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Gina Rinehart demands for National Gallery to remove her portrait

<p>Gina Rinehart has demanded that her portriat be removed from the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra because she doesn't like it. </p> <p>The portrait of Australia's richest woman appears alongside many others, including Queen Elizabeth and former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, in an exhibition by acclaimed Archibald Prize-winning Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira.</p> <p>Namatjira's works are known for having cartoon-like qualities, as he often paints famous figures as caricatures. </p> <p><a title="www.smh.com.au" href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/portrait-gina-rinehart-doesn-t-want-you-to-see-mogul-demands-national-gallery-remove-her-image-20240513-p5jd59.html">Nine Newspapers </a>have the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) have been flooded with a dozen complaints about the portrait of Rinehart, including some from athletes she sponsors through her company Hancock Prospecting. </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, has demanded the National Gallery of Australia remove a portrait of her from an exhibition by Archibald Prize-winning Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira. THAT’S A GOOD REASON TO SHARE THE PORTRAIT WIDELY. <a href="https://t.co/pYoMh6vQcW">pic.twitter.com/pYoMh6vQcW</a></p> <p>— Maurie Mulheron (@maurie_mulheron) <a href="https://twitter.com/maurie_mulheron/status/1790621641502036239?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2024</a></p></blockquote> <p>One complaint allegedly accused the NGA of “doing the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party” with the portrait of Ms Rinehart. </p> <p>On the NGA website, Ms Rinehart is listed as a “friend” of the gallery, as she historically has donated up to $9999.</p> <p>The NGA has refused to take the painting down, and the artwork will be on display until July 21st.</p> <p>“Since 1973, when the National Gallery acquired Jackson Pollack’s Blue Poles, there has been a dynamic discussion on the artistic merits of works in the national collection, and/or on display at the gallery,” the NGA said in a statement. </p> <p>“We present works of art to the Australian public to inspire people to explore, experience and learn about art.”</p> <p>In response to the demand to have the painting removed, Namatjira released a statement saying, “I paint the world as I see it. People don’t have to like my paintings, but I hope they take the time to look and think, ‘why has this Aboriginal bloke painted these powerful people? What is he trying to say?’"</p> <p>"I paint people who are wealthy, powerful, or significant – people who have had an influence on this country, and on me personally, whether directly or indirectly, whether for good or for bad. Some people might not like it, other people might find it funny, but I hope people look beneath the surface and see the serious side too.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images / X (Twitter)</em></p>

Art

Archibald prize finalists unveiled

<p dir="ltr"> The 2023 Archibald prize’s 57 finalists have been revealed by the Art Gallery of NSW. </p> <p dir="ltr">With portraits by an entire host of exceptionally talented artists, the award - as well as its $100,000 prize - will be presented to the best portrait of a person who is “distinguished in art, letters, science or politics” that has been painted by a resident of Australia.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 2023 competition also made history with its batch of finalists, as for the first time ever, more works by women were selected than works by men - 30 to 27. In total, the competition drew in an impressive 949 submissions. </p> <p dir="ltr">All three competitions - Archibald, Wynne, and Sulman - also saw a record number of entries and finalists by Aboriginal artists, at 101 entries and 38 finalist pieces. </p> <p dir="ltr">And while the overall winners won’t be announced until May 5, the Archibald Packing Room Prize 2023 winner has been revealed: a portrait of comedian Cal Wilson by Andrea Huelin.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I can’t tell you how happy I am to receive this,” the artist confessed after learning of her win. “It means such a lot to me as an artist from a regional centre to win.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The Packing Room Prize was selected by a team of three expert packers with 19 years of experience between them, and for the first time included two women - Monica Rudhar and Alexis Wildman - alongside Timothy Dale. </p> <p dir="ltr">The prize, which began in 1991 and is worth $3000, is referred to as ‘the kiss of death’ by artists when it comes to selecting the overall Archibald winner. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Andrea’s work jumped out at us as soon as it arrived,” they said of their selection. “Cal’s been such a mainstay on Australian television for two decades.”</p> <p dir="ltr">As Michael Brand - director of the Art Gallery of NSW - explained, the decision had been reached “equally” by the trio. </p> <p dir="ltr">Many other well-known faces were captured across the 57 finalists, with portraits of everyone from Cold Chisel’s Don Walker to Aboriginal activist Archie Roach, Silverchair’s Daniel Jones, NRL’s Latrell Mitchell, politicians Yvonne Weldon and Alex Greenwich, and actor Sam Neill. </p> <p dir="ltr">And for anyone who would like to admire the paintings in person, the finalists of all three competitions will be on display at the gallery from May 6 to September 3.</p> <p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, all 57 portraits are available to <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/archibald/2023/">view on the Art Gallery of NSW’s website</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Art Gallery of NSW </em></p>

Art

Rare, unseen Beatles pics released ahead of landmark exhibition

<p dir="ltr">On Thursday, The UK's National Portrait Gallery unveiled five photos from Paul McCartney’s personal archives, teasing a series of unseen photographs of Beatlemania through his own eyes.</p> <p dir="ltr">The exhibition, "Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes Of The Storm”, will run for three months from the 28th of June and is set to showcase what McCartney calls a "humbling yet also astonishing" experience.</p> <p dir="ltr">McCartney approached the gallery in 2020, after stumbling across the images taken on his Pentax camera, which he thought were lost.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Looking at these photos now, decades after they were taken, I find there's a sort of innocence about them," he said..</p> <p dir="ltr">"Everything was new to us at this point. But I like to think I wouldn't take them any differently today.</p> <p dir="ltr">"They now bring back so many stories, a flood of special memories, which is one of the many reasons I love them all, and know that they will always fire my imagination," he added.</p> <p dir="ltr">The images include black-and-white self-portraits shot in a mirror in Paris, John Lennon also in the City of Love, George Harrison in Miami Beach, and Ringo Starr in London.</p> <p dir="ltr">These are five out of the 250 images shot by McCartney between November 1963 and February 1964, and the exhibition will feature in the London gallery's reopening after three years of refurbishments.</p> <p dir="ltr">An accompanying book of photographs and reflections will also be published on June 13.</p> <p dir="ltr">Click <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/unseen-mccartney-photos-beatles-early-230100596.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> to see the five recently released images.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: 1964 Paul McCartney / National Portrait Gallery</em></p>

Art

"A three-storey, luminous birdcage with suspended hanging gardens and an extensive crypt below": Sydney Modern is open at last

<p>The Sydney Modern Project had the odds stacked against it since its inception in 2013. It has surely been the most controversial state gallery extension to be built in Australia. </p> <p><a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/about-us/people/art-gallery-of-nsw-executive/dr-michael-brand/">Michael Brand</a> – a Canberra-born, ANU and Harvard trained art historian with an outstanding museum career in Australia and America – was appointed as director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2012. This was on the retirement of Edmund Capon, who held the post for the preceding 33 years. </p> <p>Brand <a href="https://www.thecultureconcept.com/sydney-modern-designing-an-art-museum-for-the-21st-century">launched</a> the unfunded plan for a new building in 2013, the Tokyo firm SANAA <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/tokyos-sanaa-architects-win-art-gallery-of-nsw-sydney-modern-design-competition-20150527-ghamun.html">won</a> the architectural competition in 2015 and construction commenced in 2019 with a budget of A$344 million. The knives were quickly out for Brand and his project. </p> <p>Some, like Paul Keating, did not like the location and called it a “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/paul-keating-slams-art-gallery-of-nsw-expansion-as-land-grab-masquerading-as-art-20151124-gl6xuz.html">gigantic spoof</a>”.</p> <p>Others did not like the design; a <a href="https://www.cultureheist.com.au/">book</a> was published by a former gallery employee attacking the project; and the new culture at the gallery. Prominent people in the Sydney art scene lined up to attack the project and the director.</p> <figure></figure> <p>There were some people who simply did not like Brand. He is a reserved, scholarly individual with a brilliant eye, in total contrast with the flamboyant, media savvy Capon. </p> <p>There were faults with the original architectural design and significant modifications were implemented before construction commenced.</p> <p>There were also external circumstances that impacted on the project: the murky world of NSW state government politics, bush fires that shrouded Sydney in smoke, COVID-19. </p> <p>However, Sydney Modern, now that it is open, is a spectacular achievement. The floorspace of the gallery has almost doubled, creating a gallery precinct (Brand prefers to call it a “gallery campus”) with two buildings connected by an art garden. </p> <p>On one side we have the stately neo-classical building that looks like a traditional 19th century art gallery with a series of extensions by Andrew Anderson, on the other side, a new 21st century structure.</p> <h2>A luminous birdcage</h2> <p>The new building may be described as a three-storey, luminous birdcage with suspended hanging gardens and an extensive crypt below. The main architectural concept is that of three limestone-clad, cascading pavilions leading down towards the water with a huge supporting rammed earth wall. </p> <p>Below is the crypt, locally called the “tank”, in recognition of its origins as a fuel storage reservoir secretly and speedily constructed at the start of the second world war to store fuel for Allied shipping. </p> <p>It reminds me of the huge water cisterns in Istanbul constructed by the Byzantines to store water for the city.</p> <p>The tank is presently occupied by Adrián Villar Rojas’ “time-travelling sculptural forms” dramatically lit by constantly changing light sources. The smoke and mirrors display is deliberately disorientating, evoking more of a mood than a visual assessment of the artwork.</p> <p>In the upstairs birdcage, it is very easy to orient yourself and be aware of your location and the various possible exits. In the crypt all is murky and unpredictable as you gradually negotiate the spaces and dodge the pillars and protruding sharp edges of the sculptures.</p> <h2>Indigenous art at the heart</h2> <p>Although there is an emphasis on Indigenous art with the transfer of the Yiribana Gallery from the basement of the old building to the entry gallery of the new one, this is more than simply a symbolic gesture to have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art at the heart of the gallery. </p> <p>Indigenous art is found at all levels of the new building and is integrated into the display of non-Indigenous Australian and international art.</p> <p>One of the highlights for me are the newly commissioned woven metal pieces by Lorraine Connelly-Northey. Her huge metal handbags made from discarded, well-weathered metal sheets from the outback have a stark sense of presence and are laced with wit. </p> <p>Her work looks out onto the most ambitious project, the sprawling art garden by Jonathan Jones scheduled to open mid-2023.</p> <p>Less a deliberate policy and more as part of the process of what Brand describes as selecting the most interesting new art, women artists make up 53% of the 900 exhibitors in the new building. </p> <p>The major thematic groupings, or exhibitions, in the new building are Dreamhome: Stories of art and shelter, Making worlds, Outlaw and Rojas’s The end of imagination in the crypt. These will remain in place for the next six months before there is a new set of exhibitions.</p> <h2>An elegant build</h2> <p>Despite the slings and arrows, Sydney Modern (now known somewhat unimaginatively as the North Building of the Art Gallery of NSW) has come to fruition. </p> <p>Possibly not the most magnificent art gallery in the world, as the NSW premier and his arts minister spruiked at the opening, but an elegant, formidable and very functional new building.</p> <p>Politicians in Australia have always been very good at throwing money at new buildings, the true test will come if this doubling in size of the gallery will be accompanied by a substantial increase to the operating budget of the institution. </p> <p>With new gallery spaces projected for Melbourne, Adelaide and possibly Canberra, funding is required for more than rammed earth, glass, bricks and mortar. Australia does not need a stampede of white elephants.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-three-storey-luminous-birdcage-with-suspended-hanging-gardens-and-an-extensive-crypt-below-sydney-modern-is-open-at-last-194451" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Art

