Tag Archives: history

Olympic Cake 1956.

The first Shakespeare Penguin titles appeared in 1940. They were designed by the steadfast classicist Jan Tschichold. By the late 1960s the series was looking dated. Penguin was trying to be less literal and more cerebral, and designer Germano Facetti had the answer. In revamping the Bard’s work, Facetti commissioned David Gentleman to create an illustrationContinue reading “Shakespeare Gentleman Illustrator”

When the time came for Paul Auster’s Penguin books to be redesigned, he asked the art director to consider using a typographical rather than image based approach.

“The pictorial idea, be it drawing, collage or photograph, will indicate the atmospheric content of the book.”

I’m noticing a trend in book design. Many shades of white.

“There is something in daubing a little one’s self, and having an idea of the process.”

This little hoofed fellow is supposed to stop dead people coming out of their graves to interfere with the living.

A truly lovely tree goddess.

Most of the fabulousness of the National Gallery of Victoria can be attributed to Mr Alfred Felton.

When Ellsworth Kelly was a young boy, he put a print of this chesnut tree painting of Cezanne’s on his wall.

Artists’ Colonies seem a particularly Melbourne thing in the early part of the 20th century. A dog bite was responsible for Bryans’ Colony. Lina Bryans knocked on the door of Ada May Plante (a painter friend of Jock Frater) for some help and the reclusive artist offered Lina a room to stay for the night whichContinue reading “Lina Bryans’ Pink Colony”

Lina Bryans was born in Europe but her parents were Australian. Bryans was a Hallenstein whose family had made their money from a successful tannery and leather business in Melbourne. Her maternal great-grandfather, Sir Benjamin Benjamin, had been Lord Mayor of Melbourne in the 1880s. The family moved from St Kilda to South Yarra in theContinue reading “Young Lina Bryans”

In memory of Brian Finemore, Lina Bryans gave one of her major late works, Landscape Quartet, to the National Gallery of Victoria. | Lina Bryans, Landscape Quartet, 1971, oil on canvasboard (4 panels) | What an amazing painting. And finally her last two paintings. Softly swirling pale landscape. | Lina Bryans, Cooper Meander, 1971, oil on canvas onContinue reading “Music of Lina Bryans”

Around the same time Lina Bryans was changing direction, there was a new generation of young curators on the scene in the Australian art world.

Independent painter Lina Bryans was known for her portraits.

Melbourne born Mary Cecil Allen was a very well known artist and educator from the 1930s who after her death was another one of those ladies sidelined by art historians.

George Johnston was very positive about the state of the arts in Australia in 1966.

There is a big section in George Johnston and Robert Goodman’s The Australians on sport. The Sporting Life.

Another chapter in The Australians by Robert Goodman and George Johnston is The Cities.

In The Australians, published by Rigby Limited in 1966, Robert Goodman and George Johnston’s first chapter concerns The Land.

In 1962 an American photographer, Robert Goodman, conceived of an idea to produce a picture book on Australia.

This ad still works 40 years later.

How about visiting the Ross River cattle station? A billy tea and damper picnic near the historic homestead.

Ok. Well I like parrots.

Another Helvetica driven poster for the Australian Tourist Commission.