DAY & NIGHT

The Arts Centre precinct in Southbank, Melbourne, by day and by night. The round building is the concert hall and under the spire is the state theatre.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

CONVENT

The Abbotsford Convent is located in Abbotsford, Victoria, an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The Convent is in a bend of the Yarra River west of Yarra Bend Park, with the Collingwood Children's Farm to its north and east, the river and parklands to its south and housing to its west. During the 19th and part of the 20th century the 6.8 hectare site was occupied by one of the largest convents in Victoria. 

Today the site and its buildings are used as an arts, educational and cultural hub, the grounds, historic buildings and gardens are occupied by, and host artisans; community and cultural events and cultural institutions, a community classical music radio station (3MBS), a Steiner School (Sophia Mundi), live music performances, a gallery, theatre, markets, bakery, bar, cafe and an organic pay-as-you-feel restaurant. 

There are 11 buildings on the site; the Convent, Convent Annexe, St Euphrasia, Providence, Rosina, St Mary's, Mercator, Magdalen Laundries, Sacred Heart, Industrial School and St Anne's. And all of this by the Yarra River, only about 3 km from the City centre.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

JOHN PERCEVAL AT SORRENTO

John de Burgh Perceval AO (1 February 1923 – 15 October 2000) is a well-known Australian artist. Perceval was the last surviving member of a group known as the “Angry Penguins” who redefined Australian art in the 1940s. Other members included John and Sunday Reed, Joy Hester, Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd and Albert Tucker.

The painting below is “Ocean Beach, Sorrento”, exhibited in the National Gallery of Victoria. In January 1957 John Perceval visited Portsea and Sorrento as the houseguest of Thomas and Anne Purves, the directors of Australian Galleries, Melbourne. Inspired by the rough and irregular coastline, Perceval painted a small group of works, which he showed in April that year at Australian Galleries, in a joint exhibition with his brother-in-law Arthur Boyd.

‘Ocean beach, Sorrento’, the major work from this series, depicts the rocky Victorian coastline under the dry heat of a summer’s day. Two of the Purves children are shown huddled in a recess in the rocks in the lower right-hand corner of the composition. After making his paintings of Williamstown in 1956, Perceval responded confidently to the subject of water, and in the splash and foam of waves on the shore his calligraphy beautifully matches his subject: paint has been applied frenetically – dribbled and scratched onto the surface – successfully conveying the turbulent water and rugged landscape.

The painting was purchased by Geoffrey Hillas in March 1957. Mr and Mrs Hillas were among the most noted collectors of contemporary Australian art of the period, and their collection included major works by Arthur Boyd, John Brack, John Perceval and Fred Williams.

The National Gallery of Victoria is opening its doors to the public next Monday, 22nd June, as another lot of restrictions due to COVID-19 are lifted. We are looking forward to that opening as we are frequent visitors to this world-class gallery and we have missed spending lots of time in there!

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

BOOKSHOP

At the National Gallery of Victoria there is an excellent bookshop where one may find all sorts of books relating to art, design and topics that would interest any civilised, rational human being. I love spending time not only in the Gallery itself, but also in the store, where I invariably succumb to temptation, such as this book on Botticelli, who is one of my favourite Renaissance artists.

Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi (c. 1445 – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. He belonged to the Florentine School under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici, a movement that Giorgio Vasari would characterise less than a hundred years later in his Vita of Botticelli as a "golden age". Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century; since then, his work has been seen to represent the linear grace of Early Renaissance painting.

As well as the small number of mythological subjects which are his best known works today, he painted a wide range of religious subjects and also some portraits. He and his workshop were especially known for their Madonna and Childs, many in the round tondo shape. Botticelli's best-known works are The Birth of Venus and Primavera (see below), both in the Uffizi in Florence. He lived all his life in the same neighbourhood of Florence, with probably his only significant time elsewhere the months he spent painting in Pisa in 1474 and the Sistine Chapel in Rome in 1481–82.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

ART

Art | ɑːt | noun

1 [mass noun] the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power: The art of the Renaissance | Great art is concerned with moral imperfections | She studied art in Paris.

• Works produced by human creative skill and imagination: His collection of modern art | [as modifier]: An art critic.
• Creative activity resulting in the production of paintings, drawings, or sculpture: She's good at art.
ORIGIN
Middle English: Via Old French from Latin ars, art-.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

CITY OF ART

Among Melbourne’s over 100 outdoor sculptures are these brass ensembles next to the Arts Centre’s Theatre Building. The man and woman in the foreground are Family of Man I. The abstract trio in the background is Family of Man II. This public art by Cole Sopov was commissioned as a gift to the City by John and Agita Haddad and erected in 1984.

Greek-born Sopov arrived Australia 1971 where studied at RMIT 1973 to 1974 before going on to lecturer in Fine Arts at Chisholm College. In 1984 he was the Head of Chisholm Sculpture department (later Monash University) from 1977 to 1995.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

POINTS OF INTEREST

The Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly officially called The Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central Melbourne suburb of Southbank in Victoria, Australia. It was designed by architect Sir Roy Grounds, the masterplan for the complex (along with the National Gallery of Victoria) was approved in 1960 and construction began in 1973 following some delays. The complex opened in stages, with Hamer Hall opening in 1982 and the Theatres Building opening in 1984. The Arts Centre is located by the Yarra River and along St Kilda Road, one of the city's main thoroughfares, and extends into the Melbourne Arts Precinct, with its spire a well-knwon landmark of Melbourne.