National Aboriginal Art Gallery under fire over proposed building site

<p dir="ltr">Indigenous Australian elders in the Northern Territory have called the development of the National Aboriginal Art Gallery (NAAG) a “complete joke” due to its insensitive proposed building site. </p> <p dir="ltr">The $130 million project is set to celebrate 65,000 years of First Nations history and culture, while also ramping up future tourism prospects in the NT. </p> <p dir="ltr">However, the government wants to build it on the town's football oval precinct, which, critically, overlaps a sacred women's site.</p> <p dir="ltr">Doris Stuart Kngwarreye, a proud Arrernte woman, described the five-year consultation process for the project as a "complete joke" and said she would continue to fight to protect her cultural heritage. </p> <p dir="ltr">"If you're there and they're consulting with you and you say 'no, end of story' consultation goes on without you there," she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"The boxes have been ticked." </p> <p dir="ltr">The main issue for Ms Stuart is that the gallery will layer other First Nations' songlines and stories, expressed through the artworks proposed for the gallery, over an Mparntwe sacred women's area. </p> <p dir="ltr">"If you put a building up there with stories that don't belong there, how do you think the ancestors will feel towards that?" she said. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Where's the respect? We have our boundaries here."</p> <p dir="ltr">Western Arrarnta elder and artist Mervyn Rubuntja has been painting his homeland in vibrant watercolour since he was a teenager, and said he felt uneasy about displaying his artwork on the potential site.</p> <p dir="ltr">"It's a woman's site," he said. "You need to talk to the ladies first if they say yes or no, because it's important for every non-Indigenous person to listen."</p> <p dir="ltr">The fight over the location first began in 2017, when a government-funded steering committee, led by Indigenous art experts, <a href="https://desart.com.au/publication/2786/">said in a report</a> the gallery should be built out of town and should have major input from the local Indigenous custodians. </p> <p dir="ltr">The NT government is still consulting with the community over the designs of the building and that consultation process is expected to be wrapped by late 2023, but there is no clear timeline for when the building will commence.</p> <p dir="ltr">For Ms Stuart, she said she is disappointed that the government is pushing ahead with the project but said she’d continue to speak up for her country no matter the outcome. </p> <p dir="ltr">"All I want is respect for all this land," she said.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Art

Eco-activist attacks on museum artwork ask us to figure out what we value

<p>In the last few weeks <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/23/arts/claude-monet-mashed-potatoes-climate-activists.html">climate change activists have perpetrated various acts</a> of reversible vandalism <a href="https://twitter.com/artnews/status/1585745905512169473">against famous works of art in public galleries</a>. </p> <p>In the latest incident on Oct. 27, two men entered <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/27/girl-with-a-pearl-earring-vermeer-just-stop-oil-protest-mauritshuis-the-hague">the Mauritshuis gallery in the Hague</a>. After taking off their jackets to reveal t-shirts printed with anti-oil slogans, one proceeded to glue his head to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/famed-girl-with-pearl-earring-painting-targeted-by-climate-activists-nos-2022-10-27/">glass overtop</a> <a href="https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/our-collection/artworks/670-girl-with-a-pearl-earring/">Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring</a>, while the other bathed the head of his partner-in-crime with what appeared to be tinned tomatoes before gluing his own hand to the wall adjacent to the painting.</p> <p>This was just the latest in a series of similar art attacks that have peppered the news. </p> <p>The motivation of the eco-activists involved is to draw attention to the crisis of climate change, the role of big oil in hastening the deterioration of the environment and the necessity to save our planet.</p> <p>By attacking a famous and high-value cultural target like Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring — it <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335119/">even starred in its own movie</a> — the protesters are asking us to examine our values.</p> <h2>Big oil protests</h2> <p>The first Vermeer painting to come to auction for almost 80 years <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/vermeer-fetches-record-price-1.506190">sold for almost $40 million in 2004</a>. Today a Vermeer (<a href="http://www.essentialvermeer.com/how_many_vermeers.html">there are not that many)</a> could easily be valued at twice that. Whether you like Vermeer or not, the monetary value of the targets under attack enhances the sheer audacity and shock value of the current art attacks.</p> <p>The eco-activists want to appear to desecrate something that people associate with value and with culture. Their point is that if we don’t have a planet, we’ll lose all the things in it that we seem to value more. </p> <p>As activist Phoebe Plummer of Just Stop Oil <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/just-stop-oil-protestor-van-gogh-sunflowers-why-video-1234643678">told NPR after being involved in the attack on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at London’s National Gallery</a>: “Since October, we have been engaging in disruptive acts all around London because right now what is missing to make this change is political will. So our action in particular <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/01/1133041550/the-activist-who-threw-soup-on-a-van-gogh-explains-why-they-did-it">was a media-grabbing action to get people talking, not just about what we did, but why we did it</a>.”</p> <p>Note, the idea is disruption, not destruction. As acts designed for shock value, the activists did draw immediate public attention.</p> <h2>Attacking art</h2> <p>By staging their attacks in public galleries, where the majority of visitors carry cell phones, activists could be assured film and photos of the incidents would draw immediate attention. By sticking to non-corrosive substances and mitigating damage to the works under attack, they don’t draw the kind of public ire that wilful destruction would evoke. </p> <p>In recent news, attacking art as a form of public protest has largely been limited to public monuments outside the gallery space, like the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/02/us/confederate-monuments-removed-2021-whose-heritage/index.html">destruction and removal of Confederate</a> or colonial statues. </p> <p>But it’s also true that works of museum art have come under attack before. Over the course of its history, <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2019/02/19/trimmed-splashed-and-slashed-the-anatomy-of-rembrandts-the-night-watch">Rembrandt’s Night Watch in the Rijksmuseum</a> in Amsterdam was stabbed in two separate incidents in 1911 and 1975; in 1990, it was sprayed with acid; but all of those attacks were ascribed to individuals with unclear and less clearly rational motives.</p> <p>I see a few issues at stake with assessing what these recent art attacks could mean.</p> <h2>1. How effective is the messaging?</h2> <p>The activists have been articulate about their objectives, but those objectives haven’t been <a href="https://twitter.com/BrydonRobert/status/1587587106997960705">obvious to everyone who sees</a> via social media, but doesn’t stick around to hear the explanation. When a broad <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-are-climate-activists-throwing-food-at-million-dollar-paintings-180981024/">range of media</a> <a href="https://time.com/6224760/climate-activists-throw-food-at-art/">outlets all</a> perceive <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rebeccahughes/2022/08/05/why-are-climate-activists-gluing-themselves-to-art-in-italy/?sh=1e2e8a6a246a">the need to publish</a> editorials on why eco activists are targeting art, something is getting lost in translation.</p> <p>People see the endangerment of the works of art, but may ascribe that to the activists, not to the planetary erosion wrought by climate change. I don’t think everyone is getting the message.</p> <h2>2. Possible misplaced outrage</h2> <p>The incidents up until now have been pretty effective and harmless acts. But what if something is irreparably damaged? People will be outraged, but they’ll still be outraged about the art, not about the planet. </p> <p>And while there will be a call for stiff prison sentences, precedent suggests that’s an unlikely outcome. </p> <p>A man who damaged a Picasso valued at $26 million USD at the Tate Modern <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/tate-modern-picasso-damaged-man-sentenced-1234569349">in London in 2020 was sentenced to 18 months in jail</a>.</p> <h2>3. Violation of public trust</h2> <p>The third effect is what I consider a violation of the public trust, and this gives me pause. Works of art, even the most famous ones, lead precarious lives of constant endangerment; war, weather, fire, floods. The protesters are destabilizing the idea that public galleries are “safe” spaces for works of art, held in public trust. </p> <p>As fari nzinga, inaugural curator of academic engagement and special projects at the <a href="https://www.speedmuseum.org/">Speed Art Museum</a> in Louisville, KY, pointed out in a 2016 paper: “The museum doesn’t serve the public trust simply by displaying art for its members, <a href="https://incluseum.com/2016/11/29/public-trust-and-art-museums">it does so by keeping and caring for the art on behalf of a greater community of members and non¬members alike</a>, preserving it for future generations to study and enjoy.” </p> <p>Right now these acts, no matter how well-intentioned, could lead to increased security and more limited access, making galleries prisons for art rather than places for people. </p> <p>At the same time, part of the activsts’ point is that economy that sustains <a href="https://grist.org/climate/can-art-museums-survive-without-oil-money/">big oil is entwined with arts infrastructure</a> and the art market.</p> <h2>The thing that saves us?</h2> <p>The pandemic taught us, I think, that art could be the thing we share that saves us; think of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q734VN0N7hw">people during quarantine in Italy singing opera together from their balconies</a>. </p> <p>Eco-activists engaged in performance protests ask us to question our public institutions and make us accountable for what they, and we, value. Their climate activism is dedicated to our shared fate.</p> <p>If you’re willing to fight for the protection of art, maybe you’re willing to fight to protect the planet.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/eco-activist-attacks-on-museum-artwork-ask-us-to-figure-out-what-we-value-193575" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Art

Junior staff are finding better contracts, senior staff are burning out: the arts are losing the war for talent

