is based on his life story and the obstacles he faced as a child in trying to overcome his disability. Marcus Skipper submitted the idea for the work to the first 'Art in Public Places' Awards in 1990. The selectors at the time recommended that the work would be more suitably placed near the Eltham Library. It was commissioned and installed for the new Eltham Library, which was designed by Greg Burgess in 1994. It was partially funded by the then Shire of Eltham's Art Development Fund (Eltham Arts Council) and the rest donated by the artist Marcus Skipper. This work has significance for its reference to two well known names associated with Eltham and its history. The sculpture is a realistic statue of the famous Australian author Alan Marshall who wrote "I Can Jump Puddles". He lived and worked in the Shire. The artist Marcus Skipper represents a highly recognised family of artists associated with Monsalvat. The sculpture 'Alan marshall' has been classified as of regional significance by the National Trust of Australia. A realistic depiction (almost life size) of Alan Marshall cast in bronze with green patination. Dressed in a jumper and slacks, Marshall is shown perched on a crutch, holding a book to his heart, gesturing to his audience to come and listen to his words. alan marshall, bronze, skipper, i can jump puddles, eltham library, novalist, ekphrasis2017, figure, public art -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Sculpture: Matcham SKIPPER, George Dreyfus Composer, 1987
Eltham was a creative hub during the twentieth century, attracting innovative visual artists, architects, writers and film makers to collaborate, forging lifelong friendships and artistic legacies. Skipper produced this bronze sculpture of friend, Composer George Dreyfus for the then Shire of Eltham Art Award. Matcham Skipper (b.1921 NZ - d. 2011 Melb.) was a renowned local sculptor, jeweller and builder and an accomplished teacher, designer, ironworker, and photographer. His work is held by many museums and public collections in Australia and overseas. He was a long term resident of Montsalvat in Eltham with his family deeply involved in the building and evolution of this artists colony, which was the vision of architect and painter Justus Jorgensen. George Dreyfus (b.1928 Germany - arrived 1939 Aus) is an Australian contemporary classical, film and television composer. He has composed numerous film and television scores, including Tim Burstall's 'The Adventures of Sebastian the Fox' (1963), 'A Steam Train Passes' (1974), 'Rush' (1974), 'Dimboola' (1979) and 'The Fringe Dwellers' (1986). It was the score for 'Rush' which brought him wider recognition. He has written four operas, two symphonies, chamber music and film scores spanning five decades. Dreyfus is well known for having worked with the late director, writer and producer Tim Burstall, a key figure in Australian postwar cinema and local who lived in Eltham. Burstall was instrumental in rebuilding the Australian film industry in the 60s, creating groundbreaking Australian films including 'Stork' and 'Alvin Purple'. Figurative bronze bust of well known Australian composer George Dreyfus. He is wearing a shirt underneath a sweater. His left arm/hand is placed over his chest. His eyes are half closed as if immersed in the music. A green patina can be seen in areas on the sculpture. Signature and date cast (incised with tool) onto the back shoulder blade: 'MATCHAM SKIPPER 1987'ek prac 2015, montsalvat, eltham, george dreyfus, matcham skipper, bronze, bust, tim burstall, sculpture, rush -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Public Art: Tom SANDERS (b.1925-d.2008 Vic, Aus), Tom Sanders, Wall of the Moon (Homage to Miro) - (Location: Eltham Town Square, Arthur Street, Eltham), 1968
Sanders was a well-known local potter who worked for a time with David Boyd at the Martin Boyd Pottery, before returning to Melbourne where he had some association with Arthur Boyd, at the pottery in Murrumbeena. Sanders set up a studio in Eltham in the early 1950s and made the first of a series of architectural ceramic murals with painter and print maker Lawrence Daws in 1956. In 1957 he left for Europe and while there was inspired by the Spanish artist Joan Miro’s unconventional painting style and large scale murals, in particular Wall of the Moon (1957). After returning from his travels in Europe to Australia in 1964, he began to work solely on creating ceramic murals, some of which were commissioned for Southland Shopping Centre in Cheltenham, Melbourne, 1968 (now demolished), the National Mutual Centre, Melbourne,1964-5 (now demolished), Dee Why Library, Sydney 1966, Woden Valley High School, ACT, 1967, Tullamarine Airport Melbourne, 1969-70 (now demolished), Perth Concert Hall, 1971 and The University of Melbourne,1975 (with John Olsen). This mural is one of only three remaining in the public realm by Tom Sanders (the others are at the Perth Concert Hall (1971) and at the University of Melbourne (1975). Ceramic mural (earthenware tiles) consisting of a playful/organic abstract design similar in style to the Spanish artist Joan Miro. Shades of blue, yellow and black glazes are layered onto matte black and shiny bronze tiles. N/Amural, public art, earthernware, pottery, ceramics, glaze, eltham, ekphrasis2017, eltham town square, joan miro -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Sculpture: Anthony PRYOR (b.1951- d.1991 Melb, AUS), Paretaio, 1985
