ADFAS CANBERRA
3/2016
WINTER NEWSLETTER
From The Chair
As we move into winter, we have plenty of interesting and
important news for you. Please look at Alex Hagan’s article on
our 30th anniversary celebration – congratulations to Alex and her
team for organising such an enjoyable event.
This Newsletter also has an article on the completion of the
Church Recording project at St John’s, Reid. St John’s is one of
Canberra’s best-known and best-loved buildings. ADFAS Canberra is delighted to have
supported this project; congratulations to the team leader, Gini Hole, and to all involved.
Looking ahead, our lecturers offer rich and varied fare – Julie Ewington on Australian women artists later
this month; Martin Ellis in July on English silver and Leslie Primo in August on Dido Belle and the
beginnings of the movement in Britain to abolish slavery. Martin Ellis will also offer a Special Interest
Morning on the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Please note a change of program in September – Monica Bohm-Duchen is unable to travel. She is replaced
by Jane Vial, a lecturer, curator and consultant specialising in late 19th and early 20th art in Australia and
New Zealand. She will lecture on Tom Roberts and his visit to New Zealand in 1900. Her Special Interest
Morning will cover a range of themes, including the rise of impressionist painting in New Zealand and
Australasian artists ‘going bush’ to capture the stunning landscapes of New Zealand.
Marcel Dimo
The 30th Anniversary Celebrations of ADFAS CANBERRA
What an astounding
evening we all enjoyed at
the 30th Anniversary
Event. The cocktails,
movie and cake cutting
all reminded us how
wonderful our association
is. One hundred members
were there to join our founding chairwoman Dinny Killen
celebrate the achievement of 30 years of inspiring lectures
and quality events by cutting a celebratory cake. We rejoiced
in the company of friends, and it was clear we all have a deep appreciation of this marvellous institution.
'The Girl with a Pearl Earring' was a wonderful choice of movie and a number of ladies certainly donned
some lustrous pearls - I even saw a man with one (alright he was my husband!) Our own Kerry-Anne
Cousins gave a fascinating talk on the painting to get us in the mood.
The committee would like to thank everyone for making it a memorable evening, and remind you more is
to come!!*
Alex Hagan
Vice chair
*FOR YOUR DIARIES on the 10th October there will be a special 30th Anniversary afternoon tea from
3-5pm at the Commonwealth Club with guest speaker Marlena Jeffery.
PLEASE NOTE: ALL MORNING LECTURES BEGIN AT 10am and EVENING LECTURES AT 6pm
Monday, 18 July 2016 # At The Shine Dome, McCoy Circuit, Acton
Martin Ellis - Lecture: A Phoenix from the Ashes – English Silver in the 20th and 21st Centuries
Martin Ellis will introduce us to the complexity of modern
design history through the development of a single art
form. We follow the changes of fortune in English
silversmithing since 1900 when the English Arts and Crafts
metalworking movement was the most influential force in
European avant-garde design. It went through crises of
confidence, ravages of war, austerity and industrial decline
to the recent re-emergence of silversmithing as one of the
most exciting and dynamic forms of contemporary British design.
Martin Ellis initially trained as an archaeologist but went on to a successful career as an art and museum
curator, lecturer and broadcaster. Until recently he was Principal and Head of Collection Research at the
Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum. Martin Ellis’ webpage is www.englishjourneys.co.uk/who-ismartin-ellis.
Tuesday, 19 July 2016 # At The Commonwealth Club, Forster Crescent, Yarralumla
Martin Ellis - Special Interest Morning: The Story of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery brings together a broader
range of material culture than
any other museum in the UK.
Its rich collection ranges from
Pre-Raphaelite and Old Masters
paintings to artefacts from
Ancient Egypt, Pre-Columbian
America and Australasia – from
contemporary art to European
folk life, the decorative arts and
the history of Birmingham. This talk gives us an insight into its changing
ambitions and sense of purpose over 150 years, posing broad questions
about our museums – what are they for? – What do they collect? – How
do they use their collections?