<p>In 1997, consulting firm McKinsey & Company coined the term “<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/34512/war-talent">the war for talent</a>” to define increasing labour shortages that had significant potential to impact organisational performance. </p> <p>The war for talent significantly impacted corporations at the time, creating a scarcity mindset and encouraging a wave of employee-focussed initiatives designed to attract and retain staff. </p> <p>For the most part, the arts and cultural sector have been sheltered from the war for talent over past decades. Global growth in creative oriented higher education coupled with the “<a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2016/04/26/book-review-be-creative-making-a-living-in-the-new-culture-industries-by-angela-mcrobbie/">romance of being creative</a>” has led to a steady stream of workers willing to enter the sector on low pay. </p> <p>However, in 2022 things have changed.</p> <p>Faced with labour shortages, arts and cultural organisations increasingly find it challenging to operate. In 2021, it was reported screen productions in Australia were <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-24/high-demand-creates-film-skill-shortage/100479392">being jeopardised</a> due to lack of technical skills. </p> <p>Now, summer festivals are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/nov/07/will-australias-festivals-survive-a-wet-chaotic-expensive-summer">struggling to find</a> frontline workers, including security, stage crew, ticketing and transport. </p> <p>It’s not just entry-level positions that remain empty. </p> <p>After <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/may/11/australias-culture-of-ideas-suffers-when-we-starve-our-creative-institutions-of-funding">a decade</a> of funding cuts and policy neglect, followed by the stresses induced by COVID-19, I am observing arts leaders leaving to find secure, better paid and sustainable work elsewhere. </p> <p>In Australia’s increasingly tight labour market, the arts are finally facing a war for talent. </p> <h2>A culture of burnout</h2> <p>If we consider the role of the “arts manager”, it becomes easy to recognise why arts leaders are abandoning the industry.</p> <p>Arts leaders do not just support the creation of art. They are marketers, customer service specialists, supply chain and logistics experts, grant writers, human resources managers and – increasingly – risk managers. </p> <p>They are trying to bring back audiences post-COVID while juggling a contentious funding landscape that balances the need for revenue with audience, staff and artist <a href="https://overland.org.au/2021/09/the-arts-in-australia-need-to-break-up-with-fossil-fuels/">expectations</a> arts organisations do not partner with corporations that fail to align with organisational values.</p> <p>I am increasingly seeing young people leaving arts jobs for opportunities that recognise their skills and provide secure, better paid work. Art workers are highly valuable in today’s economy where creativity and innovation are seen as <a href="https://australiacouncil.gov.au/news/speeches-and-opinions/creative-skills-in-times-of-crisis-how-the-arts-can-help/">keys to success</a>.</p> <p>This lack of younger workers increases the workloads of senior staff, causing them to be burnt out and leave the sector, too.</p> <p>Staff shortages jeopardise the sector’s ability to get back on its feet after the brutal impact of COVID-19. Those that remain in our arts companies are exhausted, left trying to rebuild programs and audiences with fewer resources. </p> <p>While “<a href="https://theconversation.com/quiet-quitting-why-doing-less-at-work-could-be-good-for-you-and-your-employer-188617">quiet quitting</a>” gets media airtime, others in the sector are asking arts workers to embrace the mantra of “<a href="https://larsenkeys.com.au/2022/09/26/post-covid-or-post-burnout-less-is-necessary/">less is necessary</a>”.</p> <p>Individuals need to take action to address their wellbeing. Still, it is also necessary to consider the systems and structures that underpin our arts organisations and how they impact workers.</p> <h2>Structural issues</h2> <p>One way to address the war for talent is to increase the labour supply. </p> <p>Higher education providers who develop creative talent are lobbying for more resources to expand programs and are pushing for changes to the Job Ready graduate scheme that <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-inequity-of-job-ready-graduates-for-students-must-be-brought-to-a-quick-end-heres-how-183808">imposes higher costs</a> on arts and humanities graduates. </p> <p>The latest <a href="https://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=14754">Graduate Outcome Survey</a> shows that the employment outcomes of creative arts and arts and humanities graduates have increased over 20% since 2019. The high rates of graduate employability aligns with Australia’s historically low unemployment rate, but also demonstrates the value creative skills now hold in the broader economy.</p> <p>What these positive statistics do not tell us, however, is the working conditions of those employed. </p> <p>The arts are the original gig economy. Of the over 80% of arts and humanities graduates employed six months after graduation, how many earn a living wage? How many work in the arts? How many recent creative arts graduates are juggling multiple short-term contracts simultaneously to build skills, grow networks and cope with cost of living increases? </p> <p>As Australia’s labour market tightens, arts workers are realising they can take their skills to better paid jobs with secure contracts, in fields such as health, technology and management consulting.</p> <p>Unless arts organisations respond by providing similar security and career paths, the departure of talented workers will only continue. </p> <p>This loss of staff will not only impact the ability of organisations to operate today, but will also influence the make-up of arts organisations in the future. </p> <p>When only those who can afford to work under precarious conditions remain, the ability of the sector to attract and retain leaders from diverse communities <a href="https://www.artshub.com.au/news/features/how-do-we-stop-losing-artists-from-the-sector-2578669/">decreases</a>. </p> <h2>Decent work</h2> <p>Arts leaders eagerly await the launch of a new <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-national-cultural-policy-is-an-opportunity-for-a-radical-rethinking-of-the-importance-of-culture-in-australia-188720">National Cultural Policy</a>, hoping for significant change in how the arts are valued. </p> <p>Yet arts organisations need to also get their own house in order. </p> <p>Sustainable arts careers mean <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-crisis-of-a-career-in-culture-why-sustaining-a-livelihood-in-the-arts-is-so-hard-171732">decent work</a>. This means structural changes in how arts workers are employed, a shift away from the reliance on volunteers and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/why-is-a-major-sydney-arts-festival-working-with-google-to-offer-an-unpaid-internship-20220516-p5als1.html">incorrect appointment of unpaid interns</a>, low-wage casual or fixed-term roles to more secure and fairly paid employment. </p> <p>Many in the sector are championing change. The National Association for the Visual Arts is campaigning to <a href="https://visualarts.net.au/news-opinion/2022/recognise-artists-workers/">recognise artists as workers</a>, highlighting the need for an award to support this group that often falls under the industrial relations radar. The music sector has made similar calls for minimum wages for artists, <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/paying-musicians-a-minimum-wage-would-kill-live-music-tote-owner-20220923-p5bkgw.html">yet face critics</a>. </p> <p>The pandemic showed us how important the arts are to our lives. For the arts to continue to play a vital role in our national identity and represent our diverse communities, the sector must be funded appropriately. </p> <p>It is also essential organisations create safe, secure and viable jobs for arts workers. </p> <p>If the industry can only exist by systematically exploiting workers, then the war for talent will be lost.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/junior-staff-are-finding-better-contracts-senior-staff-are-burning-out-the-arts-are-losing-the-war-for-talent-194174" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Art

Soup on Van Gogh and graffiti on Warhol: climate activists follow the long history of museums as a site of protest

<p>Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans at the National Gallery of Australia are just the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/nov/09/climate-activists-target-andy-warhols-campbells-soup-cans-at-australias-national-gallery">latest artistic target</a> of climate protesters, who have been throwing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/14/just-stop-oil-activists-throw-soup-at-van-goghs-sunflowers">soup</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/climate-protesters-throw-mashed-potatoes-at-monet-painting/2022/10/23/cc39e636-52f0-11ed-ac8b-08bbfab1c5a5_story.html">mashed potatoes</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/climate-protesters-throw-mashed-potatoes-at-monet-painting/2022/10/23/cc39e636-52f0-11ed-ac8b-08bbfab1c5a5_story.html">cake</a> at art worth millions of dollars.</p> <p>The actions have received a <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/in-doha-four-museum-directors-talk-the-climate-protests-1234644472/">muted response</a> from some museum directors, but the protesters know exactly what they are doing. </p> <p>As the activists who threw soup on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers <a href="https://www.frieze.com/article/interview-just-stop-oil">said, "</a>We know that civil resistance works. History has shown us that."</p> <p>Indeed, there is a long history of museums and art being used for political protest.</p> <h2>For women’s suffrage and women artists</h2> <p>In 1914, suffragette Mary Richardson <a href="https://womensarttours.com/slashing-venus-suffragettes-and-vandalism/">slashed</a> the canvas of Velázquez’s Rokeby Venus at London’s National Gallery. </p> <p>Richardson wanted to attract publicity to Emmeline Pankhurst’s imprisonment for her suffragette actions. Richardson selected this painting in part because of its value, and because of “the way men visitors gaped at it all day long”.</p> <p>Her tactics are credited as <a href="https://www.surfacemag.com/articles/just-stop-oil-protests-museums-environmental-activism/">motivating</a> Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil.</p> <p>Since 1985, the <a href="https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/25207/1/Camillabrownpaper.pdf">Guerrilla Girls</a> have been exposing sexual and racial discrimination in the art world.</p> <p>Their actions have usually occurred at the outskirts of museums: in museum foyers, on nearby billboards and on New York City buses. Perhaps their most famous work <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/guerrilla-girls-do-women-have-to-be-naked-to-get-into-the-met-museum-p78793">asked</a>: “do women have to be naked to get into the Met Museum?”</p> <h2>Against corporate sponsorship and artwashing</h2> <p><a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/decolonize-this-place-kanders-whitney-nine-weeks-of-art-and-action-12207/">Decolonize this Place</a> brings together campaigns against racial and economic inequality. </p> <p>They organised a campaign beginning in 2018 targeting the then vice-chair of New York’s Whitney Museum, Warren B. Kander, whose company sold tear gas that had reportedly been used against asylum seekers along the US-Mexico border. </p> <p>The campaign’s first event was held in the museum’s foyer. <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/no-space-profiteer-state-violence-decolonize-place-protests-whitney-vice-chair-warren-b-kanders-11507/">Protesters burned sage</a> to mimic tear gas, which wafted through the lobby until the fire department arrived. </p> <p>The protesters argued Kander’s business interests meant he was not fit to lead a globally significant cultural heritage institution that sought relevance for a wide and diverse public constituency. Kander <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/arts/whitney-warren-kanders-resigns.html">resigned</a> from the museum’s board in 2019.</p> <p>Since 2018, artist <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/sackler-nan-goldin-victoria-albert-1704450">Nan Goldin</a> and her “Opioid Activist Group” have been staging “die-ins” at the museum to protest against the galleries named for sponsorship from the Sackler family.</p> <p>The Sackler family business is Purdue Pharma, infamous for OxyContin, a major drug in the US <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/03/1084163626/purdue-sacklers-oxycontin-settlement">opioid crisis</a>. </p> <p>Activists have targeted galleries around the world, and so far the Sackler name has been removed from galleries including the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/arts/sackler-family-museums.html">Louvre</a>, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/mar/25/british-museum-removes-sackler-family-name-from-galleries">British Museum</a>, the <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/sackler-name-change-guggenheim-museum-2110993">Guggenheim</a> and, as of last month, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/oct/01/campaigners-celebrate-as-va-severs-sackler-links-over-opioids-cash">Victoria and Albert Museum</a>.</p> <h2>For the return of cultural artefacts</h2> <p>The highest-profile actions against the British Museum have targeted its rejection of calls to return objects including the <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/parthenon-marbles-british-museum-protest-1234632365/">Parthenon Marbles</a> of Greece, the <a href="https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/british-museum-closes-gallery-in-response-to-protesters">Benin Bronzes</a> from modern-day Nigeria, and the <a href="https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/british-museum-closes-gallery-in-response-to-protesters">Gweagal shield</a> from Australia. </p> <p>In 2018, a group of activists performed a “<a href="https://camd.org.au/stolen-goods-tour-of-bm-protest/">Stolen Goods Tour</a>” of the museum. Participants from across the world gave a different story to what visitors read in the museum’s object labels and catalogues, as the activist tour guides explained their continuing connections with objects in the collection.</p> <p>The tour did not convince the museum to return cultural items, but drew extensive global attention to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/11/nigeria-benin-repatriate-bronzes-smithsonian">ongoing campaigns</a>seeking restitution and repatriation.</p> <h2>In the culture wars</h2> <p>Protests using art and museums aren’t just the domain of the left.</p> <p>In 1969, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Museums-and-Social-Activism-Engaged-Protest/Message/p/book/9780415658539">an arsonist destroyed</a> a display at the National Museum of American History that commemorated Martin Luther King Jr, who had been recently assassinated. The perpetrator was never identified.</p> <p>In 2017, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/18/noose-found-hanging-washington-museum">nooses</a> were left at various museums of the Smithsonian, including The National Museum of African American History and Culture. No groups ever came forward to claim responsibility or express a motive, but the noose is a potent and divisive symbol of segregation and racially motivated violence.</p> <p>In December 2021, doors to the Museum of Australian Democracy in Canberra were <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-30/act-protesters-set-old-parliament-house-on-fire/100731444">set alight</a> twice by protesters with a number of grievances, including opposition to COVID-19 vaccines.</p> <p>The museum’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-20/multimillion-dollar-repair-bill-for-old-parliament-house-fire/100770268">director said</a> the “assault on the building” would force the museum to rethink its commitment to being “as open as possible, representing all that is good about Australian democracy”, and at the same time keeping it protected.</p> <h2>‘Direct action works’</h2> <p>The past two decades have seen a surge of art-focused demonstrations. </p> <p>In 2019, Decolonize this Place and Goldin’s anti-Sackler coalition met with members of 30 other groups in front of Andy Warhol’s “The Last Supper” (1986) at the Whitney. </p> <p>They were there to celebrate the Tate Museum in London and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, who had announced they would stop taking funding from the Sackler family. One participant cried “<a href="https://hyperallergic.com/491418/decolonize-this-place-nine-weeks-launch/">direct action works!</a>” </p> <p>Even when protests at museums and art achieve less concrete outcomes than this, they remain central tools for building public awareness around political and social issues. </p> <p>It is unlikely actions against museums and art will subside anytime soon.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/soup-on-van-gogh-and-graffiti-on-warhol-climate-activists-follow-the-long-history-of-museums-as-a-site-of-protest-193009" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Art

