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You either love it or you hate it. When I tell my friends
I go cross-country skiing they mostly get a glazed/horrified look in their
eyes, however there is at least one other WAS member who skis. Hi Marlene!
Laurie and I love snow, and love the feeling of skiing along tracks
through the trees or across the plains in cross country ski areas. The
best times are when fresh snow has fallen the night before and the day is
still and sunny. The skiing is excellent, and the scenery is fairytale
stuff, with snow lying on all the trees, branches and twigs. Lunch time is
relaxing, as we can take our time sitting in the sun. Other times the snow
can be icy, it may be windy, freezing, snowing or worst of all, raining.
Last weekend we had what may be our last ski of the season in ideal
conditions. But this is an art newsletter, so how do I relate all of this
to one of my other interests – art.
There are a few favorite snow paintings I will mention:
Monet’s “The Magpie, Snow Effect, Outskirts of Honfleur” 1869 is my all
time favorite. The rustic gate with the magpie on the top rung, the snow
piled on the fence, snow laden trees and buildings in the background, and
best of all, the delicate mauve shadow areas on the snow. Shadows on snow
are funny – if a cast shadow reaches into the open it shows mauve/blue,
and if the shadows are under trees, they are greyer. Stands to reason, the
shadows in the open are reflecting the blue of the sky. They are also
tricky to ski on, the snow in the sun is softer and slower, and under
shadow it is firmer and faster, making for a very variable surface!
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Monet’s “The Magpie, Snow Effect,
Outskirts of Honfleur” 1869
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Alfred Sisley’s
“ Snow at Louveciennes”
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At the “Impressionists” at the NGV last year you will have
seen Alfred Sisley’s
“ Snow at Louveciennes”. A dark figure disappearing down a central
laneway, with gates, fences, buildings and trees once again well covered
in snow. Fresh snow. That’s what we like, skiing on a really snowy day.
Did you notice at Camberwell Rotary this year a large snow oil painting by
Ji Chen? It was over the desk where the ladies take the entrance money. I
had to ask them to move aside so I could get a better look. It depicted a
scene at a downhill skiing resort, and included skiiers, chair lift poles,
trees, huts and so on. To me it captured the atmosphere of a downhill
resort very well indeed. Sorry I couldn’t find it on the internet so it
could be reproduced here. I liked it much better than his other painting
“Rough Sea” which won the $20,000!
The camera is often one of the items in the backpack, and I attempt to
capture the atmosphere for reference later. However, I have actually only
painted three snow paintings, two of which are reproduced here.
The earlier one, an oil, is of three skiiers going up the
track at Mt Stirling, and the pastel “Whoops!” is of our grandson, Kieren,
making a slight mistake. There are many more photos waiting to be used,
one series, taken on a very snowy day, concentrates on snow lying on the
fine tracery of twigs and branches. Another subject I am yet to tackle is
the colour on the wet trunks of the snowgums as the snow melts during the
day. Creams, olive greens, salmons, yellows, warm greys, all laid out in
the most magnificent patterns.
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I seem to have had a week when modern art, contemporary, whatever you would
like to call it, has come to my notice.
My daughter and I had a lovely day at Federation Square, where we
appreciated all kinds of different styles, forms and presentations. One
piece that caught the eye was a lounge room with orange and pink shag
carpet, orange and pink (contemporary) chairs and a moving, lighted
mechanical whatisname on the wall! I would have liked to have sat in the
chairs and watched the moving parts for a while – but I was too scared of
the everpresent security guards – who had just chased off some children who
had the same idea!
Then it was off to the ballet with Sharon to see the Three Musketeers – very
well done and enjoyable. But why were there two toilets on the landing half
way down the stairs where we sat to have coffee? Admittedly they were very
fancy toilets indeed with arm rests, levers, dials and whatnot. They were
not in use, so we assumed after some thought that they were an art
installation.
Then on Thursday at the Maroondah Gallery (see details in “Around the
Galleries”) I saw Reflectors 2003.( Maroondah Gallery always has very
different exhibitions – the most memorable of which involved about 10
kilograms of white chocolate buddies). A few items in this exhibition are
worth describing. In the foyer there was a sphere at least 6’ in diameter
made from rusty metal plates beautifully riveted together. A hole in one
side allowed a view of the metal rods and struts holding it together. Oh
well, press on regardless, thought I! Inside the gallery the main floor was
inhabited by what seemed to be stationary people – which it was. Vertical
perspex rectangles had transparencies of folks printed on them. Quite
creepy, as they were life-sized and seemed to be looking at me! On the walls
I saw perspex boxes stuffed with more people – they were like soft toys made
out of material printed with figures, cut out, stuffed and sewn up.