In the early 1970s, Arthur Boyd bought and restored a large, two-storey traditional farmhouse called Il Paretaio. Situated on the crest of a hill and surrounded by fields and olive groves, it is five kilometres from the village of Palaia in the province of Pisa, Tuscany. Boyd established this farmhouse as a residency programme, (which was later managed by the Australia Council). The residency program ended in 1990. Anthony Pryor undertook an Australia Council residency at Paretaio in 1984. This work is one in a series made during his time there. This work was entered into the Shire of Eltham Art Award in 1985.Pryor is an artist of national significance. This work is an example of his series of 'boxes' made principally for his own pleasure and often swapped with artists and other friends as soon as they were finished. The 'box' series was part inspired by Japanese techniques of wooden construction. Pryor first visited Japan in 1975 and was immediately drawn to Japanese methods of working with stone and wood. Many of these boxes are based upon the principles of the Japanese Zen Buddhist monk Sengai Gibon (1750-1838). This work relates to Sengai's famous hanging scroll Circle, Triangle and Square in which the circle can be read to stand for the cosmos, the square for the individual, and the triangle for aspiration. A heavy, box-like (cube) structure created from huon pine, with bronze, brass and stone elements. Within the cube is an eastern inspired, rear lattice wall in combination with bronze domestic fittings, and symbols (cube, pyramid and circle). Metal lightning, clouds and wooden rainbow hover over an asymmetrical bronze bed floating within the cube. A chair leans and a tilting ladder reaches towards the sky. Stamped into wood: lower right 'ANTHONY PRYOR PARETAIO'huon pine, pryor, brass, bronze, stone, cube, paretaio, italy, eastern, japan, sengai gibon, symbols, zen buddhism, sculpture, personal -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Domenico De CLARIO (b.1947 Trieste, ITA - emigrated AUS 1956), Domenico de Clario, Cenacolo (The Supper Room), 1984-85
This was the first work de Clario painted during his Australia Council residency in Paretaio, Arthur Boyd's studio in Tuscany. It was painted in an old stable with a vaulted ceiling that reminded de Clario of a cenacolo or supper room. Domenico de Clario has an international reputation, gained particularly through his installation work and collaboration with composers and musicians. De Clario made many irregular shaped, un-stretched paintings during this period. He was involved with Arte Povera, a socialist based art movement where the 'poverty' was reflected in the choice and use of materials. This work was entered into the 1986 Shire of Eltham Art Awards. Painting: oil on canvas mounted on stretched canvas. Semi abstract painting containing out of focus objects within a room.de clario, painting, semi abstract, expressive, painterly, personal, arte povera, paretaio -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Reinis ZUSTERS (b.1918 Ukraine, arr.1950 Aus - d.1999 NSW Aus), Sunday Morning Montsalvat, 1979
Reinis Zusters OAM was born 15 October 1918 in Odessa, Ukraine, of Latvian parents. Zusters’ father died before he was two years old and he was raised in an orphanage from an early age. He had one sister. He studied Art at the Riga Technical College, Latvia, from 1935 to 1940. He married Aldija Kapteinis, and they had a daughter, Rudite (born 1942 in Riga). After World War II the Zusters family were refugees. They reached Western Australia in 1950, where they stayed for 6 months before moving to Canberra, ACT. In 1952, Zusters moved from Canberra to Pennant Hills in Sydney with his second wife, Arija Biks. Their daughter Laura was born in Sydney in 1956. In 1966, Zusters met his future third wife, Venita Salnajs. In 1969, Zusters bought a house in Greenwich, Sydney. He married Venita on September 17, 1976, and they moved to Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains. Zusters died on 8 October, 1999 at Wentworth Falls, and was cremated at Rookwood Crematorium, Sydney. His ashes are buried in the Latvian section of Rookwood Cemetery. Zusters studied at the Technical College of Riga (Latvia), and at East Sydney Technical College, Australia. He was influenced by his Latvian cultural heritage, and admired the artist Voldemars Tone (1892-1958). Shortly after arrival in Australia, Zusters became a draughtsman with the Department of Works and Housing in Canberra. Later he was appointed chief designer with the Australian-American architectural firm Austin-Anderson, at St. Leonards, Sydney. Zusters practised as a full-time professional artist from 1968. Zusters was a prolific painter, predominantly in oils. He produced many large landscapes, including triptychs of the Blue Mountains. His landscapes were mountain scenes prepared in the manner of Jackson Pollock and completed with washes and pale glazes of colour. His cityscapes featured a rich paint surface and sharp-edged thickness of paint applied with a palette knife, layer upon layer. He painted urban scenes of Sydney, inland Australian scenes, and several major portraits including Sir Winston Churchill’s gardener (purchased by Art Gallery of NSW). He made many small informal portrait-drawings of friends. His usual signature was “Zusters”. His work is represented in numerous public and private collections in Australia and abroad. He won numerous prestigious awards in Australia, Japan and USA and was honoured with the Order of Australia Medal in 1994. -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Print (etching): Dean BOWEN, The Offering, 1997
