25 results for your search
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Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia, Natalia Goncharova and Alexandra Exter
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2006), 6 mins
The Ballet Russe attracted artists to Paris from all over Europe but particularly from Russia. The impresario, Serge Diaghilev, had been barred from employment in any service to the Russian Crown after falling out with the Imperial Theatre in St Petersburg. Instead, he dedicated his talents to promoting the arts o...
Sample
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2006), 6 mins
Description
The Ballet Russe attracted artists to Paris from all over Europe but particularly from Russia. The impresario, Serge Diaghilev, had been barred from employment in any service to the Russian Crown after falling out with the Imperial Theatre in St Petersburg. Instead, he dedicated his talents to promoting the arts of Russia outside Russia and introducing the Russian avant-garde to Paris. Among the first he lured there was Natalia Goncharova.
The c...
The Ballet Russe attracted artists to Paris from all over Europe but particularly from Russia. The impresario, Serge Diaghilev, had been barred from employment in any service to the Russian Crown after falling out with the Imperial Theatre in St Petersburg. Instead, he dedicated his talents to promoting the arts of Russia outside Russia and introducing the Russian avant-garde to Paris. Among the first he lured there was Natalia Goncharova.
The costumes she designed for his ballet Le Coq D’Or—now in the National Gallery of Australia’s collection—were exactly what he wanted. The saturated colours and bold designs became the trademark of his performances.
While other European modernists were looking to alternative traditions for their inspiration, to what they referred to as the “primitive” art of Africa and Oceania, Goncharova drew on her own. She looked to early Russian religious icons and folk art.
Around the time that Goncharova left Russia, Alexandra Exter was returning, keen to participate in the Bolshevik experiment of 1917. She too loved theatre design, believing it to be the most democratic and inclusive of the arts. However, her costumes were inspired by the abstract geometry of revolutionary Russian constructivism.
Among her work preserved in the National Gallery is her costume design for a Martian guard in the 1924 science-fiction film Aelita–The Queen of Mars, and two marionettes that were to take the place of actors in another silent film, where they were intended to epitomise the commercialism of streetlife in New York.
Although Exter died in poverty and obscurity in 1949, she still had the two marionettes with her, preserved as fond memories of her first flush of enthusiasm for the new order—a symbol of the optimism of those early days of the Russian Revolution.
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Field of Study
Art & Architecture
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
John Hughes, fl. 1975, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Author / Creator
John Hughes, fl. 1975
Date Published / Released
2006
Publisher
Australia. National Film and Sound Archive
Series
Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia
Speaker / Narrator
Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Person Discussed
Alexandra Exter, 1882-1949, Natalii︠a︡ Sergeevna Goncharova, 1881-1962
Topic / Theme
Theatrical design, Costume design, Artists, Avant-garde, Russians
Copyright Message
A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Early Works. Produced with the assistance of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Copyright © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
Person
John Hughes, fl. 1975, Alexandra Exter, 1882-1949, Natalii︠a︡ Sergeevna Goncharova, 1881-1962, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
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Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia, Violet Teague and Jessie Traill
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2006), 6 mins
During the first two decades of the 20th century there was a spirit of emancipation among Australian women. Many now saw art as a viable career, enrolling in art schools across the country.
Violet Teague and her friend Jessie Traill were part of a remarkable group of financially independent, middle-class women wh...
Sample
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2006), 6 mins
Description
During the first two decades of the 20th century there was a spirit of emancipation among Australian women. Many now saw art as a viable career, enrolling in art schools across the country.
Violet Teague and her friend Jessie Traill were part of a remarkable group of financially independent, middle-class women who never married, allowing them to devote their lives to art. From an early age both women travelled regularly overseas, which put them...
During the first two decades of the 20th century there was a spirit of emancipation among Australian women. Many now saw art as a viable career, enrolling in art schools across the country.
Violet Teague and her friend Jessie Traill were part of a remarkable group of financially independent, middle-class women who never married, allowing them to devote their lives to art. From an early age both women travelled regularly overseas, which put them in touch with international trends.