In the second room I noticed the well-known ten green bottles. Ten bottles
were covered in soft green pile material and were standing on a shelf
covered in the same. A bookshelf housed a collection of utensils carved out
of wax; jugs, mugs, vases and an ashtray with two cigarette butts in it.
Make of all this what you will, at least I remembered it, and some things
were amusing, some disturbing and very unusual.
What do you think of modern art, contemporary art, the latest art
installations etc? Please write to
wavarts@yahoo.com and let us know your views.
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I
recently read a book on Monet, titled “Monet” by Robert Gordon and Andrew
Forge
(Harry N.Abrams, NY, 1989). That is, I actually read most of the
words as well as looking at the pictures! Unusual for me with art
books.
It is an excellent book, very well illustrated with thousands of color and
black and white prints and photographs of very good quality. The
information is most comprehensive, giving a history of Monet’s life and
works in great detail, referring to the illustrations where applicable.
It was such a long life, stretching from the early
days, when he spent so much time with his mates out painting, and getting
such wonderful results. Favorites of mine are the water paintings, when
he and Renoir etc. were out on the river painting water, boats and
bridges. La Grenouilliere, Argenteuil and so on.
How did they get it to
look so
wonderful, putting those large pieces of paint down, making it all look so
vibrant! And the gardens, the train station, the wild coastal scenery, the
people, the haystacks!
 Then as time went on, the mates sort of fell off
the perch, and he ended up in his garden at Giverny, both creating the
garden and painting it. This of course went on until the end of his life;
his great passion for painting continuing to take over his life.
Later
on, when his eyesight was failing he experienced great frustration when
things didn’t turn out as he wanted, and there were many bonfires of
unwanted canvases.
When contemplating my own art life and that of an
artist as famous and successful as Monet’s, a few things struck me. Monet
actually worked full time at it, and went out every day painting, and
would stay at the same place painting at different times of the day and in
different weather conditions until he had actually finished that place!
And then in the garden, (which he never finished painting) he went out
after breakfast for a few hours, came in for lunch, went out again in the
afternoon, had dinner etc. and wrote letters in the evening!
 Well,
what of course, struck me was that someone else had shopped for, prepared,
served and washed up after every meal! Not to mention the house
cleaning, washing and gardening. I suppose by that time he had
enough money to pay for all this!
Well, it's not exactly the same as myself is it.
How can I expect to improve quickly when I devote a limited time only per
week to art – I’m just improving a lot more slowly!
You must admit he
didn’t have the distractions of the square plastic screens of the
television, computer, digital camera, mobile phone and microwave, and
didn’t have to answer his emails, telephone, answering machine and Telstra
101 as well as his snail mail.
 I did however do a
painting - “A Quiet Corner” - recently, which may have started to
come close to the more impressionistic and free style that I would like,
and which I so much admire in Monet and all the French Impressionists.
We must all spend more time reading (or even
looking at) art books. Our own WAS library and the
Whitehorse Libraries,
in particular Nunawading, have an excellent collection, and I’m sure the
Monash libraries
do too. Happy reading!!
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VENEZIA AUSTRALIS: Australians in
Venice: 1900-2000
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This
exhibition, organised by the
Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical
Museum, was definitely one I didn’t want to miss. When I received an
invitation from the Williams sisters (Pat,
Gay and Diane) to join them to
see it I dropped everything and said yes – and was glad I did – I loved
it! On the way there you would have been forgiven for thinking it was a
Sunday school picnic; we started singing all the old songs – and don’t the
sisters have nice voices! Watch out for the new group sensation – “The
Williams Sisters et Al”
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Two views of Venice by E. Phillips Fox
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The
MPRG always has
an interesting smaller display in the foyer, and this time it was a
selection of
Albert Tucker’s works on Sorrento and Blairgowrie. Mixed
media mostly, watercolor, gouache and pastel. They were lively and
colorful, and depicted the area well – rock pools, waves and beaches.
After a cuppa we
went in to the main event. “Venice is a dream. It is too beautiful – all
and more than I ever imagined”. So said
Hans Heysen in 1902, and some of
his work was represented here. I suppose Venice has always been a mecca
for artists, and no wonder, with the varied colours of the buildings, the
reflections, bridges, gondolas and other boats. Heysen was joined by many
of our old friends, Streeton, Daryl and Lionel Lindsay, Ethel Carrick Fox
and E. Phillips Fox, Rick Amor, Louis Kahan and Joseph Zbukvic. Plus lots
of others not so familiar to us.