The sculptures are by Cole Sopov, who was born in Greece in 1938, and studied fine arts in Europe before immigrating to Australia in 1971. From 1973 to 1974 he attended the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, before being appointed lecturer in Fine Arts at Monash University from 1977 to 1995. Sopov was commissioned by John Truscott in 1983-84 to create two groups of figures, ‘Family of Man I’ and ‘Family of Man II’ for the entrance foyer of the Theatres Building. These two sculpture groups were moved in 2001 to their current prominent location overlooking the lawn area between the Theatres Building and Hamer Hall.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

MUSIC 3 - HAMER HALL

The Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly officially called The Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central Melbourne suburb of Southbank in Victoria, Australia. It was designed by architect Sir Roy Grounds, the masterplan for the complex (along with the National Gallery of Victoria) was approved in 1960 and construction began in 1973 following some delays. The complex opened in stages, with Hamer Hall opening in 1982 and the Theatres Building opening in 1984. The Arts Centre is located by the Yarra River and along St Kilda Road, one of the city's main thoroughfares, and extends into the Melbourne Arts Precinct, with its spire a well-known landmark of Melbourne.

Hamer Hall (formerly the Melbourne Concert Hall) is a 2,466 seat concert hall, the largest venue in the Arts Centre complex, used for orchestra and contemporary music performances. It was opened in 1982 and was later renamed Hamer Hall in honour of Sir Rupert Hamer (the 39th Premier of Victoria) shortly after his death in 2004.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

AT THE GALLERY

The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites. The main gallery, known as NGV International, is located on St Kilda Road, in the heart of the Melbourne Arts Precinct of Southbank, with a branch gallery at Federation Square. The St Kilda Road Gallery, shown here, was designed by Sir Roy Grounds and opened in 1968. It was redesigned by Mario Bellini. The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square was designed by LAB Architecture Studio.

At the time when the first gallery opened, Victoria was an independent colony for just ten years, but in the wake of the Victorian gold rush, it was easily the richest part of Australia, and Melbourne the largest city. Besides donations of works of art, donated funds from wealthy citizens have been used by the Gallery to purchase large collections of overseas works from both old and modern masters. The Gallery currently holds over 65,000 works of art.

The Felton Bequest, established by the will of Alfred Felton, has acquired and donated over 15,000 works of art to the Gallery. The National Gallery of Victoria Art School, associated with the gallery, was founded in 1867. It was the leading centre for academic art training in Australia until about 1910. The School’s graduates went on to become some of Australia’s most significant artists.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

AT THE ART GALLERY

In the National Gallery of Victoria, taking time to enjoy the art as this man is enjoying seeing "The Crossing of the Red Sea" (1632-4) by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665).

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

ARTS CENTRE CIRCUS MOSAIC

The Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly officially called The Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central Melbourne suburb of Southbank in Victoria, Australia. It was designed by architect Sir Roy Grounds, the masterplan for the complex (along with the National Gallery of Victoria) was approved in 1960 and construction began in 1973 following some delays. The complex opened in stages, with Hamer Hall opening in 1982 and the Theatres Building opening in 1984. The Arts Centre is located by the Yarra River and along St Kilda Road, one of the city's main thoroughfares, and extends into the Melbourne Arts Precinct, with its spire a well-knwon landmark of Melbourne.

The sculptures are by Cole Sopov, who was born in Greece in 1938, and studied fine arts in Europe before immigrating to Australia in 1971. From 1973 to 1974 he attended the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, before being appointed lecturer in Fine Arts at Monash University from 1977 to 1995. Sopov was commissioned by John Truscott in 1983-84 to create two groups of figures, ‘Family of Man I’ and ‘Family of Man II’ for the entrance foyer of the Theatres Building. These two sculpture groups were moved in 2001 to their current prominent location overlooking the lawn area between the Theatres Building and Hamer Hall.

The circus mosaic commemorates the important association between the site now occupied by the Victorian Arts Centre and the development of circus in Australia., The area referred to as "near Princes Bridge" was favoured as a circus location and "outdoor Playground" from the 1870's. One of the first tenants was the American circus, Cooper and Bailey`s which pitched its tents on the banks of the Yarra in 1877. Wirth Brothers Circus took over the lease in 1907 and demolished the existing temporary building erected earlier by Fitzgerald Brothers Circus. They built their own Olympia on the re-named Wirth Park, complete with a circus hippodrome, roller skating rink, race track, water chute and lake. It remained Wirth's Melbourne headquarters until 1953 when the buildings were destroyed by fire.

Wirth Brothers` Circus was billed as "the greatest show on earth" and became an Australian institution during its long history ( 1858 - 1953). Conveyed by its own special trains and drawing upon the major circuses of the world for its performers, it was a circus in the grand style. May Wirth ( 1895 - 1980 ) first performed with Wirth`s as a child and displayed an outstanding talent for horseback acrobatics. She went on to great international acclaim and was widely acknowledged as the finest circus equestrienne in the world. Unveiled on 7 June 1988 to mark the 150th anniversary of circus in Australia. A joint project between the Circus Fans of Australasia Inc. and the Performing Arts Museum, Victorian Arts Centre. Created by Joe Attard and David Jack of the Melbourne Mural Studio. Supported by the Commonwealth Department of Communications and the Arts.

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Monday Murals meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

DAY & NIGHT

The Arts Centre precinct in Southbank by day and by night. The round building is the concert hall and under the spire is the state theatre.

This post is part of Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of Wordless Wednesday meme.