Ford Maddox Brown: Last of England
Monday, 22 August 2016 # At The Shine Dome, McCoy Circuit, Acton
Leslie Primo - Lecture: Dido Elizabeth Lindsay Belle and the Beginnings of Abolition
This lecture will trace the beginnings
of the abolition of slavery through
the eyes of Dido Elizabeth Belle, a
black woman living in Kenwood
House in the late 18th century. What
made her so different from other
blacks living in London at this time?
How did Dido come to live at such a
grand house? What exactly was her status and how was she treated? The
only known portrait of her (see left) was painted by the Neo-Classical
painter Johann Zoffany (1733-1810). A variety of paintings by other artists such as Joshua Reynolds and
J.M.W. Turner will be seen in the context of abolition, the changing social attitudes towards the industry
of slavery, and the first stirrings of the Anti-Slavery movement in Britain.
Leslie Primo is an art historian who has originally studied in the field of the Italian Renaissance. He has
worked at the National Gallery in London for the past 15 years where he has established a reputation as a
very popular public lecturer. He has also lectured at the National Portrait Gallery as well as at many
prestigious universities and public cultural institutions in addition to appearing in television programmes
on art. His very interesting webpage is www.primoartdiscoverytours.co.uk.
PLEASE NOTE OUR CHANGE OF LECTURER FOR SEPTEMBER
Monday 19 September 2016 # At The Shine Dome, McCoy Circuit, Acton
Jane Vial - Lecture: Tom Roberts’ Adventures in New Zealand
This lecture traces Roberts’ littleknown visit to New Zealand and
identifies some of the art he created
here. When an outbreak of deadly
bubonic plague hit Sydney in the
summer of 1900, the impressionist
painter Tom Roberts escaped to
Melbourne taking the long route via New Zealand.
He painted and drew, met fellow impressionists, checked
out work opportunities, and was the life of the quarantine party stuck in Wellington Harbour. He also
made a pivotal career decision at Paradise at the top of Queenstown’s Lake Wakatipu.
Tom Roberts: Hutt Valley 1900
Curator and lecturer Jane Vial specialises in late 19th and early 20th century Australasian art. She studied
art history at the University of Canterbury and Victoria University. She has worked as an academic and as
a curator and researcher including at Dunedin Public Art Gallery and Te Papa as well as in Ireland.
Recent exhibition publications are Movers & Shakers; Early New Zealand Portraits by William Beetham
(2013); Bohemians of the Brush; Pumpkin Cottage Impressionists (2010) which won Museums Aotearoa
2011 award for Exhibition Excellence in a Small Museum; and From Fretful Sleeper to Art World Giant;
the Gallery of Helen Hitchings (2008). Jane is currently working with Marlborough Museum on a book
about New Zealand’s first studio potter Elizabeth Lissaman.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 # At The Commonwealth Club, Forster Crescent, Yarralumla
Jane Vial - Special Interest Morning: Australasian artists go bush in New Zealand & James Nairn and
the New Zealand impressionists.
Getting Away from it all: Australasian artists go bush in New Zealand
From the late 19th century New Zealand artists were
inspired to go bush. They established artists’ camps
in locations such as Fiordland, Kaikoura and Upper
Hutt. The ease of transport across the Tasman also
attracted Australian artists such as Girolamo Nerli
and Tom Roberts to paint in rural New Zealand. The
adventures of the likes of William Mathew Hodgkins,
James Nairn and Dorothy Kate Richmond brought
the outdoors into living rooms and galleries.
Girolamo Nerli: Tribesmen by Lake Tarawera
James Nairn and the New Zealand impressionist movement
The New Zealand Impressionist Movement led by the “Scottish Glasgow Boy” James
Nairn included Alfred Walsh, Mabel Hill, Girolamo Nerli and Frances Hodgkins.