Jessie Traill’s hand-coloured aquatint The Red Light, Harbour Bridge, June 1931 shifts the emphasis of etching from the intimate to the dramatic. It owes more to the etching revival in Europe than the brightly coloured wood and lino block prints popular in Australia in the 1930s.
Violet Teague’s handprinted children’s book Nightfall in Ti-Tree, which she made with Geraldine Rede in 1905, uses handmade recycled paper made to look like Japanese mulberry paper and Japanese methods of binding and applying water-based ink with a brush. Even the asymmetrical placement of objects on the page is Japanese.
In 1920, Teague’s portrait The Boy with the Palette was exhibited in the Paris Salon, where it won a silver medal, and in the following year it attracted acclaim at an exhibition at the Royal Academy of London. It’s a splendid painting, equal to any portrait painted in Australia before World War One, and Traill’s etchings too hold their own. So why are both artists seldom mentioned in the story of Australian art?
Perhaps because they were women, but more likely because Teague interrupted her career to look after an ailing father. And also because the independence of both women enabled them regular trips abroad, which meant they were more in touch with artists and art movements there than at home.
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Field of Study
Art & Architecture
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
John Hughes, fl. 1975, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Author / Creator
John Hughes, fl. 1975
Date Published / Released
2006
Publisher
Australia. National Film and Sound Archive
Series
Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia
Speaker / Narrator
Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Person Discussed
Jessie Constance Alicia Traill, 1881-, Violet Teague, 1872-1951
Topic / Theme
International travel, Visual artists, Women's movement, Australians
Copyright Message
A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Early Works. Produced with the assistance of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Copyright © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
Person
John Hughes, fl. 1975, Jessie Constance Alicia Traill, 1881-, Violet Teague, 1872-1951, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
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Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Library of Australia, Figure in the Landscape
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Library of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2008), 6 mins
John Glover revolutionised his art and became one of Australia's finest landscape artists after arriving in Tasmania at the age of 64 in 1831. A good English landscape painter, Glover became an outstanding Australian landscape painter when he turned his eye to an unfamiliar environment to produce the best works of...
Sample
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Library of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2008), 6 mins
Description
John Glover revolutionised his art and became one of Australia's finest landscape artists after arriving in Tasmania at the age of 64 in 1831. A good English landscape painter, Glover became an outstanding Australian landscape painter when he turned his eye to an unfamiliar environment to produce the best works of his career. Glover's private sketchbooks show he was appalled by the atrocities he saw committed against the Aboriginal people and was...
John Glover revolutionised his art and became one of Australia's finest landscape artists after arriving in Tasmania at the age of 64 in 1831. A good English landscape painter, Glover became an outstanding Australian landscape painter when he turned his eye to an unfamiliar environment to produce the best works of his career. Glover's private sketchbooks show he was appalled by the atrocities he saw committed against the Aboriginal people and was eager to portray them in the idyllic world he imagined they had once enjoyed. What he saw transformed him from a purely landscape painter into a figure in the landscape - a considerable departure for a man in late career.
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Field of Study
Art & Architecture
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
John Hughes, fl. 1975, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Author / Creator
John Hughes, fl. 1975
Date Published / Released
2008
Publisher
Australia. National Film and Sound Archive
Series
Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Library of Australia
Speaker / Narrator
Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Person Discussed
John Glover, 1767-1849
Topic / Theme
Atrocities, Visual artists, Australian aboriginal people, Americans
Copyright Message
A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Early Works. Produced in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. With special thanks to the National Library of Australia. Copyright © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
Person
John Hughes, fl. 1975, John Glover, 1767-1849, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
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Matisse and Islam
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by Philippa Campey, fl. 2005 and John Hughes, fl. 1975 (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2011), 6 mins
Islamic art was a major inspiration for French artist Henri Matisse, who discovered its opulent colours and interdependent shapes in a visit to the textile bazaars of Morocco in 1912. Descended from weavers himself, Matisse was supremely confident with scissors and when illness confined him to bed in his 70s, he t...