43 vintage photos of Queen Elizabeth II before she became Queen

<p>Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was the United Kingdom's longest reigning monarch, having ascended the throne in 1952 at age 25. Following the sad news of her passing at the age of 96, here are some snapshots of what her life was like before her coronation.</p> <h2>1926: Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary is born</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of York was born on April 21, 1926. She’s pictured here with her mother, Elizabeth, the Duchess of York, who was the wife of Prince Albert “Bertie” of York. Since Bertie was the second-born son of the reigning monarch, King George V, no one, and least of all the princess, herself, had any clue Elizabeth would one day be queen. Here, she’s just a sweet firstborn daughter of the “spare” heir.</p> <h2>A mum, a dad and a newborn princess</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>When Prince Albert (called “Bertie” by his friends and family) married Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, the two became the Duke and Duchess of York. Here, the Duke and Duchess are pictured with their newborn, Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York.</p> <h2>1927: Lilibet at 14 months</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-3.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>When Princess Elizabeth was learning to speak, she had trouble pronouncing her name, referring to herself as “Lilibet,” and the name stuck. Lilibet was a happy and friendly child and the darling of her grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary. Outgoing and plucky, Lilibet was one of the few people on the planet who wasn’t intimidated by the man she called “Grandpa England,” whom she led by his beard as if he were a horse, according to TIME.</p> <h2>Just out of the terrible twos</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-4.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>In this sweet family portrait from 1929, the Duke of York smiles at his toddler daughter, who sits on her mum’s lap.</p> <h2>Daddy’s in military garb; a princess salutes</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-5.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>In this photo taken the summer of 1931, the Duke exits the car in military garb after his wife and daughter, while Princess Elizabeth salutes members of the military.</p> <h2>1932: Still a cosy, normal childhood</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-6.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>Arriving at the Royal Tournament in 1932, Princess Elizabeth was dressed like the proper princess that she was, but she generally lived a quiet life outside the spotlight. Until the birth of her sister, Princess Margaret Ann, she played with the children of businessmen and doctors, as opposed to the children of royals. Princess Margaret was a playful influence on her sister, who was, as is often the case with older siblings, more conscientious and responsible.</p> <h2>Playing house</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-7.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>In their childhood, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret had an adorable miniature house that was a gift from the people of Wales. In this 1933 photo, the two princesses pose with their pups and their parents outside the tiny house.</p> <h2>The Princess bridesmaid</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-8.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>Young Princess Elizabeth was a bridesmaid at the November 1934 wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent (a younger brother of George) to Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. Elizabeth is pictured here with her dad, the Duke of York, but what’s most notable about this photo is that it was taken the same day Elizabeth first met her future husband, Philip Mountbatten, who was Prince of Greece and Denmark at the time.</p> <h2>Kids Day at the Horse Show</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-9.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>The Duke and Duchess of York and Princess Elizabeth arrive at the Richmond Horse Show for an array of Children’s Day events on June 14, 1935.</p> <h2>A family portrait from 1936</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-10.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>As it turned out, 1936 would be an especially important year for this family, though they couldn’t have known it at the moment this photo was snapped. Earlier that year, King George V had died, and his firstborn son, King Edward VIII, had ascended to the throne. But it wasn’t to last.</p> <h2>Everything was about to change</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-11.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>Pictured with two of her Corgis in 1936, Princess Elizabeth likely has little awareness of the constitutional crisis brewing as a result of King Edward VIII’s romance with the still-married, once-divorced American, Wallis Simpson. Her divorce, among other things, made her an inappropriate king’s “consort,” but Edward declared his intention to marry her and make her his queen. By the end of 1936, Edward would abdicate after learning the British people wouldn’t be able to support their King’s marriage to a divorcee, leaving Elizabeth’s father, Bertie, as King (King George VI) and Elizabeth as the presumptive heir. One thing that hasn’t changed, even today? Elizabeth’s love of Corgis.</p> <h2>A newly crowned King and his family</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-12.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>This photo was taken on the balcony of Buckingham Palace just after the coronation of King George VI on May 12, 1937. From left to right, we see the new Queen Elizabeth, Princess Elizabeth, the Dowager Queen Mary, Princess Margaret, and the newly crowned King.</p> <h2>New King, Queen and heir presumptive</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-13.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>When this photo was taken in 1937, King George VI had just recently ascended the throne. Princess Elizabeth was now the heir presumptive. That isn’t the same thing as an heir apparent; there was still the theoretical possibility that the King would father a male child and, in those days, a younger brother would have taken Elizabeth’s place in the line of succession. This rule, known as “male primogeniture,” ended during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.</p> <h2>The future Queen and her sister at play</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-14.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>Princess Margaret famously expressed her “sympathy” for what lay ahead of her dear older sister.</p> <h2>A day at the theatre</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-15.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>King George VI, accompanied by his wife, Queen Elizabeth, and their daughter, Princess Elizabeth, arrive at the Coliseum Theatre in London for a charity matinee on March 27, 1938.</p> <h2>Not the cheap seats</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-16.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and Princess Elizabeth are seen attending the theatre on March 27, 1939, to benefit The King George VI Pension Fund for Actors and Actresses.</p> <h2>The royal wave</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-17.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>On June 22, 1939, the royal family, having just returned from their royal Canadian tour, appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.</p> <h2>A visit to Dartmouth Naval College</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-18.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>In this photo, taken during a July 1939 visit to Dartmouth Naval College, Princess Elizabeth plants a tree while her father looks on and holds the hand of Elizabeth’s younger sister, Princess Margaret.</p> <h2>A photo of the King taking a photo</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-19.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>At an August 1939 event at Abergeldie Castle, which is not far from Scotland’s Balmoral Castle, King George VI, wearing a kilt, holds a camera to his face. He was an avid photographer, a hobby Queen Elizabeth II adopted.</p> <h2>Elizabeth as a lover of animals</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-20.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>Queen Elizabeth II was one of, if not the, most famous animal lovers in the world. Here she’s seen in 1939 feeding one of the elephants at the London Zoo. Later in life, Elizabeth received one as a gift from the President of Cameroon in 1972.</p> <h2>A closely-knit family</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-21.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>This photo, taken in 1942, shows the royal family, including Princess Elizabeth, 16, doing some knitting for the British troops.</p> <h2>All the pretty horses</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-22.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>Queen Elizabeth started riding at age three and owned many horses throughout her life. Here she is in 1943, at age 17, with one of her many horses during Harvest Time at Sandringham in Norfolk.</p> <h2>A princess’s first tour</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-23.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>On April 4, 1944, Princess Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth, and King George VI stood in a scout car during an inspection of royal artillery units. It was Princess Elizabeth’s first full-length tour with her parents.</p> <h2>The heir presumptive turns 18</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-24.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>The 18th birthday of an heir (apparent or presumptive) signifies the heir could become monarch at any time without the need for a regent to act on his/her behalf. Here, Elizabeth answers a telephone greeting on her 18th birthday, April 21, 1944.</p> <h2>Young Elizabeth follows in her father’s footsteps</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-25.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>In this photo of the royal family taken on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in 1945, Princess Elizabeth wears a military uniform, following in the footsteps of her dad.</p> <h2>1945: A Princess does her military duty</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-26.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>It took a lot of cajoling, but eventually, Elizabeth got her father, King George VI to agree to allow her to join the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II, for which she donned coveralls and trained as a mechanic and truck driver and was known as “Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor.” According to History, the Queen is the only female royal family member to have entered the armed forces. She may also be the only royal female who can change a spark plug.</p> <h2>A laugh between Dad and daughter</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-27.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>Here, we see the king sharing a laugh with his oldest daughter in 1946.</p> <h2>The Princess does her duty for fashion</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-28.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>The current Princesses of the United Kingdom are not the first to have been on almost constant style-watch. Here, Princess Elizabeth is pictured in 1946 modelling what can only be described as a truly fabulous, fashion-forward hat.</p> <h2>1947: A future Queen’s promise</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-29.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>On April 21, 1947, on the occasion of her 21st birthday, Princess Elizabeth announces her intention to serve as Queen for life (when the time comes) and promises her loyalty and faithfulness in serving. Some say this speech was her commitment to never abdicate.</p> <h2>Meet the (royal) family</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-30.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>In 1947, Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, RN, asked Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth for her hand in marriage. She accepted. This photo was specially posed by the royal family in connection with the upcoming wedding.</p> <h2>Later that same day…</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-31.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>The royal family sat for a more intimate photo, just the four of them.</p> <h2>Pre-wedding jitters?</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-32.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>The bride-to-be, Princess Elizabeth, emerges from her carriage as King George VI looks on. The wedding day had some hiccups, which includes the “tiara incident” that occurred just before this photo was taken.</p> <h2>Wedding day</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-33.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>On November 20, 1947, Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten were married at Westminster Abbey. To marry Elizabeth, Philip, who was born into the royal families of Greece and Denmark, had to renounce his birth titles (Prince of Greece and Denmark). In return, his father-in-law-to-be created him Duke of Edinburgh, Baron Greenwich, and Earl of Merioneth.</p> <h2>Post-royal wedding photo</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-34.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>On November 20, 1947, Princess Elizabeth married the Duke of Edinburgh (previously Philip Mountbatten, the former Prince of Greece and Denmark). Here, the future Queen stands between her father, King George VI, and her husband, who is chatting amiably with his new mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth; next to her is the dowager Queen Mary.</p> <h2>1948: The pregnant Princess Elizabeth</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-35.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>During the summer of 1948, Princess Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret, are snapped arriving at Ballater Station en route to Balmoral for a family vacation (or “holiday,” as they say in England). At this time, Elizabeth is six months pregnant with her first child, Prince Charles.</p> <h2>Meet His Royal Highness, Prince Charles</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-36.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>HRH Prince Charles was born at Buckingham Palace on November 14, 1948. In this photo, we see four generations of the royal family: the newborn Prince Charles; Prince Charles’s mother, then-Princess Elizabeth (holding Charles); Elizabeth’s father, King George VI; and King George VI’s mother, the dowager Queen Mary.</p> <h2>Grandpa’s pride and joy</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-37.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p>King George VI watches as Princess Elizabeth assists baby Prince Charles as he walks in early 1950. Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth stand to the right, gazing at the future Prince of Wales.</p> <h2>1950: The Princess and her toddler</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-38.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>In September 1950, Princess Elizabeth is seen with Prince Charles, age 2, on the train on their way to visit her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral in Scotland.</p> <h2>A family photo from Scotland</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-39.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>In this photo taken on the grounds of Balmoral Castle in Scotland in late summer 1951, King George VI is on the far left and Queen Elizabeth is on the right; in the centre are Princess Elizabeth, her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, and young Prince Charles, who is sitting on the deer sculpture. Princess Margaret is in the background.</p> <h2>1951: Princess Elizabeth and her baby daughter</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-40.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>Princess Anne is the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Born Her Royal Highness Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise of Edinburgh on August 15, 1950, Anne will later become Princess Royal, a title the monarch may bestow on his/her eldest daughter.</p> <h2>The Princess cuts a rug</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-41.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>In 1951, during the Royal Tour, which she went on in place of her ailing father, King George VI, Princess Elizabeth dances a traditional Canadian square dance at Government House, Ottowa.</p> <h2>A last look at the Princess</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-42.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>On February 2, 1952, Colonel Mervyn Cowie opens the visitor’s book for Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh to sign upon their arrival at Nairobi National Park for a tour, during which they slept in a hotel built as a treehouse. Philip is chatting in the background with Cowie’s daughter, Mitzie. Four days later, King George VI would be dead, and the Princess would ascend the throne as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.</p> <h2>Long live the Queen</h2> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/liz-43.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>On February 7, 1952, Elizabeth, made her first appearance on English soil as Her Majesty, the Queen. She wore black because she was mourning the death of her father, King George VI. He had passed away two days earlier.</p> <p><strong>This article by Lauren Cahn first appeared </strong><strong>on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/true-stories-lifestyle/history/43-vintage-photos-of-queen-elizabeth-ii-before-she-became-queen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a> and is reproduced here with permission.</strong></p> <p><em>Images: HISTORIA/SHUTTERSTOCK</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Male artists dominate galleries. Our research explored if it’s because ‘women don’t paint very well’ – or just discrimination