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Ethel Carrick Fox: "Venice" (oil)
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E. Phillips Fox:
"Venetian Boats" (Oil)
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There
were nineteen Streetons, mainly oils, and they were lovely! A surprise was
some Streeton drawings, delightful. All the bigger oils in the
exhibition each had their own spotlight, which gives a fantastic effect;
perhaps we should install them for our own paintings at home!
I would like
to mention the following paintings in particular.
The
Streetons were all impressive but I think my favorite was Arthur
Streeton “Sunrise, Venice” oil
1908. Not as much detail as some of the
others – the sky and water were the features. Streeton
and his wife Nora Clench were honeymooning in Venice in 1908 – but
obviously plenty of time was given to painting. Perhaps Nora found some
musical friends and played her violin while Arthur was painting.
David Newbury
“Tranquil thoughts from abroad – Venice” oil on paper 1991 was one of my favorites. A scene
with light coming into a narrow canal with of course two rows of buildings
on each side and light on the water. It relied not on detail but on the
colours – greens, blues, mauves and some warm colours on the buildings and
of course repeated in the water. It really caught my eye.
Louis Kahan
“Bridge of Sighs” Ink and Wash 1978 took the prize for the medium used very effectively in an unusual way.
The fine and detailed drawing was done on a café au lait colored paper,
and the light coming from the gap in the buildings and onto the water was
done (it seemed to me) in a diluted white gouache. Most effective.
Dora Meeson
“Titian’s Palace on the Grand Canal” Oil 1930 I liked for its French
Impressionist feeling – oranges, pinks, blues and creams in the buildings
and the water with a very “Monet” feel. Gondolas and one of those crooked
posts added the final touches.
E.
Phillips Fox and Ethel Carrick Fox were also honeymooning in 1907, and did
some lovely small plein air paintings. Ethel Carrick Fox “Venice
Scene” Oil c1907, the one that is featured on the brochure is typical
of both their work, employing gorgeous blues, apricots, peaches and creams
(good enough to eat?).
I
particularly liked E. Phillips Fox “Venetian Boats” Oil 1906-7
with tall coloured sails on the boats. What a wonderful subject with their
colours of oranges, yellows and creams. Another painting with these boats
in it was James R Jackson “Bridge at Chiogga, Venice” 1907.
A
glass cabinet contained a sketchbook of
Rick Amor’s labelled “Sketchbook
- USA: Scotland: Venice: England: Italy: Ireland: Erith Island: Vic”. It
was open at a panoramic (across both pages) scene of Venice. We all
wanted to look at the whole sketchbook!
We spoke to
Judith Wills
(one
of the Twenty Melbourne Painters). One of the exhibition items – William
Dargie “Canal in Venice” Oil 1956 is lent by her. She asked after members
of Waverley Arts Society that she remembers and sends best wishes.
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Two days in the Life of a Class - with Carol
 As Waverley Arts members will know – Friday is the day
for Life Class, 2 sessions, morning and afternoon. As a member of the
life class for a few years now, let me tell you more about it.
As an afternoon student I try to arrive in time for “Show and Tell” from
the morning class. Everybody puts up their best work for the day for a
short appraisal by Carol. But today – what a worry – how can the
afternoon class possibly measure up against this! High praise for nearly
every drawing – an excellent result – what lovely drawings! Oh well,
just do the best we can – as usual!
Carol calls us to order right on 12 midday. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys
and girls and others, your places please!”
Pauline (not her real name) was our model, and a great model she is.
Today we are using brush pens and doing contour drawings, keep the pen
on the paper and take it for a walk, hold the pen away from you with a
straight as possible arm.
Use other mediums as desired, but the brush
pen must be part of your work. First several two minute poses for warm
ups.
Carol moves around the room behind us, helping us as she goes. Her
favorite phrases, all with a touch of humour, are her trade mark.
“For five hundred thousand dollars – which breast is the higher? I
challenge you, naked, in the privacy of your own home to raise your arm
without raising the corresponding breast!”
“Use your holder-upperer! (any old pencil will do). If they cost $10,000
and you had to order them from overseas you would use them more!”
“Can you buy jeans for this woman?”( Someone has done something really
strange with the legs)
“Stand back – standing back is an investment – and its free!”