Sample
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by Philippa Campey, fl. 2005 and John Hughes, fl. 1975 (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2011), 6 mins
Description
Islamic art was a major inspiration for French artist Henri Matisse, who discovered its opulent colours and interdependent shapes in a visit to the textile bazaars of Morocco in 1912. Descended from weavers himself, Matisse was supremely confident with scissors and when illness confined him to bed in his 70s, he took to cutting shapes from coloured paper and fixing them to the wall of his room. A rare screenprint of this first cutout work, Oceani...
Islamic art was a major inspiration for French artist Henri Matisse, who discovered its opulent colours and interdependent shapes in a visit to the textile bazaars of Morocco in 1912. Descended from weavers himself, Matisse was supremely confident with scissors and when illness confined him to bed in his 70s, he took to cutting shapes from coloured paper and fixing them to the wall of his room. A rare screenprint of this first cutout work, Oceania, the Sky, inspired by the Tahitian islands, is preserved in the National Gallery of Australia along with a folio of circus-inspired paper cutouts called Jazz that he created the following year.
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Field of Study
Art & Architecture
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Philippa Campey, fl. 2005, John Hughes, fl. 1975, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Author / Creator
John Hughes, fl. 1975
Date Published / Released
2006, 2011
Publisher
Australia. National Film and Sound Archive
Speaker / Narrator
Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Person Discussed
Henry Matisse, 1869-1954
Topic / Theme
Visual art, Visual artists
Copyright Message
A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Early Works. Produced with the assistance of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Copyright © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
Person
John Hughes, fl. 1975, Henry Matisse, 1869-1954, Philippa Campey, fl. 2005, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
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Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia, Ballet Russe
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2006), 6 mins
When Betty Churcher joined the National Gallery of Australia in 1990, the first 'hidden treasure' she found was one of the world's finest collections of costumes from the celebrated Ballets Russes. Commissioned in Paris by Serge Diaghilev for his revolutionary troupe of dancers, many of these gorgeous costumes hav...
Sample
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2006), 6 mins
Description
When Betty Churcher joined the National Gallery of Australia in 1990, the first 'hidden treasure' she found was one of the world's finest collections of costumes from the celebrated Ballets Russes. Commissioned in Paris by Serge Diaghilev for his revolutionary troupe of dancers, many of these gorgeous costumes have been handpainted by radical young artists who were to become giants of 20th century art, among them: Henri Matisse, Giorgio de Chiric...
When Betty Churcher joined the National Gallery of Australia in 1990, the first 'hidden treasure' she found was one of the world's finest collections of costumes from the celebrated Ballets Russes. Commissioned in Paris by Serge Diaghilev for his revolutionary troupe of dancers, many of these gorgeous costumes have been handpainted by radical young artists who were to become giants of 20th century art, among them: Henri Matisse, Giorgio de Chirico, Natalia Goncharova and Jean Cocteau. Without Diaghilev, the course of modern art could well have been different, because he had the entrepreneurial flair to hear and celebrate the drumbeat of a new century. His genius lay in spotting genius in others. He brought together in creative collaboration some of the most original, inventive and difficult young artists of the early 1900s, such as the painter Pablo Picasso, the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky and the composer Igor Stravinsky. Among the stars in the National Gallery of Australia's collection is Matisse's design for the Chief Mourner in the Song of the Nightingale. There's also Leon Baskt's costume designed for Nijinsky in The Blue God. It is marked with his make-up, which the gallery's conservators carefully preserve — for the stains are as much a part of history as the costume itself. After Diaghilev's death in 1929, a number of new groups followed his original troupe. When the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo toured Australia in 1940, Sidney Nolan was commissioned to design the sets and costumes for Icare — adding his own brand of poetic lyricism and his Australian accent to this artistic treasure-trove.
