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HOME>Arts,
Culture & Leisure>Arts and
Culture>Nillumbik
Values>An Essay by Jenni Mitchell
| Acknowledging artists who have
contributed to the development of visual arts in
Nillumbik |
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I feel fortunate to have been born in
Eltham and grown up in my mother’s pastry shop where meeting
artists, writers and creative people was an everyday
occurrence. These people were the customers that came to our
shop; and the people I believed predominately, were Eltham.
Living in this environment, it seemed natural for me to take
up painting and music lessons; they were an integral part of
an Eltham childhood.
At times, it is easy to take our
district for granted and see it as just another outer suburb
of Melbourne. Not until we move away and return with fresh
eyes do we realise what captures the imagination for
others.There have been many changes and developments in the
district in my lifetime, some wonderful and others make me
sad. One aspect does not change - the legend of the
artists.
The Nillumbik Shire’s leafy environment gives
the Shire a pleasant ambience throughout and attracts people
to make it their home. The well known historical and artistic
reputation of the area is another reason people give for
wanting to live here today. However, newcomers sometimes
remark that the art is hard to find and perhaps, the ‘artistic
heritage,’ is just a myth.
This exhibition hopes to
rectify this belief and pay homage to the artists, past and
present, who have chosen to make this region their home, or
source of inspiration.
It is interesting to reflect on
what may have first attracted artists to this region and why
they spent time ‘roughing it’ in the bush. Usually, arriving
by train from the city, artists were captivated by the smell
of the gum trees and eventually settled in the hills where
they built mudbrick houses and studios. An obvious enticement
was the cost of the land. It was cheap. Being at the time,
considered a fair distance from Melbourne, the land was not
highly sought for traditional farming because of the generally
poor soil and dry terrain. Much of the area is clay. There was
farming in the Eltham district, but the better land was north,
around Kangaroo Ground. The rough land that farmers abhorred
attracted artists who found the subtleties of the dry bush
hills visually stimulating. There was also the Yarra River,
Diamond creek, summer cicadas, wildlife and spring
flowers.
As the Shire’s borders move, so do artists.
This exhibition acknowledges artists who settled in the areas
of Warrandyte, Kangaroo Ground, Eltham, Research, Lower
Plenty, Hurstbridge, Diamond Creek and
Greensborough.
All of these areas were at one time or
another within the shire’s boundaries - only the name changed
- Shire of Eltham, Shire of Diamond Valley or now, Shire of
Nillumbik.
Many artists who have lived and worked in
the district have gained national and international
reputations and their work is keenly sought after. Records of
women artists are the minority, more a product of social
history than the number of women painting.
Within the
limited wall space available I have tried to Capture
some of these artists who have contributed to the breadth of
Nillumbik’s artistic heritage. The work I have selected to
hang is from artists who are today living and working in the
district, have lived and worked in the area and since moved
away, or have died and left their work as a legacy. Most of
the pieces in the exhibition have been borrowed from private
collections. Some works are from the Nillumbik Shire Council’s
collection.
The paintings in this exhibition have been
selected to represent the diversity of styles and movements
undertaken during the district’s 100 years of painting
history. There is work from the Max Meldrum tonal school in
the paintings of Alan Martin, Clarice Beckett and Peter Glass.
Jorgensen, a Meldrum student went onto influence his pupils,
Lesley Sinclair, Helen, Sonia, and Matcham
Skipper.
Clifton Pugh and Joe Hannan are represented by
portraits of each other whilst students at the National
Gallery School in the late 1940s, under the tuition of Sir
William Dargie.
Neil Douglas’s work is far removed from
the Meldrum painters and focuses on the Australian bush in an
expressionist manner.
Among the earliest painters to
inhabit the Eltham district were Walter Withers and his family
who bought a property on the corner of Bolton and Brougham
Streets (Eltham) in 1903. This house is still standing today
and is acknowledged on the Shire’s heritage building register.
A friend of Withers, Sir Hans Heysen, came to stay with the
Withers family and took lessons from Walter. Walter’s daughter
Margery Withers became a painter and worked mostly around
Diamond Creek.
Jock Frater lived on the corner of
Arthur and Bible Streets (Eltham) in 1916 and Peter Newbury,
painter and father to painter, David Newbury, in Cromwell
Street (Eltham). Will Longstaff lived at Stanhope in
Peter Street (Eltham), later to become the home of writers,
Nina and Clem Christensen.
In the 1920s, Percy Leason
came to live at Eltham in Lavender Park Road where he built a
house and studio, frequented regularly by writers and artists.
Guests included the painters Max Meldrum, Justus Jorgensen,
Colin Colahan, John Farmer, Clarice Beckett, Jock Frater, Jim
Minogue, Dick McCann and writer Mervyn Skipper. It was here
Percy, best known for his cartoon work, began his renowned
series of paintings of Aboriginal portraits with the
assistance of his friend and neighbour, the anthropologist, Dr
Donald Thompson.
