Federation University Australia Art Collection Victoria

Print shows an open book with the word ELIDE on the left hand page and a picture of a seated man framed by a circle on the right hand page. An engraving tool and wood block are in the foreground. Foliage protrudes from behind the book.

Historical information

John Gartner was a fine printer and publisher, an author, a noted philatelist, and also collector of Australian banknotes and coins. He was born on 16 July 1914 and was largely self-educated, leaving school at fourteen for work following the death of his father. Gartner developed a strong interest in the history of typography and printing and was apprenticed at the Advocate where his father had been a linotype operator. Aged 17, Gartner bought a hand press and some fonts of type, and in 1937 acquired a platen press from which he set and printed his private press books, published under the imprint of The Hawthorn Press. Gartner had a strong collection of Australian bookplates. He also looked at the work of artists overseas and commissioned personal plates. He subsequently built an international collection with preference for artists who printed from wood. His initial searches were in Belgium and Holland.(http://www3.slv.vic.gov.au/latrobejournal/issue/latrobe-84/t1-g-t7.html)

Inscriptions & Markings

W 90/31 in bottom right hand corner

Framed painting

Historical information

Wesley PEMBERTHY (1920- ) Born Broken Hill, New South Wales Wesley Pemberthy spent his childhood in Adelaide, South Australia. As an adult he lived in Bendigo, Ballarat, Clunes, Creswick, Daylesford and Perth. While in Perth he studied at Perth Technical School (1933-1937), followed by studies under the tutorship of Norman Lindsay in New South Wales (1938-1941). After service during World War Two Wes Pemberthy became the first Rehabilitation student at the National Gallery School, Victoria, undertaking research into the techniques of the Old Masters. He was the winner of the Sulman Award in 1955. The Sulman Prize is awarded for the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project by an Australian artist.

Framed painting showinng leaves in different greens and yellows.

Historical information

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.

Framed work.

Historical information

Andrew BECKERS (1981- ) Andrew Beckers studied Visual Art of the University of Ballarat. 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.

Framed etching depicting a section of a skeleton.

Historical information

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.

2 x framed ink drawings on paper

Inscriptions & Markings

both signed in ink b.r. 'Neville Bunning'

Wheel thrown, bisque fired teapot with lid. Unknown maker (possibly Janet De Boos)

Two coins, one above the other, are held aloft by two interwoven columns within leafy spirals

Historical information

John Gartner was a fine printer and publisher, an author, a noted philatelist, and also collector of Australian banknotes and coins. He was born on 16 July 1914 and was largely self-educated, leaving school at fourteen for work following the death of his father. Gartner developed a strong interest in the history of typography and printing and was apprenticed at the Advocate where his father had been a linotype operator. Aged 17, Gartner bought a hand press and some fonts of type, and in 1937 acquired a platen press from which he set and printed his private press books, published under the imprint of The Hawthorn Press. Gartner had a strong collection of Australian bookplates. He also looked at the work of artists overseas and commissioned personal plates. He subsequently built an international collection with preference for artists who printed from wood. His initial searches were in Belgium and Holland.(http://www3.slv.vic.gov.au/latrobejournal/issue/latrobe-84/t1-g-t7.html)

Inscriptions & Markings

None

Framed abstract artwork which involves the use of airbrush and torn paper.

Historical information

Wes WALTERS (06 August 1928 - 19 August 2014) Born Mildura, Victoria From 1940 t0 1945 Wes Walters attended the Ballarat High School. He then studied architecture at the Gordon Institute in Geelong, followed by art at the Ballarat School of Mines (a division of the Ballarat School of Mines). During his time at the Ballarat Technical Art School (later Federation University Australia) Walters studied under Neville Bunning and Taylor Kelloch, and was awarded the Ballarat Ladies Art Association Scholarship in 1948. He next moved to Melbourne to work as a commercial artist with the George Patterson advertising agency. Each evening Walters studied life drawing at the Victoria Artists’ Society and taught himself anatomy. Wes Walters excelled in both abstract and realist art. He won the Art Gallery of Ballarat’s Minnie Crouch Prize for watercolour art in 1953 and 1956. He won the prestigious Archibald Prize in 1879 for his portrait of Phillip Adams. 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.

Wheel thrown cup (without saucer). Top half on outside, rim and handle glaze decorated.

Historical information

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.

Historical information

Margaret Martin ( -2013) Margaret Martin was a long-time stalwart of the Art Gallery of Ballarat Association, and a key figure in the Gallery Guides. She died in December 2013. 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.