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Field of Study
Classical Music
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Author / Creator
John Hughes, fl. 1975
Date Published / Released
2006
Publisher
Australia. National Film and Sound Archive
Series
Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia
Speaker / Narrator
Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Topic / Theme
Painters, Costumes, Ballet
Copyright Message
A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Early Works. Produced with the assistance of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Copyright © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
Person
John Hughes, fl. 1975, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
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Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia, Fiona Hall
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by Philippa Campey, fl. 2005 and John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2011), 6 mins
The many exotic species brought back from the South Pacific by 18th century European explorers fuelled the western imagination with ideas of paradise lost (in the old world) and regained (in the new).
Australian artist Fiona Hall has created a series of stunning botanical sculptures from sardine tins that she cal...
Sample
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by Philippa Campey, fl. 2005 and John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2011), 6 mins
Description
The many exotic species brought back from the South Pacific by 18th century European explorers fuelled the western imagination with ideas of paradise lost (in the old world) and regained (in the new).
Australian artist Fiona Hall has created a series of stunning botanical sculptures from sardine tins that she calls Paradisus Terrestris. The lids of the tins roll back to reveal tiny sculptural forms.
The series alludes to the western world’s n...
The many exotic species brought back from the South Pacific by 18th century European explorers fuelled the western imagination with ideas of paradise lost (in the old world) and regained (in the new).
Australian artist Fiona Hall has created a series of stunning botanical sculptures from sardine tins that she calls Paradisus Terrestris. The lids of the tins roll back to reveal tiny sculptural forms.
The series alludes to the western world’s notion of the Garden of Eden and to the enormous variety of botanical species, and implies that paradise may be lost if environmental degradation is allowed to continue.
If, as the saying goes, money doesn’t grow on trees then, in Leaf Litter, Fiona Hall seems also to be telling us that there are some things that no amount of money can buy. In this work, she again reminds us of the fragile diversity of the natural world.
The series consists of 183 sheets each containing a life-size portrait of a leaf, meticulously painted in gouache over banknotes from the leaf’s country of origin. The leaves are transparent in places so that the person on the note underneath shows through. These multiple sheets are then held together with paper tape on the back, which when hung on a wall, allows the lower part to flex and move.
As well as displaying a whimsical imagination and a quirky sense of humour, in Fiona Hall’s work there is a palpable sense of her passion for the beauty and vulnerability of all living things. Only a deep love and commitment would provide the extreme patience required to create these exquisitely delicate works of art.
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Field of Study
Art & Architecture
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Philippa Campey, fl. 2005, John Hughes, fl. 1975, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Author / Creator
John Hughes, fl. 1975
Date Published / Released
2006, 2011
Publisher
Australia. National Film and Sound Archive
Series
Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia
Speaker / Narrator
Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Person Discussed
Fiona Hall, 1953-
Topic / Theme
Sculpture, Visual artists, Visual art
Copyright Message
A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Early Works. Produced with the assistance of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Copyright © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
Person
John Hughes, fl. 1975, Fiona Hall, 1953-, Philippa Campey, fl. 2005, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
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Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia, J.W. Lindt - The Mechanical Eye of the Camera
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by Philippa Campey, fl. 2005 and John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2011), 6 mins
It's often said that the camera doesn't lie but the photograph can be manipulated like any other art form to influence the way we read it. This episode looks at three very different examples: the mid 19th century fashion to present family portraits as costumed tableaux with picturesque or exotic themes; J. W. Lind...
Sample
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by Philippa Campey, fl. 2005 and John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2011), 6 mins
Description
It's often said that the camera doesn't lie but the photograph can be manipulated like any other art form to influence the way we read it. This episode looks at three very different examples: the mid 19th century fashion to present family portraits as costumed tableaux with picturesque or exotic themes; J. W. Lindt's 1880 photo of the body of bushranger Joe Byrne, which heralds the birth of photojournalism; and an iconic black-and-white image of...
It's often said that the camera doesn't lie but the photograph can be manipulated like any other art form to influence the way we read it. This episode looks at three very different examples: the mid 19th century fashion to present family portraits as costumed tableaux with picturesque or exotic themes; J. W. Lindt's 1880 photo of the body of bushranger Joe Byrne, which heralds the birth of photojournalism; and an iconic black-and-white image of 1950s European migration by David Moore, which was actually taken in colour in 1966 and, at the time, the family wasn't migrating at all!