Max Meldrum, a regular visitor to
Eltham, also stayed at the home of his painter friends Peter
Newbury and Dick McCann. He loved the district so much he
eventually rented a house opposite Wingrove Park and thought
the earth highly suitable for mudbrick building. It was during
this time that some of Meldrum’s students visited him,
including Justus Jorgensen.
Montsalvat played an
important part in the early attraction of artists to Eltham.
In 1934, artist and architect, Justus Jorgensen and his wife
Lil bought the land at the top of Hillcrest Avenue and spent
their lives creating the now famous artists’ colony. The
buildings were constructed from local stone, pise and mudbrick
and built by the painting students, patrons and friends of
Jorgensen.
On weekends, they would travel by train, or
if fortunate enough, by car, to Eltham and build
enthusiastically. Women worked on the building site beside the
men making mudbricks, carving stone and timber sculpture and
gargoyles that are embedded into the eclectic buildings.
Jorgensen was inspired to re-create a French Village on the
hill using architectural influences of the Gothic and Medieval
periods.
It was a lively centre for creativity,
philosophy and progressive thinking. Evenings were spent
around the long dinner table listening to Justus Jorgensen
espouse wisdom through his mind-expanding conversations.
Mervyn Skipper recorded many of the talks in
notebooks.
Among the young artists to visit Montsalvat
were George Chalmers, Albert Tucker, Arthur Boyd, Clifton
Pugh, Roy Opie, Mervyn Skipper, Matcham Skipper, Helen
Skipper, Sonia Skipper, Lesley Sinclair, Betty Rowland,
Alistair Knox, Arthur Munday, Helen Lempriere and Joe
Hannan.
Artists began to live permanently at Montsalvat
after the students’ quarters were completed, seen today along
the pool with the students initials embedded in tiles on the
doorsteps.
Alistair Knox, inspired by Jorgensen’s
teachings, gave up his day job at the bank and began building
mudbrick houses for a living, thus adding to the district’s
history by pioneering the new earth-building movement. Among
his team of workers were Gordon Ford, later to make his name
landscaping natural gardens, and painter and sculptor, Sonia
Skipper, Alistair’s forewoman. There were early difficulties,
apparently, with the young men taking orders from a
woman!
A few miles out from Eltham, Clifton Pugh
bought land at Cottles Bridge, and established a land co-op
that became known as Dunmoochin. This area attracted artists
and potters who over the following years bought, lived
and
settled in this dry landscape. Some stayed and worked only a
short time, others continue to make their home at
Dunmoochin.
Artists alongside Clifton Pugh included
Frank Werther, Leon Saper, Rick Amor, Peter Laycock, Alma
Shanahan, Myra Skipper, Bruce Davidson, John Howley, Kevin
Meynell, John Percival, John Olsen, Albert Tucker and
Joy
Hester, (who lived in Eltham prior to moving to Hurstbridge in
the early 1960s), John Serle (the first artist to serve on the
Eltham Council), John Bell (also lived in Fordhams Road Eltham
before Dunmoochin), Gareth Jones-Roberts, Andrew Sibley and
the printmaker, George Baldessin.
The excitement for
the artists was the dynamic groups that made friendships and
inspired each other’s work with much discussion and
passion.
The Dunmoochin artists loved the native bush.
They didn’t want to ‘Englishfy’ the land, tame the bush, or
conquer nature. The dry bush with its hidden delicate orchids,
birds, summer grasses and wild life was enough.
The
environmental painter, Neil Douglas, moved with his family
into Eltham and worked in Tom Saunders’ pottery on the Main
Road near Dalton Street. Among his first paintings were the
decorative glaze paintings of Australian landscapes and
animals worked onto the ceramic pieces made at the pottery.
The family later rented a timber cottage in Research on land
that is today the Eltham College sporting ovals. Neil worked
as a gardener across the river in Bulleen at Heide home
of art patrons, Sunday and John Reed.
The Reeds, like
Jorgensen drew artists into their lives and gave creative
sustenance and much support. It was here Neil met with the
Angry Penguin artists John Percival, Albert Tucker, Joy
Hester, Danila Vassilieff, Sydney Nolan, Arthur Boyd, Sam
Atyeo and those who came and went among the circle of Reed’s
friends.
Later, separating from his family, Neil bought
land in Kangaroo Ground and started a new life with the
painter Abbie Heathcote. The Bend of Islands Environmental
Living Zone was born. This is another region in the shire to
attract artists to live in harmony with nature, within a set
of strict guidelines that include no dogs or cats and a
community spirit towards responsible bush management.
Neil has since moved away from the district, leaving a
legacy for many artists to continue to work in and cherish.