During the 1890s their breakaway exhibitions of spectacularly spontaneous paintings
confronted the academic status quo. Newspaper critics often harshly reviewed the
paintings as outrageous and mere daubs, and lively clashes ensued as the artists
defended themselves against public ridicule. Despite the discord which eventually
divided them, Nairn’s efforts to unite these modern artists helped redefine New
Zealand painting.
James Nairn
Church Recording: St. John’s Reid
Church recording in England began as a project of NADFAS in 1973 and
continues to this day. Its aim is for volunteers of the society to record as an
historic audit the entire contents and fabric of churches and places of worship.
Canberra ADFAS began the recording of St. John’s Anglican Church in Reid
in 2007. The following remarks are by Gini Hole, the group leader and were
given before an ADFAS lecture in May at the completion and handover of a
copy of the record to ADFAS.
Gini continues …..The book compilation seems to have happened in no time! I dismiss the irritations and
remember the good times. Whether those who helped, waited and watched, could say the same maybe a moot point.
Thanks go Charlotte Nattey for suggesting I lead the recording group, for her amazing knowledge, work and
patience. Mary McKenzie made an incredible and beautiful photographic record. Every moveable and immoveable
piece is also recorded on CD. From this collection we selected the photos published in the book.
Dinny Killen’s capacity for research saved many hours. Devotion to the recording of the Memorials and the Library
meant they were completed expertly in short order by Kay Britcliffe and Margie Pitt. Kerry-Anne Cousins was an
amusing, knowledgeable and resourceful adviser and recorder of the paintings, textiles, and doors (including
dangerous ladder climbing). Penny Finlayson, Wendy Greenhalgh, Doris McCaulay, Geoff and Sally White, and
Audrey Wilson were there at the start. Their support was much appreciated. Jenny Harper’s capacity and work at
the computer was astonishing.
Church members smoothed the way – especially Diana Body whose late husband, Alf Body, wrote Firm Still You
Stand – a historical record of the church. Without this book we may have taken 16 years rather than nine.
Church Recording provides an important historical record. Many churches are forced to close. Some church
hierarchies are closing churches without informing the community and disposing of objects that have been given in
memory of family and friends. The book is dedicated to Marion
Adams, the first vice-chairman of Canberra ADFAS, and her
husband Harold, who was the Chairman of the Friends of St
John’s. The Friends were co-financiers of the project. Other
bound copies go to the National Library of Australia, to St.
Johns, and to the Australian Historical Society.
Rev’d David Hill, Chair of the Friends of St John's; Gini Hole, Leader of
St John’s Church Recording Project; Marcel Dimo, Chair, ADFAS
Canberra; Charlotte Nattey, St John’s Church Recording Project team.
Photo courtesy of Randall Wilson
ADFAS CANBERRA Young Arts Awards
Hannah Gason, our 2016 Young Arts Awardee has already been in several exhibitions
since her graduation from the ANU School of Art last year. In May her work was shown
at the M16 Gallery and at Belconnen Arts Centre in Canberra and she was one of the
emerging artists to be selected for the FUSE Art Prize at JamFactory in Adelaide. I
recently saw her impressive glass wall piece at the National Art Glass Gallery, Wagga
Wagga where it is part of the exhibition National Emerging Art Glass Prize 2016.
Hannah is also one of the artists selected for the new Hindmarsh Prize to be shown at
Canberra Glassworks (28 July – 4 September). This is an impressive debut for a young
artist. See her website for updates and beautiful images of her glass www.hannahgason.com.
NOTE: In late September there will be a special viewing of the Floriade floral and glass art exhibition and
the presentation of the ADFAS Young Arts Glassworks Award at the Canberra Glassworks.
Kerry-Anne Cousins
Newsletter Editor
A reminder about our webpage: there is more information about our lecturers, lectures and other ADFAS
matters on the ADFAS webpage - www.adfas.org.au and just click on Canberra