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Field of Study
Art & Architecture
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Philippa Campey, fl. 2005, John Hughes, fl. 1975, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Author / Creator
John Hughes, fl. 1975
Date Published / Released
2006, 2011
Publisher
Australia. National Film and Sound Archive
Series
Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia
Speaker / Narrator
Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Person Discussed
J. W. Lindt, 1845-1926
Topic / Theme
Photographers, Photography
Copyright Message
A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Early Works. Produced with the assistance of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Copyright © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
Person
John Hughes, fl. 1975, J. W. Lindt, 1845-1926, Philippa Campey, fl. 2005, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
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Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia, Max Ernst and Lake Sentani Figures
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by Philippa Campey, fl. 2005 and John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2011), 6 mins
What kind of art does an artist collect? At the National Gallery of Australia is part of a collection once owned by European surrealist artist Max Ernst. An eclectic collection of masks and carvings from Africa and the Americas, it’s a fascinating glimpse of Ernst’s personal passions and preoccupations as an a...
Sample
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by Philippa Campey, fl. 2005 and John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2011), 6 mins
Description
What kind of art does an artist collect? At the National Gallery of Australia is part of a collection once owned by European surrealist artist Max Ernst. An eclectic collection of masks and carvings from Africa and the Americas, it’s a fascinating glimpse of Ernst’s personal passions and preoccupations as an artist.
Like other surrealists, Ernst felt himself to be at the tail end of a European tradition that had for centuries been dedicated...
What kind of art does an artist collect? At the National Gallery of Australia is part of a collection once owned by European surrealist artist Max Ernst. An eclectic collection of masks and carvings from Africa and the Americas, it’s a fascinating glimpse of Ernst’s personal passions and preoccupations as an artist.
Like other surrealists, Ernst felt himself to be at the tail end of a European tradition that had for centuries been dedicated to visual realism. To his eyes, the indigenous artists he collected had by birthright what the surrealists longed for: access to human instincts that lie buried under the layers of inhibitions and societal taboos of European civilisation.
American-born British sculptor Jacob Epstein was also an avid collector. Amongst his collection were a series of imposing figures, probably from the 18th century. Dredged up from the bottom of Lake Sentani in West Papua in 1929, they once would have formed the post of a house built over its water. Now they’re part of the National Gallery’s collection.
In Australia, it was the European surrealists who most inspired a group of young artists in Melbourne as they responded in their work to the trauma of the Second World War. Among them was Albert Tucker who was appalled by the licentious behaviour he saw in the blacked-out city streets. In the gallery’s collection is his Image of Modern Evil 24, with its brilliant red crescent a symbol of female depravity. Its watcher on a balcony is as weird and inventive as anything the European surrealists came up with, but the setting — a cast-iron balcony — makes it unmistakably Australian.
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Field of Study
Art & Architecture
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Philippa Campey, fl. 2005, John Hughes, fl. 1975, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Author / Creator
John Hughes, fl. 1975
Date Published / Released
2006, 2011
Publisher
Australia. National Film and Sound Archive
Series
Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia
Speaker / Narrator
Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Person Discussed
Albert Tucker, 1914-, Max Ernst, 1891-1976
Topic / Theme
Visual artists, Visual art
Copyright Message
A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Early Works. Produced with the assistance of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Copyright © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
Person
John Hughes, fl. 1975, Albert Tucker, 1914-, Max Ernst, 1891-1976, Philippa Campey, fl. 2005, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
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Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia, Tommy McRae and Mickey of Ulladulla
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2006), 6 mins
When Aboriginal artist Tommy McRae died in 1901, he was a man of substance in the region of Corowa and Wahgunyah on the Murray River—known as an upright character, a teetotaller and an astute financier, selling his drawings for cash.
Tommy McRae was born before his people were displaced by colonisation, and he...
