Restored Poussin at the NGV

The NGV unveiled Nicolas Poussin's Crossing of the Red Sea on Wednesday after 12 months of cleaning. It looks pretty spectacular. I remember well how the painting looked before leaning as it was one that I studied as an undergrad and then, in turn, have studied with undergrads when I have taught Baroque Art. But even if you don't closely recall how it looked before, how it looks now makes it well worth a visit.

Nicolas Poussin The Crossing of the Red Sea 1632-34 oil on canvas, 155.6 x 215.3 cm National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Felton Bequest, 1948

I wrote a longer piece on the painting's restoration, which is published on the Melbourne Art Network and you can read it here http://melbourneartnetwork.com.au/2012/05/02/news-ngv-unveils-nicolas-poussins-restored-the-crossing-of-the-red-sea/


I also ended up in the ABC news story on it when I was trying to get a closer look and chat to the conservator Carl Villis: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-02/new-face-of-poussin-masterpiece-revealed/3985142?section=entertainment

Snapshot | Richmond Garden

A Garden of small hanging succulents and one huge cactus. I love how large and out of proportion it is. It is like some succulent guardian of the weatherboard house.

Snapshots, Richmond

I like the light on days like today when one minute it is is raining horizontally and the next the sun comes out, photos from my late afternoon wander though West Richmond.

Modern houses in Richmond, quite a lot of this cheek-by-jowl with nineteenth-century terraces and weatherboards, some really good and some a bit average, this isn't my favourite but it looked good in the sun.

Red brick corner shop.

Back of the 'All Nations Hotel' on Lennox St.

Terrace Houses on York St.

Art Deco 'Davis Relova Laundry' , building designed by Walter Mason, apparently it was converted to apartments several years ago, more here. Facade is looking a bit shabby

Snapshot, St Patrick's Cathedral from Parliament Gardens

I always enjoy when you spot a piece of architecture from a new angle and through a new frame.

Snapshot Castlemaine

Waiting on Castlemaine PLatform 2 for the afternoon train to Melbourne, catching some sunshine after a cold few days in Daylesford.

Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland

Sorting through photos and these are some of my favourites because the weather was just glorious. Although my real focus on this trip has been English gardens I have a bit of a thing for proper fortified castles that tower above the landscape. I stopped at this one during a drive up the east coast in Northumberland after visiting the recent garden at Alnwick Castle. It is quite close to Lindisfarne. The coast line is very beautiful and has what I think of (in my prejudiced way) as proper beaches, with golden sand and very little development, unlike the southern rocky beaches and the built up seaside towns in places like Brighton. There has been a castle here since about the 7th century AD I think, and i was the seat of the kings of Northumnbria at the time when England was split into several kingdoms.There is more history on the websit if you are interested. http://www.bamburghcastle.com/history.php

Photos. I didn't go in as I had to drive on to Scotland but I circled around the outside. Do you like the dramatic contrasts between blue sky and clouds in a period of only about 40 minutes!? Typical English summer weather.

Snapshots, Melbourne Uni

I was waiting for someone outside the 1888 building at Melbourne Uni the other day. I have been there so much over the past decade as a student and as staff but because I work there I tend not to take many photos. I had some time on my hands, and a camera and the sun was shining so here a few snaps.

 The 188 building itself. I like all it crowded ornament set against the red brick. There is always something about brick as a material on a façade that helps to tone down crazy ornament in a way a stucco or rendered façade wouldn't. There is something almost mannerist about the ornament, the crowded banded columns and the strange spiky pyramids. Though it lacks the elegance of more sophisticated mannerist architecture, everything is a bit crowded, a bit squeezed, but I still like it. 

I have to admit to never taking much notice of this pub, I don't really like it as a place to go (the interior is pretty awful, blonde tiles etc). But in the afternoon autumn sun the outside looks pretty good. I am guessing it was built in 1926 as the date above the door suggests, it has been designed to look older unlike a few of the other deco style pubs around this area.

Snapshot, Collingwood

Somewhere in Collingwood, not sure, somewhere near Rokeby St, maybe even on Rokeby St?

Snapshots, Adelaide

A photo I took last October. I didn't have much else to do in Adelaide than walk around the city for hours on end, which suited me just fine. I wandered down lots of small streets and found some lovely little buildings. This small shop is on Compton St, just near the Central Markets.

I was struck by this shop and it had a reassuring small blue plaque. The plaque reads

This small building was originally built as a house by Edward Moore in 1817. A shopfront was added by the next owner, baker Matthew Madge, in 1898-99. Bert Edwards, one of Adelaide's most colourful and notable citizens, opened a tea room here in 1913. It was immensely popular, particularly on Friday nights when the rear of the shop was used for playing the then illegal game of two-up.

I think I like that last use the best. And I am guessing that at some point it had something to do with the Metropolitan Saw Works, though that sounds like a very big thing for such a small shop.

Snapshots, Ballarat

View of the Mining Exchange and Post Office, Lydiard St Nth.

Begonias at the Begonia Festival, Ballarat Botanic Gardens.