<p>In the art world, there is a gaping gender imbalance when it comes to male and female artists.</p> <p>In the National Gallery of Australia, <a href="https://nga.gov.au/knowmyname/about/">only 25%</a> of the Australian art collection is work by women. </p> <p>This is far better than the international standard where <a href="https://nmwa.org/support/advocacy/get-facts/">roughly 90%</a> of all artworks exhibited in major collections are by men. The <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artwork/georgia-okeeffe-jimson-weed-slash-white-flower-no-1">most expensive</a> painting by a female artist – Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 – does not even rank among the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_paintings#List_of_highest_prices_paid">100 most expensive paintings</a> ever sold. </p> <p>Why is women’s art valued so much less than art by men?</p> <p>Some economists <a href="https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2005/02/why_do_women_su.html">have suggested</a> the greater burden of child rearing and other domestic duties means women have had fewer opportunities to succeed in the art world.</p> <p>Others have blamed the “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/report-names-laggers-as-women-artists-win-parity-20191029-p534vy.html">quality</a>” of women’s art. In 2013, German painter <a href="https://observer.com/2013/01/georg-baselitz-says-women-dont-paint-very-well/">Georg Baselitz said</a> “Women don’t paint very well. It’s a fact. The market doesn’t lie.”</p> <p>We wanted to know: is work by women generally valued differently to work by men because it is of a lower artistic quality, or is it just discrimination?</p> <h2>Which painting do you like better?</h2> <p>In <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268122002669?dgcid=author">our new research</a> we showed average Americans pairs of paintings, painted between 1625 and 1979, side by side. Each of the pairs are similar in style, motif and period, but one work was by a male artist and the other by a female artist.</p> <p>Participants were in two groups. One group saw the artists’ names and the other didn’t. We wanted to see whether more people among those who saw artist names preferred the male painting.</p> <p>If seeing the names – and thereby inferring artist gender – causes more people to prefer male paintings, then there is gender discrimination.</p> <p>Before we tell you the results, think about what you would have expected. And <a href="https://rmit.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e4JBs0wxKeftYF0">take a look</a> at our actual painting pairs and see if you can guess which is the male one (hint: you can’t).</p> <p>We were pleasantly surprised to find our participants did not give a hoot about artist gender. In both groups, 54% preferred the painting from a woman.</p> <p>We repeated this experiment, this time rewarding participants if they could accurately guess the preferences of others – the people in the first experiment. </p> <p>Again, 54% of the people in each group picked the female paintings.</p> <h2>Which painting do you think is worth more?</h2> <p>Next we wanted to find out if people picked male paintings for reasons other than personal taste. Art isn’t just bought and sold on aesthetic value: it is a speculative market, where art is treated as an investment.</p> <p>We conducted two more experiments. In one, participants were rewarded if they picked the more expensive painting. In the other, they were rewarded to pick the one painted by the more famous artist.</p> <p>Gender discrimination emerged in both these experiments. When asked to predict the value of and creator fame of paintings, people suddenly swung towards picking male artists. Preference for female paintings fell by 10% and 9% in these two new experiments.</p> <p>Gender discrimination in art comes not from personal aesthetic preference – Baselitz’ argument that women “don’t paint very well” – but people thinking paintings are more valuable and famous when painted by male artists.</p> <h2>A question of fame</h2> <p>In our fifth experiment, we again rewarded participants who could correctly guess which painting would be preferred by others. This time everyone saw the names of the artists. But only one group was told which of the two artists was objectively more famous – the male artist in 90% of cases.</p> <p>The group with that information was 14% more likely to pick male paintings. People used fame information to predict the painting others liked better.</p> <p>If women artists were discriminated against just because of their gender we would have seen a higher premium put on the male artists even in questions of aesthetics.</p> <p>Here, discrimination only occured when our participants were asked to assign a monetary value to the art works, or when they were given information about the level of fame of the painter. </p> <p>This means our art appreciators discriminated not on gender, but on something closely associated with gender: fame.</p> <p>And because male artists have, historically, been given <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1574067606010234">more opportunities</a> to become artists – and therefore become famous – artwork by men is perceived as having a higher value.</p> <p>Policy is slowly starting to recognise and target institutional factors that perpetuate male dominance because of historical notions of fame, like the National Gallery of Australia’s <a href="https://knowmyname.nga.gov.au/">Know my Name</a> initiative. </p> <p>Discrimination in the arts exists, but it often comes from people’s beliefs about what others care to discriminate about. The task ahead is to change perceptions of people and institutions who do not discriminate – but merely conform to others’ discrimination.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/male-artists-dominate-galleries-our-research-explored-if-its-because-women-dont-paint-very-well-or-just-discrimination-189221" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Art

How to get the most out of your next art gallery visit

<p dir="ltr">Art galleries and museums are places of splendour and inspiration that can open doors to other worlds, cultures and historic secrets. </p> <p dir="ltr">Despite the joy many experience within the walls of an exhibition, others can find it dull, exhausting and even in some cases, boring. </p> <p dir="ltr">With all this in mind, there are a few ways you can capitalise on your next gallery experience to get the most out of it without being left feeling exhausted by the end of the day. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Don’t try to see everything in one visit</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">When you step inside a gallery, the first impulse many feel is to soak in as much art and culture as you can. </p> <p dir="ltr">Justin Paton, the head curator of international art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, says there's no shame in only looking at the things that really grab your attention. </p> <p dir="ltr">"I think you walk through openly, you walk through curiously, you walk through with your antennae up," he <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/the-art-show/how-to-look-at-a-painting/10826778">told ABC RN's The Art Show</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Look for that physical response — it might be adoration, it might be arousal, it might be revulsion.”</p> <p dir="ltr">"Those bodily cues, those ungovernable responses, are exactly what should make us look twice, make us look a third time.”</p> <p dir="ltr">"See what the wall label says about it, and if that doesn't correspond with the way you're feeling about it, look again, go and find out more."</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Slow down</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Studies have shown that many people tend to zoom their way through galleries, with research finding many people move on after <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-10247-001">less than 30 seconds</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">When you're not rushing through trying to see everything, you can afford to slow down and appreciate the things that speak to you. </p> <p dir="ltr">"If you spend good time with one work it is infinitely more valuable than doing a grainy tour of a museum and coming out exhausted," Paton says.</p> <p dir="ltr">"A great painting will flip switches and unlatch thoughts."</p> <p dir="ltr">This helps when you’re looking at what you’re connecting with, rather than what art or exhibitions you feel like you should be seeing. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Get to know the art</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">When first observing art, we all have the instinct to judge a piece on its immediate appearance, prompting comments such as “I love it” or “I hate it” or “Surely a child could’ve done this”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Resisting this urge will let you connect with the artist and their intentions on a deeper level, and reading more about a certain work will give you a more elaborate insight into an artists’ inspiration. </p> <p dir="ltr">"It's nice to think about artworks as you would think about people: not rushing into a judgement too fast," says Paton.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Lighten up! Don’t take it too seriously </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Alongside the reverence and reflection that comes into art, there is also plenty of room for humour and silliness. </p> <p dir="ltr">"People in the past, they had a sense of humour, they liked to have a joke. They weren't a stuffy, serious culture," says Art historian Mary McGillivray.</p> <p dir="ltr">"When you're looking at a painting and you think, 'That's a bit suspect,' it almost certainly will be.”</p> <p dir="ltr">"There's a lot of penis jokes in art history, let me tell you."</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Do your homework</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">A little planning can go a long way when it comes to your next art gallery visit. </p> <p dir="ltr">Looking at what exhibitions are currently on, utilising digital maps, or even booking in a guided tour will help you get the most out of any museum. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Those tours will give you so much more insight into what you're looking at, and it's way more engaging to hear someone talk about art in a collection that they're interested in," says McGillivray.</p> <p dir="ltr">Public programming can also include art and dementia programs, tactile tours for kids, student learning initiatives, and programs created for, and facilitated by, First Nations people.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Don’t feel like you don’t belong</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">You absolutely do!</p> <p dir="ltr">Public art galleries and museums are open to everyone for a reason: to share a love and appreciation of art, history and culture with as many people as possible. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Galleries are not meant to be elitist, they're not meant to be just for some people to understand and everyone else to stay away from. Everyone deserves to have a go at enjoying those collections," McGillivray says.</p> <p dir="ltr">"You're allowed to talk, you're allowed to laugh, you're allowed to joke, you can walk through really quickly or you can slow down or sit down. There's no right or wrong way."</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Art

