"The landscape of the Valley is in between Ballarat and Geelong, the pranged aeroplane came from Geelong, the prospector and the strolling couple are surreal props to the scene, and the poetic hippogriffen serves as a bunyip which could be a local connotation of apprehension od bush loneliness. Bernard BOLES (1912-2001) Born Benalla, Victoria Bernard Boles studied at Melbourne Technical College and in London. He was known as critic, writer, sculptor and painter. His works were influences by Cubism and Surrealism. Boles exhibited widely in London and on his return to Australia in 1964. "Boles drew on the biomorphic marine imagery typical of Surrealism all around the world, as seen for example in the work of Wadsworth and Yves Tanguy. In 1949 Boles, having been rejected from the Victorian Artists’ Society, would tie two pictures to the fence outside the show and spend the ensuing two weeks sharing his views on art with passersby." ('Surrealism and Australia: towards a world history of Surrealism' by Rex Butler and A.D.S. Donaldson) This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 1000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Australian SurrealismFramed Australian Surrealist work. Artist's Comment: "The landscape of the Valley is in between Ballarat and Geelong, the pranged aeroplane came from Geelong, the prospector and the strolling couple are surreal props to the scene, and the poetic hippogriffen serves as a bunyip which coul dbe a local connotation of apprehension od bush loneliness. Gift of Lyndsay Boles.art, artwork, bernard boles, australian surrealism, bunyip

James GLEESON (21 November 1915-20 October 2008) Born Hornsby, Sydney, New South Wales The paintings of James Gleeson reveal powerful and complex relationships between the human psyche and human experience - between myth and reality. This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Australian Surrealismartwork, art, james gleeson, surrealism, australian surrealism

Vassilieff dynamited rock from his own property to build his house. Stonygrad is reminiscent of a grotto and in parts, of a sculpture. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p135 Stonygrad, the home built by Expressionist painter and sculptor Danila Vassilieff, is reminiscent of a grotto and in parts, of a sculpture. Vassilieff, who amongst others influenced painter Sydney Nolan and Albert Tucker, was a member of the artists group the Angry Penguins. He was also a highly regarded art teacher at the nearby Koornong Experimental School and taught at Eltham High School. Art critic Robert Hughes described Vassilieff’s painting as ‘lyrical without social commentary’, and said Vassilieff was ‘the most oddly neglected artist in recent Australian History’. Vassilieff, who was born in 1897 in Russia, had an unusually adventurous life before he settled in Warrandyte. The 12th of 18 children, he lived on a farm in the Don Basin. Vassilieff trained with the Imperial Military Academy at St Petersburg and fought in World War One as an officer in the White Russian Army against the communists. In 1920 he was captured, then escaped from prison, stole a horse and rode bareback 150 miles to the Black Sea, helped at first by Tartar freebooters. He then travelled to India, Shanghai and arrived in Queensland as a refugee in 1923 where he began painting. He and his wife Anisia bought a sugar farm near Ingram, and later he constructed railway lines at Mataranka, in the Northern Territory.4 In 1929 Vassilieff went to Brazil for formal art training from former fellow-officer Dmitri Ismailovich, but he soon left to travel up the Amazon River. He then worked as a sidewalk artist in the West Indies and travelled for two years in England, France and Spain. In 1937 he arrived in Melbourne where he lived until his death in 1958. His first major Australian series was the Carlton streetscapes and from 1951 he sculpted in local hard limestone. Vassilieff rejected all dogma and regarded religious subjects as suitable only for decorative arts. In 1944 he helped defeat a communist attempt to take over the Contemporary Art Society. For a short time, from around 1955, Vassilieff taught at various Victorian schools. The Angry Penguins painted mainly between 1937 and 1947, and included Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan and Joy Hester. The group formed as they felt isolated from European thought and art (including Surrealism) from which their work was derived. They were also angry at what they considered to be the complacency and insularity of their society. They maintained Australians at first were scarcely aware of the threats of the Wall Street Crash and Hitler and were little interested in the Spanish Civil War. The Angry Penguins also objected to the White Australia Policy. Hughes said although most of the Melbourne Expressionists in the 1940s were unskilled and their work crude in style, they helped jolt Australian painting from its pastoral complacency. Their style influenced nearly every painting produced by significant figurative artists in Melbourne in the 1950s such as Charles Blackman. From 1939 Vassilieff built Stonygrad, mainly with local stone. The house stands at the end of a private road surrounded by trees with the quiet occasionally broken by the sounds of bellbirds. To build his house Vassilieff dynamited rock and cut trees from his own property. The original section of the three-level house is of irregular-shaped pieces of solid stone, exposed inside like the exterior. Vassilieff later built sections with timber and brick. Inside is rustic and cave-like, and several rooms are linked by arched openings with no doors. One undulating wall was carved out of rock from which two sculptured heads protrude. Several ceilings are of rough-hewn logs and the built-in table and bookcase are rough, as is a timber ladder leading to a bedroom. Not for the elderly or unsteady! Yet the general impression in the muted light is beautiful, with artistic originality.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, danila vassilieff, hamilton road, north warrandyte, stonygrad

Jan SENBERGS (29 Oct 1939 - ) Born Latvia Arrived Australia 1950 This artwork was purchased by the Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education Students' Association in 1973. It now is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.A colour screenprint on smooth white paper. This image reflects Senbergs' interest in surrealism and absurdist theatre: "An ambiguous, well, an absurd image … I called it 'Love the Stage' because I didn't know what to call it, but it's a also a cliché to say 'love the stage' – it's a kind of post-surrealist title … " (Hendrik Kolenberg, Jan Senbergs complete screenprints 1960-88, pg 54)Signed and dated lower right beneath image in black pencil, 'J.Senbergs '70'/ not titled. inscribed lower right beneath image in black pencil, '8/18'.art, artwork, jan senbergs, senbergs, printmaking, silkscreen, screenprinting, student association