We are confronted with a seemingly impossible pose. “This goes with that
at Sussan”
“Look for the shape of the negative space”.
“All improvements gratefully received – all disimprovements and the
model will sue”
“Do whatever you like as long as it looks wonderful!” (Fine, think I,
but how am I going to achieve wonderful?)
One of us makes an obvious mistake. “Oh, oh, you seem to have caught the
virus, so-and-so was in that corner this morning and he was doing just
that!”
On doing a back view. “Careful not to overdo the spine – we don’t want a
zip fastener for easy access!”
“Look at the shape of the head – frontal lobotomies have gone out of
fashion, thank goodness.”
When you correct something, do it before you erase the wrong one.
Otherwise you will do the same thing. Definition of insanity: doing the
same thing twice and expecting a different result .
And when Carol has corrected one of our errors “But I thought…” we say,
but Carol says “Don’t think – your left brain will tell you what to do
but don’t believe it – it tells you porkies. If it looks wrong it
probably is wrong – do some vertical and horizontal checks with your
holder upperer – what is opposite what. What does the chin, elbow, knee
line up with. Use the underarm as a point of reference. See what is the
furthermost point of the pose on the right – one the left – the highest
and the lowest”. And then when we have made the correction we may say
“Well, you wouldn’t have thought….”
Point is don’t think – LOOK!
You’d think (there we go thinking again) that we’d know all of this by
now, some of us have been going to life class for many years – and we do
get better at it – but we still need to go. Life drawing is the
gymnasium for the artist – it keeps you fit, if you don’t keep going
you’ll slip back. Carol’s little sayings make it easier for us to
remember, but it’s still hard. “Life drawing wasn’t meant to be easy”.
Who said that?
Carol gives really encouraging comments all the time. “Well set on head”
“Beautifully set on head” “Charming drawing” “Colours work beautifully”
“Good strong drawing” “This is a very, very nice drawing” “Look how
little is done to the face, but it works!”
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Now we are to do two standing poses on the same page. We have 10 min for
each. During the break we have prepared a piece of our favourite paper
and selected colours, darks, lights and mid-tones. |
Now a seated pose, we have 20 mins
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Certain combinations
of colours look good on certain colour papers. Because we are arranged
around the room, the model faces different ways for the different poses
so that we can all get a turn at “a back”!
Time’s up - we have all worked very hard – Pauline and Carol most of
all, and it is time for “Show and Tell”
How have we done? Very well indeed, but who is to say whether the
morning or the afternoon class did better?
Now I’m sure you would have liked some photos of all these good
drawings, but I actually didn’t think of writing this until afterwards,
so didn’t think to take the pix. So then planned to take some next week,
you’d never know the difference!
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However next week has happened today, and as they say – expect the
unexpected – the model was taken ill at the last moment. If this happens
we all take our turn at being the model. You will be pleased to know we
do this clothed! That means we learn about how the clothes drape on the
body, how we see the mass of the body under the clothes, how we must not
be into dressmaking and draw all the seams but observe the folds, areas
of light and shade and so on. |
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We even got the wooden stool to pose,
Carol draped it in a satin cloth, and stacked a frilly pillow against
it. More practice for us in drapery. Most got the elipse of the stool
wrong. The excuse was - “the model moved!” ????
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The hour and a half went by even more quickly than usual, and yes, we
had done a very creditable round of drawings for Show and Tell. So I
took some photos of them, and here they are – just don’t think it is
rather odd for Life Class – after all, you’ve seen our usual life class
drawings before!
Now its time to pack up, don’t forget to turn our inspirational Brett
Whitley nude poster to the other side to show Fred McCubbin (so we don’t
offend the other users of this room!)
Pastel is the dirtiest medium available, so last thing, check your face
in the bathroom mirror. Its not a happy moment when you come home after
having been to the supermarket and three other shops on the way, only to
find you have been sporting a Hitler moustache and a black eye!
If you would like to join in all this fun and games (and hard work) and
be part of Life Class, please phone Ian Anderson 9806 0013
Alison Simpson |
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The Museum of Modern Art at Heide
HEIDE AND “THE HEART GARDEN”
by Alison Simpson
 This
all started in January when I visited the Streeton exhibition at the
Mornington Gallery. While I was looking the painting of Point King with
a house on top of the cliff a lady spoke to me and told me the house
belonged to the Baillieus and that the figure on the path was probably
Sunday Reed (nee Baillieu). She also told me she had enjoyed a book by
Janine Burke about Sunday and John Reed called “The Heart Garden”.