Dean Bowen is renowned for his charming, child-like aesthetic and unique thematic interplay between the urban and rural as well as humans and animals. Bowen has developed a distinctive and humorous symbolic language that filters through each work. His highly charismatic and whimsical renderings of animals, human characters and Australian environments celebrate the vicissitudes of life, evincing the simple pleasures of human habitation within the artificial and the natural world. The work and thoughts of Jean Dubuffet, particularly those which focus on the philosophy of 'Art Brut', give support to Dean's belief that untrained artists are more honest, that artists interested in emulating the art of children are trying to regain the pure expression they lost with childhood. 'The Offering' was a finalist in the Nillumbik Art Awards in 1997. The work refers to the act of giving back, rather than taking which Bowen sees as more prevalent in our Western society. While the image is childlike, the expression of the boy is a mixture of sadness and happiness, knowing and naivety, youth and age. The smile has a Mona Lisa quality and the earthy and sensuous colours suggest landscape. When realising the images he relies on memory rather than observation so that the struggle with drawing and representation sometimes doesn't work. The style of the drawing and the flat space relates to the graphic style of cartoons and caricature. The intuitive and the imaginative are essential elements in his work. lower right 'Dean Bowen '97' -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Painting: Isobel CLEMENT, Isobel Clement, Two Vases and Two Cups, 2008
Isobel Clement has been practising since the 1980's. She completed her post graduate diploma at Phillip Institute (RMIT) in 1990. She paints, draws and uses installation for creative discourse. She has had more than ten solo exhibitions. Her work is included in collections such as National Gallery of Australia, the Australian Print Workshop Archive, Art Bank Australia and The Bundanon Trust. She has been shortlisted for the contemporary painting prize, the Bayside Art Award, on three occasions in recent years and was the winner of the Nillumbik Prize in 2009.Isobel Clement is a local artist who won the 2008 Nillumbik Prize. Painted in monochrome the artwork depicts two vases (with decorative edges) and two cups on a table in a row. Each of the four objects are slightly different in scale and shape and parallel to the picture plane. N/Astill life, nillumbik prize, painting, monochrome, vases, cups -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Print (etching & acquatint): George BALDESSIN (b.1939 ITA – d.1978 AUS), George Baldessin, ‘Portrait II’ from 'The Baldessin & Friends' commemorative folio, 1966 (printed 2017)
George Baldessin (1939-1978) was born in San Biagio di Callalta, in the Veneto in Northern Italy and arrived in Australia ten years later. A printmaker and sculptor he built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971 with his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George. This work chosen for the folio is from an incomplete edition from 1966. It has been printed on Baldessin's original 1974 cast aluminium Enjay press (designed and made in collaboration with Neil Jeffreys) and restored specifically for this project by Dan Jones. In addition Deanna Hitti has used Baldessin's original Japanese Torinoko paper, stored safely in his studio for over forty years. ‘Portrait II’ is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. This print is a fine example of Baldessin's primary interest of the figure, which displays great sensitivity to and observation of the human condition. Distortion, exaggeration and fragmentation were employed by Baldessin as tools to animate and scrutinize the displaced, dispossessed and alienated figure, flattened against the picture plane. Black and white distorted and exaggerated figure (head and shoulders), with hands raised to the face and the figure's right eye. acquatint, etching, baldessin, ekphrasis2018, figure -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Print (woodcut and etching on chine-colle): John WOLSELEY (b.1938 Somerset, UK; arrived 1976 Melb., AUS), John Wolseley, 'Life world of the Longicorn beetle' from the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio', 2016