Sample
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2006), 6 mins
Description
When Aboriginal artist Tommy McRae died in 1901, he was a man of substance in the region of Corowa and Wahgunyah on the Murray River—known as an upright character, a teetotaller and an astute financier, selling his drawings for cash.
Tommy McRae was born before his people were displaced by colonisation, and he was keen to show the newcomers his ancient culture. He drew with pen and ink on paper and sketchbooks bought at the local newsagent in...
When Aboriginal artist Tommy McRae died in 1901, he was a man of substance in the region of Corowa and Wahgunyah on the Murray River—known as an upright character, a teetotaller and an astute financier, selling his drawings for cash.
Tommy McRae was born before his people were displaced by colonisation, and he was keen to show the newcomers his ancient culture. He drew with pen and ink on paper and sketchbooks bought at the local newsagent in Corowa, and he always began by first drawing the ground on which his figures would stand and his trees would grow. He worked up from the feet with astonishing accuracy, keeping each figure in his mind’s eye as an entirety, even when clustered. There were no generalisations—each leaf or clan marking is clearly delineated—and never a misplaced line or a correction.
Mickey of Ulladulla was a contemporary of Tommy McRae but we know little about him beyond the fact that he walked with the aid of two sticks. And that he always showed himself in his works wearing western clothes—a long coat and hat.
He drew with pencils and watercolours, and his skill lay in his depictions of the natural world of the rich coastline of Ulladulla, south of Sydney, which was then a quiet backwater, and in the beautifully precise drawings of the animals and fish that he hunted.
Both artists show the amazing adaptability of Aboriginal artists who had only recently been displaced. When these talented artists wanted to communicate with drawn images they did so with a sensitivity to detail that sets them apart.
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Field of Study
Art & Architecture
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
John Hughes, fl. 1975, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Author / Creator
John Hughes, fl. 1975
Date Published / Released
2006
Publisher
Australia. National Film and Sound Archive
Series
Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia
Speaker / Narrator
Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Person Discussed
Tommy McRae, 1835-1901
Topic / Theme
Visual artists, Internally displaced persons, Australian aboriginal people, Americans
Copyright Message
A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Early Works. Produced with the assistance of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Copyright © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
Person
John Hughes, fl. 1975, Tommy McRae, 1835-1901, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
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Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia, William Dobell - Sketchbooks
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2006), 6 mins
Perhaps more than most painters, William Dobell's art relied on drawing so his sketchbooks are invaluable to our appreciation of his work. Dobell never painted his portraits with the model in his studio. He liked to work alone, from studies that he made earlier. His sketchbooks allow us to see the artist's unforme...
Sample
directed by John Hughes, fl. 1975; produced by John Hughes, fl. 1975, in Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australia. National Film and Sound Archive, 2006), 6 mins
Description
Perhaps more than most painters, William Dobell's art relied on drawing so his sketchbooks are invaluable to our appreciation of his work. Dobell never painted his portraits with the model in his studio. He liked to work alone, from studies that he made earlier. His sketchbooks allow us to see the artist's unformed ideas gradually take shape and, as the preliminary drawings are so markedly different from the final work, give us an insight into wh...
Perhaps more than most painters, William Dobell's art relied on drawing so his sketchbooks are invaluable to our appreciation of his work. Dobell never painted his portraits with the model in his studio. He liked to work alone, from studies that he made earlier. His sketchbooks allow us to see the artist's unformed ideas gradually take shape and, as the preliminary drawings are so markedly different from the final work, give us an insight into what Dobell wanted out of his paintings.
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Field of Study
Art & Architecture
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
John Hughes, fl. 1975, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Author / Creator
John Hughes, fl. 1975
Date Published / Released
2006
Publisher
Australia. National Film and Sound Archive
Series
Hidden Treasures - Inside the National Gallery of Australia
Speaker / Narrator
Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
Person Discussed
Sir William Dobell, 1899-1970
Topic / Theme
Visual artists, Sketchbooks
Copyright Message
A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Early Works. Produced with the assistance of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Copyright © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
Person
John Hughes, fl. 1975, Sir William Dobell, 1899-1970, Betty Churcher, 1931-2015
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