So I borrowed it
from the library and read it, thinking all the time I must visit Heide,
haven’t been there for ages. Being a gardener I was a bit disappointed
in one aspect of the book because I expected more about the garden and
“The Heart Garden” – presumably a special part of the garden – in
particular. However I found it for the most part quite interesting and
informative, even if the front and the back covers were a bit far apart.
Most of you will
know the background; Sunday and John Reed collected modern art,
supported and encouraged artists, and had them staying for long periods
in their home during the middle part of the 20th century.
Their collection formed the basis for the present day
Heide Museum of
Modern Art at Templestowe. That’s putting it very broadly and
mildly.
Really, when I
think that they were contemporaries of my parents and lived only a
relatively short distance away, their lives could not have been more
different. I wonder if my Mum and Dad knew anything of them and their
way of life; I don’t recall ever hearing them mention it. Sunday, born
into a very wealthy family had a disastrous first marriage and suffered
health problems as a result. Later she married John Reed and a bit
later they set up their home in the weatherboard house “Heide” in “the
country” at Templestowe.
Moving in art and
literary circles they had a wide circle of friends. They knew every
artist from that period you ever heard of, one of the most notable being
Sidney Nolan, who painted the
Ned Kelly series in the dining room. If after reading the book
you can remember who was married to whom, who slept with whom, and who
was subsequently married to whom, you’ve got a better memory than I
have. Nevertheless Sunday and John stayed married through it all. For
details of the juicy bits you’ll have to read it yourselves.
Now, about the
visit to Heide. I was of course particularly interested to see the
house, having read all about it in the book. Anna and I went last week
and saw the exhibition finishing July 31 “Heide: future, present and
past – Part I” which is in the original house, the other newer part
being completely renovated and extended and due to open in 2006.
We wandered around
the gardens first, through some kitchen and rose gardens – Anna
particularly liked a side view of the house with tree dahlias and
plumbago in front.
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We went around the front and saw two young
workers replanting the lavender hedge lining the circular drive.
This was mentioned in the book – Sunday loved lavender and put it
in drawers and cupboards everywhere. |
Then we went
inside to the exhibition which was in the form of art works and a
timeline which was displayed on the hallway walls, describing John and
Sunday’s life there. The art was displayed in the four main rooms, and
we liked some of it, but others we found strange, dull, or
extraordinary. Not so the blurbs which were on laminated sheets in each
room. Full marks to whoever wrote them – they could certainly see more
in the art than I could!
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An example I know you’ll like
was this tower of anodised metal teapots etc.
The blurb read:
“David McDiarmid – Maquette for
funerary monument. This work is concerned with sexual politics and
is encouraging awareness of issues surrounding the HIV/Aids
epidemic” .
Now why didn’t I think of that! |
The house itself
was more interesting to me – matching up with bits in the book. One
thing – where did all these visiting artists sleep? There are only four
main rooms, the main bedroom, the dining room (where Sidney did his
painting), the library and one other, may have been a sitting room.
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The library was the best part
– high shelves surrounding the room just stacked with an
enormously diverse collection. |
There also had to
be room for Sweeney Reed, the natural son of Joy Hester, who was looked
after by the Reeds as a young child and afterwards adopted. The kitchen
is narrow - no room for a table – but fairly well appointed. Sunday was
known for her cooking. I saw the tiles surrounding the stove all had
cats painted on them and recalled that Sunday had about a thousand cats;
some had a bad habit of coming inside and peeing on the paintings
stacked against the walls in the hall.
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We had to ask
the location of the “heart garden” – since it is the name of the
book. It is round the side of the house – we must have
missed it before. I took this photo of it – somewhat
disappointing – I think I expected an elaborate parterre or
something! |
The milk shed or
doll’s house – a rickety wooden structure - still stands in the garden.
It is famous because the Ned Kelly series was stored there for a time!
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Sunday Reed milking
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John, Sunday and Sweeney
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I’d like to go back
again – maybe wait until the new building is finished, and also spend
time in the lower gardens. There was a pamplet on the rose garden –
maybe I’ll give it a spring viewing sometime. It was a lovely day so
Anna and I had a picnic lunch in the gardens before going home.
If you want to
read the “Heart Garden” by Janine Burke reserve it from your library,
and if you want to visit Heide check the details in Alexandra’s “Around
the Galleries” on another page in the WASP. |
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