Framed limited edition print

Inscriptions & Markings

Artist's Proof

Artist's Statement 'The More Bones the Better', 2016 Yhonnie Scarce was born in Woomera, SA and belongs to the Kokatha and Nukunu peoples. Scarce embraces a non traditional approach to glass blowing using glass as more than a mere material, acting as a lens and a mirror, Scarce reflects and exposes the tragedies of Australia’s colonisation. She applies the technical rigours of traditional glass blowing techniques in an innovative and unconventional manner. In particular Scarce uses glass to explore the lives and histories of Aboriginal Australians. Hand blown glass is shaped, engraved, painted and smashed to create indigenous fruits and vegetables such as bush bananas, bush plums and long yams symbolic of her peoples culture and traditions. With their elongated, torso-like shapes, they even evoke human bodies. Akin to a gatherer of bush food Scarce creates glass-gatherings of the persecuted. The repetition of brittle ambiguous bodies collected for experimentation and examination conjures the relentless impact of colonisation and the litany of abuses suffered by Aboriginal people. Within her research Scarce encountered a variety of ethnographic studies examining the use of scientific interventions amongst Indigenous cultures. These include Government sanctioned illegal drug testing of children in orphanages and other dubious medical practices amongst indigenous prison inmates. This work metaphorically looks at these situations and poses questions of what might have gone on in such a laboratory. The judge of the 2017 Guirguis New Art Prize (GNAP), Simon Maidment, Senior Curator, Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Victoria said; “The winning work by Yhonnie Scarce captures the sensitivity to materials she displays throughout her artistic practice. The blown and shattered glass elements are a delicate contrast to the shocking and little discussed histories of Aboriginal exploitation and abuse in the name of science in Australia. Engaging this topic, this work is haunting, in the same way those lived and documented experiences continue to haunt the collective unconscious of this country. Yhonnie Scarce’s work, The More Bones the Better 2016, I believe makes an important contribution to the Collection of Federation University Australia and will engage and move diverse audiences with its technical accomplishment, beauty and message. Yhonnie Scarce was born in Woomera SA and belongs to the Kokatha and Nukunu peoples. Scarce embraces a non-traditional approach to glass blowing using her medium as more than a mere material. Applying the technical rigours of traditional glass blowing in an innovative and unconventional manner, Scarce’s glass objects act as a lens and a mirror to reflect and expose the tragedies of Australia’s colonisation and, in particular, explore the lives and histories of Aboriginal Australians. Hand-blown glass is shaped, engraved, painted and smashed to represent indigenous fruits and vegetables such as bush bananas, bush plums and long yams, symbolic of Scarce’s people’s culture and traditions. While these elongated shapes on the one hand represent fruit and vegetables, gathered and grouped as in the gathering of bush food, Scarce’s torso-like bodies and forms are glass ‘gatherings’ representative of the gathering of people. Here, the many brittle bodies act as a metaphor for the collection, experimentation and examinations undertaken by government authorities on Aboriginal communities researched by Scarce. Exposing a variety of ethnographic studies, examining the use of scientific interventions on Indigenous cultures, Scarce also revealed Government sanctioned illegal drug testing of children in orphanages and other dubious medical practices undertaken on indigenous prison inmates. Scarce’s gatherings also reflect the impact of colonisation and the relentless conjuring and litany of abuses suffered by Aboriginal people. The More Bones the Better metaphorically looks at these situations and poses questions of what was undertaken and investigated in these laboratories.

Historical information

Yhonnie SCARCE (1973- ) Born Woomera, South Australia Language group: Kokatha, Southern desert region and Nukunu, Spencer region Yhonnie Scarce works predominantly in glass. She majored in glass withing a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours) course at the South Australian School of Art, Adelaide, and holds a Master of Fine Arts from Monash University. One of the first contemporary Australian artists to explore the political and aesthetic power of glass, Scarce describes her work as ‘politically motivated and emotionally driven’. Scarce’s work often references the on-going effects of colonisation on Aboriginal people, In particular her research focus has explored the impact of the removal and relocation of Aboriginal people from their homelands and the forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their families. (https://thisisnofantasy.com/artist/yhonnie-scarce/, accessed 10 September 2018)

Framed original ex libris bookplate for Tanya. The work includes examples of flora.

Historical information

The Keith Wingrove Trust conducts a competition among Australian artists, graphic designers and students for the production of Ex Libris Bookplates. The competition is called The Australian Bookplate Design Award. The purpose of the competition is to increase interest in and to attract publicity to the artistic value of bookplates. Although the competition is referred to as 'Australian' there is a category of award open to International artists. Gift of the Keith Wingrove Memorial Trust, 2015

Historical information

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.

Historical information

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.

Framed photograph of the sea and a red coloured sky

Historical information

Robert ALLAN Born Hopetoun, Victoria Bob Allan graduated from Melbourne Teachers' College in 1967. He obtained an Associateship Diploma in 1973, and a Fellowship Diploma of Art (pottery) in 1976 from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Since 1968 he taught art and pottery at various Victorian secondary schools, and joined the staff of the Ballarat University College (now Federation University Australia) in 1976. 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.