Painter, printmaker and installation artist John Wolseley was born in Somerset, England. He lived and worked throughout Europe before relocating to Australia in 1976. His work explores how people dwell and move within landscape. Wolseley see's himself as a hybrid mix of artist and scientist; one who tries to relate the minutiae of the natural world - leaf, feather and beetle wing - to the abstract dimensions of the earth's dynamic systems. Using techniques of watercolour, collage, frottage, nature printing and other methods of direct physical or kinetic contact Wolseley finds ways of collaborating with the actual plants, birds, trees, rocks and earth of a particular place. George Baldessin was one of the first artists John Wolseley met when he arrived in Australia in 1976. Both immigrated to Australia and connected through this shared experience. They were both at 'Realities Gallery' with Marianne Baillieu in the 1970s and 80s. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was born in San Biagio di Callalta, in the Veneto in Northern Italy and arrived in Australia ten years later. A printmaker and sculptor he built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971 with his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George. 'Life world of the Longicorn beetle' is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. Communion and collaboration with nature are central to Wolseley's practice. He assembles different drawing methods to represent a kind of inventory or document about the state of the earth. His interest is to paint the processes and energy field of the living systems of this land. 'Life world of the Longicorn beetle' is his continued exploration of Australia's natural eco-systems. The beetle attacks the eucalypt and in the process of tunnelling into the wood of the tree leaves scribbly patterns. The work celebrates the cycle of life, and the wisdom and delicacy of these creatures. This three dimensional work consisting of three layers of paper is a varied edition, offering just the slightest difference between each print, reflective of variation in nature. The found log used as a woodcut acknowledges the interconnectedness of nature and living beings; the log is not apart from the art and the beetle has become an active artistic collaborator. An intimate and layered print of a tree log with line trails from the Longicorn beetle. Patches of pink, yellow and orange watercolour placed randomly. Woodcut from found log and etching on chine-colle with water colour on Gampi (top layer), Mulberry (middle layer) and Arches (bottom layer) paper. In pencil (handwritten): low plate: left '14/25' (edition); centre 'Life world of the Longicorn beetle' (title); right 'John Wolseley' (signature); low paper: right emboss 'GB' (Baldessin Press & Studio monogram)woodcut, etching, chine-colle, landscape, environment, longicorn beetle, print, baldessin, ekphrasis2018, eco, mixed media -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Painting: Kevin CHIN, Kevin Chin, Castle Under the Sky, 2018
This painting was sparked by a US studio residency at Yellowstone National Park, shortly after Trump’s election. In America, Chin witnessed conservative nationalism and divisiveness, but also an equal reaction promoting diversity and challenging structural inequality. Developing this work in Australia, Chin examined how a sense of place forms fluidly in the consciousness, to surpass geographic borderlines.Kevin Chin is a local artist. He has been a finalist in the Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Art (2015, 2019). In this painting Chin explores economic, cultural and social structures that shape the world in which we live, questioning who has built what, who takes ownership, and who has the right to the land. Landscape painting depicting a house (upside down) and a half finished urban structure sitting amongst mountain peaks and land that has been cleared and immersed in fog/smoke.N/Alandscape, kevin, chin, structural, inequality, castle, trump, painting, nillumbik, residency, yellowstone, realism, oils -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Ceramic, Vipoo Srivilasa, We Come In Peace III, 2017
Vipoo Srivilasa works predominantly in ceramics, creating unique contemporary porcelain sculptures, vessels and figures to transmit a universal message of cross-cultural experience. His works explore similarities between the cultures of homeland, Thailand and his adoptive home, Australia. His work is both a playful, and at times a political, blend of historical figurative and decorative art practices with contemporary culture. For more than 20 years, Vipoo has exhibited both internationally and throughout Australia, including Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Saatchi Gallery, London; Ayala Museum, Philippines; Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan; Nanjing Arts Institute, China and the National Gallery of Thailand. His work is held in national and international collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, GOMA, and the Craft Council, UK. -
National Wool Museum
Quilt, Dressed in Memories IV
Winner of "Expressions 2006: The Wool Quilt Prize". Artist statement: 'Dressed in Memories IV is my continued exploration into contemporary quilting by looking back to the history of women, the quilts they made and the memories their work holds. Layered on the wagga of recycled materials is embroidered a dress that my mother made when she was in her teens. This contemporary quilt celebrates women's domestic work through the generations in Australia.'W7183 'Dressed in Memories IV' Detail of 'Dressed in Memories IV' (full photo in W7183textilefibreforumarticle2007.pdf) CV of Michele Eastwood Article 'Stitched and Bound' by Alvena Hall in "Textile Fibre Forum, vol. 21, issue 1, No. 65 2002. Article 'What is a Contemporary Art Quilt?' from "Popular Patchwork, April 2002, England. Article 'Quilt winner dressed for success' from "The Weekly Times", January 3, 2007 Article 'Expressions 2006: The Wool Quilt Prize' from "Textile Fibre Forum" no 85, 2007 Catalogue worksheet page 1 Catalogueworksheet page 2Dressed in Memories IVquilting textile art wagga, eastwood, ms michele, quilting, textile art, wagga