Regency Conference 8-10 October, Melbourne and Lecture

Another conference and a lecture. Also being held at the University of Melbourne, details below.
As one reader commented on the below post it is a pity that it can be so hard to find out about various events to do with the arts, art history etc. I will try and post them here when I hear about them but it would be good to have something that was more devoted to it. I have a few ideas and am trying to get a sort of arts/art history diary going with another organisation I am part of and will post about it if/when it is up and running. Please leave a comment if you ahve any thoughts on the matter and whether you would be interested in subscribing to something like an arts/art history diary. Also, for now at least, if you know of an event or are organising an event that has anything to do with art, art history, gardens, architecture I would be more than happy to feature it here. Let me know.

But for now here are some upcoming October delights in the are of art and history!

The program and the registration form here.

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Also of interest is this upcoming lecture by Sophie Matthieson (senior curator at the NGV).

Sophie Matthiesson

Curator, International Art, National Gallery of Victoria

Captive Markets: Artists in Prison in the French Revolution

Hundreds of artists found themselves in prison during the French Revolution. While confined surprising numbers resumed painting, sculpting, drawing and even engraving. Few prisons were without some level or artistic production and exchange. Based on unpublished research of French prison archives and prison-made works of art, this lecture addresses some basic questions.

Who were the artists, and why were they imprisoned? What did they make and for whom? Using select case studies, this talk will propose some basic categories and functions of the prison-made object and present a model for its interpretation. It will also consider some of the wider implications of this curious and little-known area of cultural production for our understanding of the political prison in France in the period 1793-5.

Sophie Matthiesson is Curator of International Art at the National Gallery of Victoria. She has taught art history at the universities of Sussex, Manchester and Leeds. Her most recent publications are in the field of British Modernism, Surrealism, and cubism. The topic of the 2009 Margaret Manion lecture is drawn from her doctoral research on the artist in prison in the French Revolution.

6.30pm Tuesday 13 October 2009
Elisabeth Murdoch Theatre
The University of Melbourne

All Welcome

FAN Members Drinks from 6.00pm in foyer. RSVP by Wednesday 7 October: registrar@hildas.unimelb.edu.au

Dinner with the speaker afterwards. Bookings by Wednesday 7 October: registrar@hildas.unimelb.edu.au

The British Empire and Visual Culture 1850-1950

John White - Queen Victoria Monument, Bendigo Vic. 1903: “An Empire Upon Which the Sun Never Sets”
(Photo: Bronwyn Hughes) via Symposium website.

An upcoming symposium at Melbourne University that may be of interest. It is completely free and members of the public are very much encouraged to attend. Full details can be found at the website here.

A Symposium
Hosted jointly by the Art History Program, School of Culture and Communication and The Australian Centre, School of Historical Studies,
The University of Melbourne

Lecture Theatre A, Elizabeth Murdoch Building
1-2 October 2009
Informal site visits will be incorporated into the final program

Convenors: Dr Alison Inglis (Head Art History Program): Prof Kate Darian-Smith (Professor of Australian Studies and History) & Dr Bronwyn Hughes (Art Historian and Heritage Consultant).

This two-day symposium presents papers from range of disciplines, including art history, architecture, design, literature, social and cultural history, media studies, museum studies and Australian studies. Speakers include academics and museum professionals from Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Great Britain, such as Dr Anita Callaway (University of Sydney); Dr Caroline Jordan (LaTrobe University); Dr Andrew Montana (Australian National University); Associate Professor Catherine Speck (University of Adelaide); Associate Professor Mark Stocker (Otago University); Professor Bruce Scates (Monash University); Dr Matthew Potter (Leicester University).

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A FREE EVENT THERE IS NO REGISTRATION CHARGE FOR THIS SYMPOSIUM.
However the audience is encouraged to arrive in good time so that a name tag can be provide.

Sessions include:

Performing Empire, War and Commemoration
Geographies of Empire, Institutions and Ideologies
Imperial networks and exchanges, Aesthetics of Empire
Collecting Empire, Heroes and Monarchs

Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney - Spring Walk

For some reason (possibly thesis induced brain failure) it hadn't really occurred to that it was Spring until I stepped into the Botanical Gardens in Sydney. I tend to have a habit of visiting gardens at completely the wrong time of year, think snow and ice and sculptures wrapped in black plastic. But for once I got it right, it was a gorgeous day, about 33 degrees. I took a mass of photos so stay tuned for more.

The gardens were founded on the 13th of June 1816. The spring walk in the photos below was first planted in 1856 with azaleas, rhododendrons and similar, under the directorship of Charles Moore, who was in charge of the gardens between 1848 and 1896. In the 1970s azaleas and wisterias were more dominant.



Recently in 2004 the Spring Walk was regenerated, the azaleas were thinned out and rhododendrons, wisterias and other spring flowering shrubs were added. You can see the dominance of the flowering peaches, cherries and plums, as well as a variety of bulbs, the tulips were particularly spectacular. there is so much blossom I almost feel this blog post needs a warning for hay fever sufferers!

Sydney Snapshot

Have had a bit of a blogging hiatus, been away to Sydney and also have a million things to do, including a rather long catalogue essay, which is rather behind. Have a lot of ideas rattling around in my head as well as a bunch of pictures from Sydney that I want to share so will try and put aside some time every few days to write something here.

To get me started here are some exterior and interior shots of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The original building was constructed between 1896 and 1909 to the design of Walter Liberty Vernon. His design was never completed and the gallery today is a combination of Vernon's original design and the new wing built between 1968 and 1970 to a design by architect Andrew Anderson. When I was there the sun was shining into the atrium and highlighting the classical architecture in a most beautiful way so that was what I photographed. They didn't seem to allow photos inside the gallery proper and being the classicist that I am I completely forgot to photograph the 1960s design, oops!

Snapshot, East Melbourne

An old fire truck! Was so excited. All shiny and red. Need I say more? Except perhaps please tell me I wasn't the only one who thought it said '1914 Hotchicks' (see last photo). Turns out 'Hotchkiss' is a type of fire engine. Learn something new everyday. (I still secretly wish it did say 'Hotchicks').
I should go to this museum one day, walk past it so often.