ADFAS Sunshine Coast Inc. Newsletter · Volume 12, No 1. January 2020 ADFAS Sunshine Coast Newsletter 2 We had an extremely rewarding Young Arts Programme in 2019. We were able to

Member of the Association of ADFAS

Volume 12, No 1. January 2020 ADFAS Sunshine Coast Newsletter 1

Retiring Chairman’s New Year Address

“The magic in new beginnings is truly the most powerful of them all” ― Josiyah Martin

Dear Members, Welcome to a new ADFAS year in which 2020 offers another treasure of varied and fascinating lectures. We start on 17th February at 6.45pm with that wonderfully informed and charming lecturer, Susannah Fullerton, who will be talking about the talented and somewhat eccentric, Mitford sisters. Then throughout the year we will hear about beds, skyscrapers, summer palaces of the Tsars, tentmakers of Egypt and more. Do think about bringing your friends as a guest one night to introduce them to ADFAS or even buying a visitor’s voucher as a gift for a friend. Don’t forget, we are a very unique organisation.

In 2019, 1123 members attended our lectures and we had 170 visitors with an average attendance of 125 per night. I was very happy that we achieved the goal I set of 150 members for the year and in fact were two over. So it would be perfect if we could achieve 155 in 2020 which would be the maximum we could accommodate at Matthew Flinders bearing in mind we never have a full house.

Our AGM was well attended and as promised, did not last long. However, we welcomed our new Chairman Dawne Clark and returning Treasurer, Jacqui Hollis. We are most grateful to Dawne for putting her hand up to be Chairman as she was the only person who came forward, and we were in serious danger of having to close down, had Dawne not appeared! We were delighted that as a result of your generosity, we were able to offer three Christmas hampers as raffle prizes, so a warm thanks to all of you who kindly contributed to them.

I am sure you would all agree that despite a certain trepidation among some members on hearing about the coupling game we planned to have before supper, it turned out to be enormous fun and a wonderful way of getting people to meet each other and have a worthwhile chat. In fact, new friendships were forged. I had a number of people come up and say to me "Do do that again sometime, it was such fun" so we will most definitely keep it in mind for another occasion. I would also like to thank those who contributed to the Secret Santa - a pure game of luck, as some people found super little presents while others received rather boring things, but I guess that is par for the course?!

ADFAS Sunshine Coast Inc.

Newsletter

Volume 12, Number 1 Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society January 2020



We had an extremely rewarding Young Arts Programme in 2019. We were able to offer worthwhile financial support to the tune of $4250 to 5 ballet dancers, a cellist, 2 flautists, a children’s musical production of Oliver, special art classes at a primary school and a badly needed art therapy class in another primary school. So thanks to your generosity we were able to cover a wide field of endeavours, made possible by the money raised from raffle tickets and our film fundraiser. Do get out your bright new 2020 diaries right now and write in Royal Ballet film, Sleeping Beauty, at noon on Sunday 23rd February at the Plaza cinema which is an important fundraiser for us. As the last such event we organised at the cinema to see the Royal Ballet from Covent Garden was such a huge success, we are holding another similar afternoon. The film actually starts at 1pm but we have our own private room next to the cinema from noon, where you can buy drinks or have tea and coffee with a very light snack, free of charge and also pick up your tickets. It would be a lovely opportunity for you to bring any children who are keen on dancing, as it is a special chance for them to see the very best in ballet. Tickets are $20 for all. I will be writing with further details nearer the time but do just pop that date into your diaries. Another date for your diaries - don’t forget that subscriptions for 2020 are due in by Monday, 23rd February at the latest. You may be wondering why I am writing this instead of Dawne, our new Chairman, but I am just holding the fort for Dawne until she is able to take up the reigns on 31st March. In the meantime I wish Dawne all the best in her new role, I know she will much enjoy it. It can be a bit daunting being a new Chairman, but I am sure you will make her most welcome, as you did me. Thank you for making my three years so enjoyable and memorable, I am sad to step down, but a three yearly change of Chairman is refreshing for the Society. I wish you all a fascinating, stimulating and happy ADFAS year.

Best wishes.

