Wednesday, August 13, 2014

157. ... back home with familiar friends ...

So here I am - landed back in Australia after my "gap year" wandering the globe ...

It's been such a wonderful privilege to visit so many museums and galleries and castles and palaces and gardens and cemeteries and archeological sites from New York to Rome and much in between. In fact looking back through my diary I counted up 189 excursions in 12 months ... !!! ... 

I have not blogged on all as some institutions did not allow photography and others did not make for an interesting pictorial story - but I hope that those of you who have followed my postings have enjoyed my adventure as much as I have ...  

My only disappointment in treading all those miles was that I didn't find any Australian art in any of the cities I visited ... and as an Aussie I am immensely proud of my country's heritage; both ancient and indigenous going back many thousands of years and our more recent modern history less than 250 years old ... 

So with a couple of days stop-over in Sydney on my way home to Queensland, I paid a quick visit to my favourite museum - the Art Gallery of New South Wales - to catch up with some old familiar friends ... 


Established in 1871, the Art Gallery of NSW is the oldest in Oz and houses an extensive collection of modern and contemporary artworks from within our shores, as well as works from leading world artists - along-side artifacts from ancient civilizations including our own Aboriginal people. 


My favourite time in the history of art is the second half of the 19th century through into the 20th century - so here are just a few of my Aussie friends ...


Malham Cove - Arhtur Streeton - 1911

Hauling Timber - Hans Heyson - 1911

On the Wallaby Track - Frederick McGubbin - 1896

Fire's on - Arthur Streeton - 1891

Dian Dreams - Violet Teague - 1909


Summer Time - Rupert Bunny - 1907

A Summer Morning - Rupert Bunny - 1908

 
 Madonna - Bertram Mackennal - 1906

Pan - Sydney Long - 1898

By Tranquil Waters - Sydney Long - 1894

The Railway Station, Redfern - Arthur Streeton - 1893

Milson's Point, Sydney - Tom Roberts - 1888

 
Hippolytus - Benjamin Spence ( England ) - 1862

Hunter and Dog - John Gibson ( England ) - 1838

Beatrice Cenci - Harriet Hosmer ( America ) - 1857

The Dry Season - J Llewelyn Jones - 1889

Self Portrait - Frederick McCubbin - 1886


 
The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon 
Edward John Poynter ( England ) - 1890

Self Portrait - Nicholas Chevalier - 1857

A Bush Idyll - George Lambert - 1896

Percy Spence - Tom Roberts - 1896


The Cockatoo - Margaret Fleming - 1895

The White Glove - George W Lambert - 1921

 Thea Proctor - George W Lambert - 1916

Flowers - Percy Leason - 1922

Still Life - Roy de Maistre - 1922

Western Australian Gum Blossom
Margaret Preston - 1928

Fred Coventry - William Dobell - 1932

Swedish Athlete - George W Lambert - 1928

Down the Hills to Berry's Bay - Roland Wakelin - 1916 

Implement Blue - Margaret Preston - 1927

The Lacquer Room - Grace Cossington Smith - 1936

Important People - George W Lambert - 1921

Margaret Olley - William Dobell - 1948

Margaret Olley - Ben Quilty - 2011


 The Road to Berry - Lloyd Rees - 1947
 
 Sunday Evening - Russell Drysdale - 1941

 Sofala - Russell Drysdale - 1947

 
 Ex voto - Donald Friend - 1952

 Tea Garden, Peking - Ian Fairweather - 1936
 
 The Expulsion - Arhtur Boyd - 1947


 Giggle Palace - Sidney Nolan - 1945

 Dry Jungle - Sidney Nolan - 1949


 The Telephone Box - John Brack - 1954

 You Yangs Landscape - Fred Williams - 1963


 The Balcony 2 - Brett Whiteley - 1975

 Five Bells - John Olsen - 1963


 New Reality - Peter Upward - 1961

 Gemini - Colin Lanceley - 1964

 detail ...

 Great Falls - Sydney Ball - 1975

 Conversations with the Bride - Imants Tillers - 1975

  detail ...

  Australian Venus - Rayner Hoff - 1927


Soooo - after traveling thousands of miles from one side of the planet to the other and back again, and filling my head with thousands of gigabytes of spectacular images, it's now time to hop on the flying kangaroo for my final leg home ...  


... and once the jet-lag has worn off and the suitcases are unpacked for the last time, it'll be into the studio for me and hopefully all this amazing inspiration will kick my creative hands into work ...

... stay tuned ...

 

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