Galleries continue to erase women artists in their blockbuster exhibitions

<p>The National Gallery recently <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/press-and-media/press-releases/after-impressionism">announced</a> its summer 2023 exhibition, After Impressionism, claiming the show will celebrate the “towering achievements of Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gaugin and Rodin” among others. The <a href="https://twitter.com/NationalGallery/status/1528729976542986242">response on social media</a> to this announcement was largely, “where are the women?”</p> <p>Some on Twitter offered suggestions of women who should be included in the exhibition, including Suzanne Valadon, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gabriele Münter and Sonia Delaunay, to name just a few. The National Gallery <a href="https://twitter.com/NationalGallery/status/1529758889150930944">tweeted</a> the same text to several of these replies: “We have announced a small number of confirmed loans to the exhibition. This includes Camille Claudel’s Imploration. We will share more loans, including major works by women artists, closer to the opening.” </p> <p>While it remains to be seen what these works will be, it is clear they are not considered integral to the show, or a significant draw for the public, by the gallery. If they were, they would have been mentioned front and centre in the press release. </p> <p>That was accompanied by an image of Cezanne’s <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paul-cezanne-bathers-les-grandes-baigneuses">Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses)</a>, which depicts a group of nude women. Clearly in 2022, the easiest way for a woman to get on to the walls of the National Gallery is <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/guerrilla-girls-do-women-have-to-be-naked-to-get-into-the-met-museum-p78793">still</a> by being nude.</p> <p>The National Gallery is somewhat of an outlier among global museums in its continued failure to broaden the narratives it tells through its collection and exhibitions. But its focus on extremely well-known white male artists demonstrates what it considers to be innovative and important – and therefore what it does not. </p> <h2>When women have been blockbusters</h2> <p>The expectation that “blockbuster” shows be about household-name artists is a vicious cycle – artists cannot become household names if they’re not included in big exhibitions. The lack of women in traditional art historical scholarship has led to the belief that there simply weren’t many, or indeed any, important women artists working in Europe in this period, which is entirely false – as the backlash on Twitter highlighted. Yet museums still seem unable to recover them into the canon.</p> <p>The idea that only household names sell tickets has also been repeatedly debunked over the past decade. The best example is New York’s Guggenheim Museum’s 2018 <a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/hilma-af-klint">exhibition</a> of the works of Swedish artist Hilma af Klint, the first major retrospective of the artist’s works in the US – and the first time most people attending the show had seen or heard of her. The exhibition became the museum’s <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/hilma-af-klint-breaks-records-guggenheim-1522192?utm_content=buffer3ce14&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=news">best-attended show ever</a>.</p> <p>The National Portrait Gallery’s 2019-20 show <a href="https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/pre-raphaelite-sisters/exhibition/">Pre-Raphelite Sisters</a> and Madrid’s Museo del Prado’s 2020-21 show <a href="https://www.museodelprado.es/en/whats-on/exhibition/uninvited-guests-episodes-on-women-ideology-and/197d4831-41f1-414d-dbdf-5ffd7be4cc3f">Uninvited Guests: Episodes on Women, Ideology and the Visual Arts in Spain (1833-1931)</a> both foregrounded women in traditionally male art movements and periods. </p> <p>Both were the recipients of <a href="https://www.frieze.com/article/pre-raphaelite-sisters-national-portrait-gallery-review-ode-sisterly-solidarity">some</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/19/prados-first-post-lockdown-show-reignites-debate-over-misogyny">criticism</a>, largely arguing that the curators had not gone far enough in centring work actually made by women, rather than simply depicting them. Both shows, however, represent steps towards imagining new methods of disrupting traditional art history narratives. </p> <h2>Still woefully underrepresented in permanent collections</h2> <p>In the autumn and winter of 2020, the National Gallery hosted its first exhibition headlining a female artist. It was a retrospective of the works of the remarkable Renaissance artist <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/past/artemisia">Artemisia Gentileschi</a>, one of the few women whose work is held in the gallery’s permanent collection. </p> <p>Women artists are woefully underrepresented in the permanent collections of major museums around the world – these are the works of art that are owned by museums and hung on the walls year-round, not just during special exhibitions.</p> <p>The National Gallery, which boasts a collection of more than 2,000 works, owns only <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/jan/31/female-artists-are-finally-in-our-galleries-lets-keep-them-there">24 works</a> by women, representing just <a href="https://artuk.org/discover/stories/the-eight-women-artists-of-the-national-gallery">eight</a> women artists. While this ratio is remarkably bad, the National Gallery is not alone in having a profound imbalance. </p> <p>The arts publications Artnet and arts podcast In Other Words partnered in 2019 to <a href="https://news.artnet.com/womens-place-in-the-art-world/visualizing-the-numbers-see-infographics-1654084">analyse</a> the representation of women in the collections of American museums. They found that between 2008 and 2018, just 14% of work in museum exhibitions was by women and just 11% of museum acquisitions were works by women. These acquisitions and exhibitions are heavily skewed towards modern and contemporary art. </p> <p>Women artists working before 1900 are far less represented in museum collections. In some cases, their works are in smaller museums or in private collections and, in others, they are untraced or lost. This makes including their work in exhibitions more difficult because it can be harder to find.</p> <p>Yet despite the fact that women’s work has been less reliably preserved throughout history, a great deal of it still exists. Museums that hide behind the excuse of a “lack” of work by women are perpetuating a lie that has been debunked by innumerable feminist art historians since Linda Nochlin’s famous 1971 essay, <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/retrospective/why-have-there-been-no-great-women-artists-4201/">Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?</a></p> <p>Writing in 2015, art historian Griselda Pollock <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-national-gallery-is-erasing-women-from-the-history-of-art-42505">explained</a> evidence of women artists is “there in black and white” in exhibition and sales records in the 19th century. “This is the primary evidence. It cannot be contradicted. But it has been consistently ignored by 20th-century art historians and 21st-century museum curators.”</p> <p>The National Gallery’s continued reliance on outdated art history is a failure of its duty as a steward of the British public’s art collection. Museums, particularly those like the National Gallery which receive significant public funds, have the responsibility to accurately communicate the history and relevance of the objects they own. They should also continue to innovate and respond to cultural changes. </p> <p>A museum whose collection is less than 1% female is hardly representative of a country whose population is 50% female. Nor is it representative of a history of art which, while still not offering equal opportunities for men and women, certainly fostered an abundance of pioneering women artists.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/galleries-continue-to-erase-women-artists-in-their-blockbuster-exhibitions-184988" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Art

A list of must-see museums in Florence

<p dir="ltr">If there’s one thing that Italy has in abundance, it is art, culture and a rich history. </p> <p dir="ltr">While the capital of Rome is home to a lot of incredible galleries and museums, the city of Florence is full of galleries that house some of the most important artworks in the world. </p> <p dir="ltr">With museums showcasing original works from Da Vinci, Botticelli and Michelangelo, as well as the iconic Statue of David, these are the galleries that are not to be missed in Florence. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Uffizi Gallery</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">This three-storey museum is home to one of the largest collections of both Middle Age and Renaissance art in the world. </p> <p dir="ltr">The U-shaped building is filled with paintings, sculptures, drawings, and archives, as well as boasting extraordinary architecture. </p> <p dir="ltr">You can see some early works from Da Vinci and Michelangelo, as well as Botticelli’s iconic The Birth of Venus.</p> <p dir="ltr">Uffizi also boasts an impressive rooftop cafe which showcases stunning views of Florence. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVfnsqdNgnD/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVfnsqdNgnD/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Gallerie degli Uffizi (@uffizigalleries)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Accademia Gallery</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Located on a quiet street near the city centre, the Accademia Gallery, or Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze, is where you will find the incredible Statue of David by Michelangelo.</p> <p dir="ltr">Known for its stunning collection of Renaissance art, the Accademia Gallery is a must visit gallery to discover the wonders of Italian art history. </p> <p dir="ltr">Thousands flock to the gallery everyday to observe the sheer wonder and beauty of the Statue of David, along with other lesser known (but still as extraordinary) marble works by the same artist. </p> <p dir="ltr">This understated gallery is definitely one to make time for.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdbEEsGqosu/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdbEEsGqosu/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Galleria Accademia Firenze (@galleriaaccademiafirenze)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Palazzo Vecchio</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">The Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence, which holds a replica of the Statue of David in the city centre. </p> <p dir="ltr">The gallery offers Roman ruins, a Mediaeval fortress and amazing Renaissance chambers and paintings for visitors to travel through time via the astonishing works on offer. </p> <p dir="ltr">As well as boasting an impressive art collection, the Palazzo Vecchio also showcases a series of secret routes and tunnels underneath the building that have huge archeological importance to the history of Italy. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CeLXDYNjk5i/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CeLXDYNjk5i/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Loris Fiasconi 📷 (@lorismaker)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Palazzo Medici Riccardi</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">The Palazzo Medici Riccardi showcases the impressive history of the Medici family, who were a political dynasty in Florence during the first half of the 15th century. </p> <p dir="ltr">All the artworks on show were once collected by the family, before being donated to the public. </p> <p dir="ltr">As well as the permanent collection of Renaissance works, the gallery also often showcases a series of temporary exhibits to help expand the knowledge of art history in Italy. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaVEDQULm9-/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaVEDQULm9-/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by italia_in_art (@italia_in_art)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Art