Among these are Hilary Jackman, Piers Bateman, Peter Burns,
Ona Henderson and Syd Tunn.
Much earlier, Clara
Southern was the first of the painters to settle in the
Warrandyte district. She lived along the Research-Warrandyte
Road and was an inspiration to the painters Penleigh Boyd and
wife Edith Anderson, Jo Sweatman (Estelle Mary), Jane
Sutherland, Charles Wheeler and Louis McCubbin.
Later,
in the 1930s and 40s a new generation of artists made
Warrandyte their home including Danila Vassilieff; who built
his home, Stonygrad by hand from local stone. Danila
taught at the nearby experimental school, Koorong and later
taught art across the river at Eltham High School.
Many
of the artists of this period were not only painters, but
writers, potters and intellectuals who held strong interests
in the world around them, particularly politics. Many of these
artists were also associated with the newly formed
Contemporary Arts Society. These included Frank Crozier, Harry
DeHartog, Nutter Buzzacott, Harry Hudson, Herbert Rose, Adrian
Lawler and James Wigley.
The sculptor Inge King settled
in Warrandyte. Ceramic artist Deborah Halpern was born in
Warrandyte and has returned there to live. Stephen May lived
there for several years. Rupert Bunny found inspiration in the
Warrandyte landscape and spent much time in the
district.
Eltham has continued to attracted artists for
100 years, some staying, choosing to live out their lives in
the area and others staying for just a short time. The poetic
painter, Sam Fullbook lived in Gum Tree Road in the 1960s.
John Street, Eltham is an address which has been home for many
artists including the watercolourist, John Borrack; Meldrum
pupil, Peter Glass; Joan and David Armfield.
David
Keys, Richard Crichton and Lindsay Edwards, all abstract
painters, often worked together and lived in the Eltham/Lower
Plenty district. Near Eltham High School lived another group
of artists Hal and Joy Peck, Kevin Engish, (writer of the
Victorian Education Department Arts curriculum text books),
Betty Burstall and filmmaker husband Tim Burstall. The
painter, Ian Hassall opened the first open-air gallery
Hassall’s Gallery along the Main Road in East Eltham, near
Coleman’s Corner.
Don Vidler and Ian Bow lived in the
district. Painter, David Lawrance, one time conservator for
the National Gallery remains in Eltham today. Many academic
painters lived in the Nillumbik area whilst lecturing in art
colleges. The contemporary painter Dale Hickey and the
printmaker, Danny Monyihan both lectured at Phillip Institute,
working from their Eltham and Hurstbridge studios.
George DeNeemes, painter and potter lived in Research
before making his home in the Greensborough district, where he
continued to hold a strong tie with Eltham through his
exhibition program.
Many galleries have come and gone
or evolved over the years. Among them, Stringybark, Wiregrass,
Eltham Gallery and Papillion. In Eltham, both Hassalls and
Eltham Gallery survive, with an evolution of owners and name
changes. Eltham Wiregrass and Eltham emerged to become Eltham
Wiregrass Gallery. A number of smaller galleries operate in
Hurstbridge and Kinglake.
These galleries gave many
local artists their first opportunity to exhibit and many
artists went on to gain larger reputations. Artists such as
Drew Gregory, Tony Muratore, Joseph Zubrick, Janet Boddy, Paul
Cavell, Tony Harkin, Max Dimmack, Peter Wegner, David Moore,
Herman Pekel, Mark Page, Alan Satori, Margo Kroyer-Pederson,
Adriane Strampp, Tony Trembath, John Wakefield and many, many,
more.
In my childhood, during the 1960s, one of the
Eltham experiences I enjoyed was the opportunity to visiting
artist’s studios during their open days. I remember visiting
Margo Knox, Neil Douglas and Alan Martin’s studios. It is
perhaps, these experiences that lay the foundation for my life
as a professional artist.
Other memories are the strong
influences in the arts that came from Eltham High School where
art was taken seriously and had a prominent place on the
curriculum. Progressive opportunities existed for girls to
take metal and woodworking classes, and boys to take cookery
classes if they wanted; commonplace today, but rare in the
1960s and 70s. The school encouraged all aspects of the arts
and today maintains its support and reputation in the arts,
particularly in music.
A new generation of artists in
the Shire of Nillumbik upholds the firm artistic tradition.
Montsalvat is still a centre for the arts nurturing painters,
sculptors and jewellers. Dunmoochin continues to be a place
for artists to work and live and maintains an
artist-in-residence program. The tradition of artists opening
their homes and studios to the public is maintained. Artists
go on being inspired to live in Warrandyte and Eltham and
across the Shire of Nillumbik.
This exhibition offers
a glimpse of the long tradition of Visual Arts across the
Nillumbik Shire.
Jenni Mitchell 2002 ©
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