Elvis at the movies

<p>‘The movies’ have always been part of Elvis’s story. The drama and beauty of the golden age of American cinema shaped young Elvis’s creative talent and sense of style, Hollywood became the focus of his own stellar career for a decade, and since his early death in 1977, Elvis has been brought to life on screen many times, most spectacularly this year with the release of Baz Luhrmann’s much anticipated biopic <em>Elvis</em>.</p> <p>Elvis was born in the wake of the Great Depression, on 8 January 1935, to adoring parents Vernon and Gladys. Growing up in rural Mississippi, in a railroad town named Tupelo, Elvis didn’t have much money to play with – but he and best friend Sam Bell made their own fun by sneaking into the movies at Tupelo’s Lyric Theatre. Bell has described the Lyric in the days of segregation laws, when the balcony seating was partitioned into Black and white sections. Elvis and Sam would sneak through the separate entrances and once inside, Elvis would “climb on over” so the boys could sit together and share their “ten cent popcorn”, sitting in the aisle watching Westerns. (Sam Bell interviewed in 2016.)</p> <p>One of Elvis’s earliest teenage jobs was ushering in Loew’s State Theatre, in 1950 and again in 1951, in Memphis. The little Presley family made the move to Memphis, a cosmopolitan Southern city bustling with post-war industry and a vibrant cultural scene, when Elvis was 13 years old. Elvis studied the faces and expressions of 1950s screen idols such as Tony Curtis and Marlon Brando, observing not only their methods of conveying emotion and connecting with audience, but also their distinctive fashion and 1950s brand of masculine beauty.</p> <p>Fresh out of high school, in mid-1954 Elvis had his first hit single with ‘That’s All Right’ on the innovative Memphis label Sun Records. He soon caught the attention of a canny talent manager known as ‘the Colonel’ Tom Parker. Parker moved swiftly to take control of Elvis’s blossoming career and brokered the sale of his contract to major label RCA Victor in November 1955. By March 1956, Parker had Elvis in Hollywood screen-testing for powerhouse Paramount producer Hal B. Wallis. Elvis had already appeared on The Dorsey Brother’s (television) <em>Stage Show</em> six times by this stage (he would go on to do a further five appearances in 1956 alone, on shows hosted by Milton Berle, Steve Allen, and Ed Sullivan). As Wallis’s Paramount colleague Allan Weiss put it: “We had all seen him on television, the swivelling hips below the bottom of the screen, unseen. But it wasn’t just sex; it was an indefinable energy that transcended that. The question was, would it show on film?”</p> <p>Elvis had been sent a script for <em>The Rainmaker</em>, in production at Paramount with Burt Lancaster and Katherine Hepburn. He performed two short scenes, and also lip-synched a performance of ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ for the screentest. Weiss got the answer to his question: “We knew instantly that we were in the presence of a phenomenon; electricity bounced off the walls of the sound stage.” Elvis was “absolute dynamite”.</p> <p>Paramount signed Elvis for a multi-picture deal immediately, despite not yet having a script ready. Parker had negotiated in the contract that Elvis do one film a year with another studio – this clause was utilised straight away to enable Elvis to get started on a film with 20th Century Fox while Paramount prepared a script.</p> <p><em>Love Me Tender </em>was released just eight months after those first Hollywood meetings. The film was a civil war era drama, in which Elvis plays honourable and guileless Clint Reno, caught in a complicated love triangle with his young bride (played by Debra Paget) and his older brother Vance (played by Richard Egan). At the end of the film, Clint is killed in a dramatic shootout. This ending, however, was so displeasing to young audiences in test screenings that the studio was forced to ‘bring back’ Elvis, awkwardly superimposing him singing the title song over the final scene. In a private screening held the day before the film’s public release, at Elvis’s former place of employment, Loew’s State Theatre in Memphis, Gladys cried at her son’s death scene.</p> <p>Elvis aspired to become a serious dramatic actor, he is said to have known all the dialogue from the generation-defining hit film <em>Rebel Without a Cause (1955)</em>. From the very beginning though, music was deemed essential to any production designed around the young superstar.</p> <p>Even despite a substantial period of pause during his Army service (approximately March 1958 – March 1960), Elvis pumped out an astonishing 31 features between 1956 and 1969. Certain early films stand out for their relatively high quality. <em>King Creole (1958)</em> for example is one of his most critically admired films, directed by legendary Hungarian-American auteur Michael Curtiz of <em>Casablanca (1942)</em> fame. The film is set in the nightclubs and back alleys of New Orleans, as Elvis’s hot-headed Danny Fisher grapples with the temptations of organised crime and a droll temptress played by Carolyn Jones. The excellent soundtrack features skilled song-writing duo Leiber and Stoller, including an evocative title song and a sultry number titled ‘Trouble’, reprised by Elvis for his ground-breaking 1968 NBC television special.</p> <p>Throughout the 1960s, Elvis became disillusioned with his career in Hollywood. Always the professional, he fulfilled relentless contracts and was described as a good worker on set, but privately he was embarrassed by the increasingly flimsy and formulaic quality of his films, and the hastily produced soundtrack albums. In a rare candid interview during filming for the 1972 documentary <em>Elvis On Tour</em>, he explained:</p> <blockquote> <p>“Hollywood’s image of me was wrong and I knew it. And I couldn’t say anything about it, couldn’t do anything about it. I’d be right into production, I’d be doing a lot of pictures close together – and the pictures got very similar… you know, if something was successful, they’d try to recreate it the next time around. So I’d read the first four or five pages and I knew that it was just a different name, with 12 new songs in it. The songs were mediocre in most cases… But I was never indifferent, I was so concerned…. It worried me sick.”</p> </blockquote> <p>In 1968, his smash hit television special today known as the ’68 Comeback Special reignited his passion for live music performance and gave him a pathway out of Hollywood and onto the stages of Las Vegas. In 1970 and 1972, two innovative music documentaries captured the re-energised Elvis in this second phase of his career as a stage musician: <em>That’s the Way It Is (1970)</em> and <em>Elvis On Tour (1972)</em>. These films still sparkle today as dynamic examples of music documentary making, and the glamour and excitement of 1970s Las Vegas.</p> <p>In recent decades, many actors have attempted to emulate ‘The King’ on screen, including Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, and a fan favourite, Kurt Russell. (Fun fact: a 12-year-old Russell appears in the 1963 romance <em>It Happened at the World’s Fair </em>– he kicks Elvis in the shin in his scene!) Almost half a century on from Elvis’s death, fans around the world nervously await their chance to watch Austin Butler’s portrayal of Elvis, which has already been given a glowing review by the people who knew Elvis best, his former wife Priscilla and daughter Lisa Marie, who tweeted: “Austin Butler channeled and embodied my father’s heart & soul beautifully”.</p> <p>For more information on the Elvis: Direct from Graceland exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery (19 March – 17 July 2022), <a href="https://www.bendigoregion.com.au/bendigo-art-gallery/exhibitions/elvis-direct-from-graceland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>.</p> <p><em><strong>This is a sponsored article produced in partnership with the <a href="https://www.bendigoregion.com.au/bendigo-art-gallery/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bendigo Art Gallery</a>.</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/culture/elvis-at-the-movies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader’s Digest</a>.</strong></em></p> <p><em>Images: Bendigo Art Gallery</em></p>

Movies

Original artwork found in rubbish on sidewalk

<p dir="ltr">A Sydney man has hit the jackpot after finding an original piece of artwork worth thousands of dollars left on the sidewalk for council pick up. </p> <p dir="ltr">Leonardo Urbano stumbled across a cardboard box which contained several art pieces for children when he found one that stood out. </p> <p dir="ltr">Not thinking much about the price of it, Leonardo knew he wanted to give it a new home when he saw Sydney artist and two-time Archibald Prize finalist Dapeng Liu's signature at the bottom.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I thought it was beautiful and I don't normally think about the price, I just think if someone would want it, then I'll take it with me," he told <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/sydney-man-discovers-3000-artwork-hidden-council-throw-out-090958132.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yahoo Australia</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">He sent the artwork to his local art gallery who then confirmed that it was in fact an original and not a copy. </p> <p dir="ltr">There is also a similar piece of artwork at the museum from Dapeng’s nude collection priced at a whopping $2,900. </p> <p dir="ltr">Leonardo has since been in touch with Dapeng and apologised to him saying the artwork was found in council pickup rubbish. </p> <p dir="ltr">Dapeng then informed Leonardo that he had actually gifted the piece of art to someone.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I said to him 'look, I'm sorry I found it in the street but I will treasure it as my own’.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Yahoo</em></p>

Art

Art gallery investigates links to Holocaust

<p dir="ltr">The Wollongong Art Gallery in New South Wales is grappling with shocking new revelations that a major donor with a gallery named after him may have been a Nazi collaborator before emigrating to Australia from Lithuania. </p> <p dir="ltr">Bronius "Bob" Sredersas donated approximately 100 works by revered Australian artists to the gallery in 1976, just six years before he died. </p> <p dir="ltr">Despite working as a steelworker at Port Kembla, he saved his money to meticulously collect valuable paintings. </p> <p dir="ltr">However, after the gallery’s 40th birthday celebrations in 2018, which also celebrated the central role Sredersas played in its establishment, former councillor Michael Samaras noticed he was described as a policeman for the Lithuanian government's Department of Security.</p> <p dir="ltr">The councillor found the findings suspicious and decided to investigate further. </p> <p dir="ltr">"When all the publicity happened for the 40th anniversary of the gallery there was media, including on the ABC Illawarra webpage, about the fact that he was a policeman in Lithuania before the war," he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"And I just knew from general knowledge that a lot of the police from Lithuania ended up in what was called the Auxiliary Police Battalion, which actually did much of the killing in the Holocaust.”</p> <p dir="ltr">"The Wollongong City Library local studies section has a whole three boxes of material on him so I got his birth certificate."</p> <p dir="ltr">In uncovering these devastating claims, the Wollongong council, who owns the gallery, has been put on the back foot, with Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery receiving letters from the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies who have offered to help work with the council to investigate. </p> <p dir="ltr">"That has to be dealt with in a way that does not hide the past, recognises the allegations if they are proven and how we deal with the Sredersas Collection and how that's represented or interpreted," Mr Bradbery said.</p> <p dir="ltr">While the investigation is ongoing, Dr Efraim Zuroff, director of the Jewish human rights organisation the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, has suggested council remove the name of Bob Sredersas from the gallery in the meantime. </p> <p dir="ltr">He said, "I think it's important that a decision is made to remove his name as it's basically a statement that we do not want to honour people who participate in the crimes of the Holocaust."</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Wollongong City Council </em></p>

Art

Billionaire couple’s huge donation

<p dir="ltr">Billionaires Lindsay and Paula Fox have donated a massive $100 million to the new National Gallery Victoria building.</p> <p dir="ltr">Known as one of Victoria’s wealthiest families, the trucking magnate made the donation in honour for his 85th birthday on Tuesday.</p> <p dir="ltr">Lindsay confessed that his wife Paula suggested the donation to the gallery and he said he could not say no after being married for 62 years.</p> <p dir="ltr">"She said I want some money for the gallery.. then she told me how much.. but it was too late.. I'd signed the cheque," he told <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/ngv-fox-family-make-100-million-donation-to-national-gallery-of-victoria/f3b266d6-7ea0-44de-a3e4-f629757ed20f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nine News</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">The eye watering donation is the largest cash donation ever made to an Australian art museum by a living donor.</p> <p dir="ltr">In return, the building’s name will change to The Fox: NGV Contemporary, in line with his trucking company. </p> <p dir="ltr">Paula, who sits on the contemporary art gallery’s board said the donation will go a long way. </p> <p dir="ltr">"We do love the state. And I think it's lovely to give back," she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Minister for Creative Industries Danny Pearson said the donation was an "extraordinary gift to the people of Victoria."</p> <p dir="ltr">"Philanthropy can transform cities and NGV Contemporary will be a true game-changer.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Construction for the building which will go up at 77 Southbank Boulevard in Southbank, will begin later in the year and is expected to finish in 2028. </p> <p dir="ltr">It will form part of the $1.7 billion redevelopment of the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation which will also see upgrades to the Arts Centre Melbourne and the Arts Centre Melbourne’s new Centre for Creativity.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Money & Banking

London gallery returns stolen works to Nepalese owners

<p dir="ltr">Two artefacts that were stolen 30 years ago from a temple in Nepal have been repatriated in a ceremony at the Nepalese embassy in London.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 16th-century carved wooden Torana, a ceremonial gateway, and the 17th-century stone statue of a kneeling devotee were both taken from a sacred site near Kathmandu, according to detective superintendent John Roch of the London Metropolitan police at the handover, which was attended by the Nepalese ambassador Gyan Chandra Acharya.</p> <p dir="ltr">In a statement, both parties expressed “their willingness to work closely and promote the collaborative efforts for the preservation of cultural heritage.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Both artefacts were found in the holdings of Barakat Gallery’s London branch, with the London Metropolitan police claiming that the pieces had been inherited from a deceased relative, and had been in the family’s possession for 20 years. </p> <p dir="ltr">Barakat voluntarily relinquished the artefacts after they were determined to be the looted cultural property of Nepal.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I am deeply committed to [supporting] Nepali efforts in protecting and repatriating its rich cultural heritage, and hope we can all continue to fight to reinstate access, agency and power over their living heritage to the Nepali people,” Emiline Smith, a professor of criminology at the University of Glasgow, wrote on Twitter. </p> <p dir="ltr">Emiline specialises in the global illegal trade in cultural objects originating from Asia, and brought the issue to the attention of the authorities in Nepal and Interpol, which then connected with London’s police.</p> <p dir="ltr">Nepal’s acting consul general Bishnu Prasad Gautam received the artefacts on behalf of the Nepalese government in a ceremony organised by the museum.</p> <p dir="ltr">In a statement, Gautam called the repatriation “proactive,” adding that gallery’s cooperation has “positively contributed to Nepal’s national efforts” to recover its stolen cultural property from foreign collections.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: The Nepalese Embassy in London</em></p>

Art

Arthur Boyd's new Bundanon art gallery opens

<p><span style="font-size: 16px">After bushfires came within a kilometre of destroying one of the nation's most important collections of a single artist's work, plans to build a more secure gallery were expedited.</span></p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">The result is the stunning new fire-and-flood-resistant Bundanon gallery near Nowra on the NSW South Coast. This gallery will host the $46 million collection of renowned artist Arthur Boyd. </p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">While planning for the site had been underway since 2015, the build became even more important when the Black Summer fires almost destroyed the collection. Bundanon Trust chief executive Rachel Kent said staff managed to have the work trucked out, just in time.</p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">Architect Kerstin Thompson said the gallery buildings were now as disaster-proof as buildings could be. </p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">The new buildings include a trestle bridge, which will allow floodwater to flow freely away from the property towards the Shoalhaven River, as well as an underground gallery museum.</p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">"There are two important principles that drive the whole project.</p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">"One is about fire resistance, and the gallery is founded on that idea, and the second part is about resilience and about being able to go with the flow with things like flood." </p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/02/Gallery-2.jpg" alt="" width="452" height="254" /></p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">The new gallery is built into the ground, and can hardly be seen on the surface.</p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">The $33 million facility, jointly funded by the state and federal governments, is designed to keep the artworks safe and thermally stable, as well as provide a fire shelter for staff at the site. </p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">The work of Arthur Boyd is internationally loved, from flamboyant costume designs, to Shoalhaven-inspired landscapes painted at the Bundanon property.</p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">The new museum will showcase not just Boyd's work, but the work of modern artists who spend time in residence at Bundanon or are inspired by his work.</p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">Head of curatorial and learning Sophie O'Brien said this was exactly what Arthur, who died in 1999, and his wife, artist Yvonne who died in 2013, intended for the site. </p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">"The vision of Bundanon from Arthur and Yvonne Boyd was always to have a place to show the work of new artists," Ms O'Brien said. </p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">Ms Kent said the pandemic presented challenges in being able to officially open the gallery, but she expected that, ultimately, international visitors and locals alike would want to visit Bundanon. </p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px">"I imagine it will draw people from right across the region, immediate family and community, as well as NSW, eventually Australia and, of course, an international audience as well," she said. </p><p class="_1HzXw" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;font-size: 16px"><em>Images: ABC</em></p>

Art

On the elegance and wry observations of Jeffrey Smart, one of Australia’s favourite painters

<p><em>Review: Jeffrey Smart, National Gallery of Australia</em></p> <p>Although I never met him, Jeffrey Smart (1921-2013) was my first art teacher. As “Phideas” on the ABC Radio’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argonauts_Club">Argonauts</a> program he told stories of art and artists, explaining ways of seeing to children across Australia.</p> <p>Two things I remember from my childhood listening. The first was the marvel of the <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/golden-ratio-in-art-328435">Golden Mean</a>, the magical geometric ratio that governs the western tradition of art. The second was a story of <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rmbt/hd_rmbt.htm">Rembrandt</a> who took his own path as an artist, even though that led to criticism by his peers.</p> <p>After I discovered Phidias’s identity I could see the Golden Mean writ large in his carefully constructed paintings. But Rembrandt? Jeffrey Smart’s painting surfaces meticulously honour the Italian Renaissance and his composition at times has echoes of the metaphysical works of <a href="https://www.artnews.com/feature/giorgio-de-chirico-why-is-he-famous-1202687371/">Giorgio de Chirico</a>. They have nothing in common with Rembrandt’s painterly approach.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437390/original/file-20211214-23-17pb3qm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437390/original/file-20211214-23-17pb3qm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart, Waiting for the train, 1969-70.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 1969, gift of Alcoa World Alumina Australia 2005, © The Estate of Jeffrey Smart.</span></span></p> <p>But that wasn’t the point of the story. Smart was speaking in Sydney in about 1960, a time and place when artists were expected to be hard drinking heterosexual men performing painterly abstraction. Smart was not a part of that culture. He had a lifelong allegiance to the classical forms of the Italian <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Quattrocento">quattrocento</a>, especially the exquisite formal geometry of <a href="https://artuk.org/discover/artists/piero-della-francesca-c-14151492">Piero della Francesca</a>. His love of structure, smooth surface, fine detail and his sexuality put him at odds with Australia.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437393/original/file-20211214-13-13ub98q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437393/original/file-20211214-13-13ub98q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart, Morning at Savona, 1976, University Art Collection, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney, Donated through the Alan Richard Renshaw Bequest 1976.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">© The Estate of Jeffrey Smart.</span></span></p> <p>It was only later, years after he retreated to Italy, that his home country came to fully appreciate the elegance of his wry observations. In his old age, this artist once out of tune with his peers, became one of Australia’s most favoured sons.</p> <p>Now, on the centenary of his birth, the National Gallery’s Deborah Hart and Rebecca Edwards have curated a thoughtful and generous reassessment linking Smart to the places and people who nourished him.</p> <h2>Shape, line and colour</h2> <p>It begins in his home town of Adelaide: a city with a well planned urban centre and (back then) a culture of Protestant conformity.</p> <p>The young Smart painted buildings and industrial waste; the way light and shade makes patterns on surfaces; the contrast between clear constructed shapes and fluid humanity.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437392/original/file-20211214-15-19oh8wn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437392/original/file-20211214-15-19oh8wn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart, Corrugated Gioconda, 1976.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 1976, © The Estate of Jeffrey Smart.</span></span></p> <p>Local cinemas introduced him to Alfred Hitchcock, whose films use visual clues to imply tension. Hitchcock was famous for inserting himself as an incidental figure into his narratives. I have always wondered if that solitary of a watching man in so many of Smart’s paintings is in part a tribute to the original master of visual suspense.</p> <p>Smart would only ever discuss his work in terms of their formal relationship between shape, line and colour. This insistence on formalism goes back to his early studies in Adelaide and the influence of the modernist painter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorrit_Black">Dorrit Black</a> (1891-1951), who had returned to Adelaide after some years in France. The curators have included her <a href="https://searchthecollection.nga.gov.au/object?uniqueId=29974">House-roofs and flowers</a> which hangs beside Smart’s early structured <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/436.2001/">Seated Nude</a>. It is easy to see the connection.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437428/original/file-20211214-17-1eqwvss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437428/original/file-20211214-17-1eqwvss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart, Keswick siding, 1945. Tarntanya/Adelaide. Oil on canvas. 62 x 72.1 cm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Gift of Charles B Moses 1982 193.1982</span></span></p> <p>There is a sense of wanting to escape in some paintings of his Adelaide period, such as Keswick Siding. This is less so after he moved to Sydney where he found, despite his unfashionable devotion to precision and classical form, his art was accepted as being a part of the <a href="https://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2008.24/the-merioola-group">Charm School</a>, which it was not. Living and working in Sydney, he also became greatly admired as a teacher at the National Art School and a broadcaster.</p> <h2>Humour and friends</h2> <p>Even the most structured works of Smart’s maturity include visual jokes and a human touch. In Holiday, 1971, a relentless pattern of balconies and windows is disrupted by the small figure of a woman, lazing in the sun. He always claimed he introduced people in his paintings of buildings to give a sense of scale, an old artist’s trick. I am not sure how that works in the Portrait of Clive James, unless it was to remind the subject of his significance in the scheme of things.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437429/original/file-20211214-21-16vusye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437429/original/file-20211214-21-16vusye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart. Portrait of Clive James. 1991–92 Tuscany, Italy. Oil on canvas. 109 x 90.4 cm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Purchased with funds provided by the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales 1992 © The Estate of Jeffrey Smart Photo: AGNSW 276.1992</span></span></p> <p>Smart’s relocation to Italy in 1963 saw a lightening of his palette, and a joyous celebration of light with the contrasting geometry of the blocky shapes of the modern world and the human scale of the old. There is a running theme of visual wit, but only for those who notice. Waiting for the train (1969-70) has echoes of compositions by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francesca">Piero della Francesca</a>, albeit in gloomy tones.</p> <p>His portrait of Germaine Greer places her against an impastoed wall, a surprising rough painterly texture which could either be a comment on the subject’s character or a riposte to those who considered he was lacking in technical skill as a painter.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437430/original/file-20211214-19-ptwv8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437430/original/file-20211214-19-ptwv8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart. Portrait of Germaine Greer. 1984 Tuscany, Italy. Oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas. 96 x 120 cm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Private collection</span></span></p> <p>Some of the most satisfying works are Smart’s portraits of friends, and here his humour comes into play. The scholarly writer David Malouf is depicted as a workman in overalls, holding a twisting orange pipe. Margaret Olley is at the Louvre, a place she loved, but placed in front of a row of anonymous wooden screens.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437431/original/file-20211214-23-at8gxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437431/original/file-20211214-23-at8gxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart. Portrait of David Malouf. 1980 Tuscany, Italy. Oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas. 100 x 100 cm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth. Purchased 1983 © The Estate of Jeffrey Smart 1983/0P13</span></span></p> <p>Most fascinating of all is The listeners, 1965 where a young man lies in a field of grass, overseen by a surveilling radar. The head is a portrait of Smart’s friend, the art critic Paul Haefliger who had retreated from Australia to Majorca.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437432/original/file-20211214-21-nj1p6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437432/original/file-20211214-21-nj1p6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart. The listeners. 1965 Rome, Italy. Oil on canvas. 91.5 x 71 cm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat. The William, Rene and Blair Ritchie Collection. Bequest of Blair Ritchie 1998 © The Estate of Jeffrey Smart 1998.23</span></span></p> <p>It shows visual contrasts between modern technology and nature, between the golden grass, red radar and dark sky and (for those in the know) between the young body of the model and the head of the ageing Haefliger.</p> <p>Smart’s portraits rarely focus on their subject. The one exception is The two-up game (Portrait of Ermes), 2008, who became Smart’s life partner in 1975. His calm face is backgrounded by the solid geometry of containers on one side and the fluidity of people playing a game of chance, on the other.</p> <p>In formal terms, his image in the foreground balances the composition. This also seems to be the meaning, the reason for it all.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437433/original/file-20211214-15-1hmeyhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437433/original/file-20211214-15-1hmeyhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart. The two-up game (Portrait of Ermes). 2006 Tuscany, Italy. Oil on canvas. 86.8 x 158.4 cm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville. Purchased 2006 2006.011</span></span></p> <p><em>Jeffrey Smart is at the National Gallery of Australia until May 15 2022</em><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171109/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joanna-mendelssohn-8133">Joanna Mendelssohn</a>, Principal Fellow (Hon), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/on-the-elegance-and-wry-observations-of-jeffrey-smart-one-of-australias-favourite-painters-171109">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Jeffrey Smart, Margaret Olley in the Louvre Museum. 1994–95 Tuscany, Italy. Oil on canvas 67 x 110 cm <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. </span></span></em></p>

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