Audrey Raymond Chairman

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Election of Office-bearers and Committee for 2020

The election of office bearers for 2020 was conducted by Airlie Bell at the Annual General Meeting, which was held on Monday 2nd December 2019 at Matthew Flinders Anglican College, Stringybark Road, Buderim. As each position had received only one nomination, the applicants were elected unopposed and are featured in the photograph below :-

From left to right the ADFAS Sunshine Coast Committee are :- Gloria Roche, Bernice Anderson, Lindy Jamieson, Jenny Carroll, Alison Bennett, Jacqui Hollis (Treasurer),

Jill Wood (Vice-Chairman), Dawne Clark(Chairman), Brian Smith (Secretary), Dennis Panchaud, Audrey Raymond and Libby Whitehill.

On behalf of all ADFAS members, our sincere thanks go to retiring committee member Jane Boaler, who has proved an invaluable representative of our Committee over the past five years, as Treasurer, fundraiser, media guru and raffle table regular, welcoming members to our lectures with a warm smile whilst relieving them of their cash. The excellent service she has provided for our local chapter over recent years, and her presence on the Committee, will be greatly missed.



Arts Quiz

Can you identify the artist in each of the following self-portraits ?

If you need a bit of help there is a list of all the featured artists, (plus three ‘red herrings’) at the foot of the page.

Answers on Page 8

Mary Cassatt, Paul Cézanne, Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, Oskar Kokoschka, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Egon Schiele, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, Vincent van Gogh,

Rembrandt van Rijn and Diego Velasquez.

…. another puzzle ….

Given that scales A and B balance perfectly, how many spades are needed to balance scales C ?



Another Reminder of the Upcoming Lectures for 2020

Monday 17th February : Those Mitford Girls! - Susannah Fullerton The aristocratic Mitford sisters were writers and socialites, biographers and essayists. Jessica, who wrote Hons and Rebels and The American Way of Death, was a communist and human rights activist. Unity sympathised with the Nazis and worshipped Hitler. Nancy’s Love in a Cold Climate characters had a reckless upper-class Bohemianism and was determined to find life amusing at all costs. Diana became the most hated woman in Britain during World War II. Debo became a Duchess and not to be overlooked, Pamela, who once bought a stove

to match the colour of her eyes. Susannah Fullerton looks at the lives and works of these unconventional sisters. Monday 9th March : Desert Island Antiques - Paul Atterbury During his long and varied career in the world of art and antiques, Paul Atterbury, collector, writer, lecturer, exhibition curator and broadcaster, has been an expert on BBC Television’s Antiques Roadshow for 29 years. He has owned, handled, written and talked about tens of thousands of objects. If he were suddenly to be cast away alone on a desert island, which eight objects would he take with him? In his choice, Paul reveals much about his life, his experiences, his memories, his passions, his opinions, his Antiques Roadshow adventures and much else besides, while offering a special insight into the world of art, antiques and collecting. Monday 20th April : Touching the Sky - The Invention of the Skyscraper - Dr Matthew Laing

From their humble origins, skyscrapers are the architectural symbol of the 20th century and a genuine turning-point in the long and complex histories of cities, life and work. Yet the skyscraper did not happen overnight. It was the culmination of many forces - economic, industrial, technological and architectural. This lecture tells the story of the first half-century of the skyscraper era, from the 1890s to the crowning achievements of the Chrysler Building in the 1930s and the Seagram Building of the 1950s. It will explore the unique conditions that led to their development (and enduring popularity) in the United States, and the key visionaries who made them possible.

Monday 25th May : Lost in Rules - Court Painters, Official Style and Fake News - Nirvana Romell Some of the greatest European painters often juggled two seemingly similar careers: running their own art workshops and working as court painters. While one allowed relative freedom of expression and innovation, the other imposed strict court rules on the artist’s creativity. In this lecture, Ms Romell briefly explains the history of the official style which still impacts today’s images, and then looks at how great masters like Holbein, Rubens and Velasquez had to curtail their creativity to fit within the prescribed courtly style of their period.

Monday 29th June : Contemporary Textile Arts in Egypt - from the Tentmaker’s Khan to the City of the Dead Jennifer Bowker In this lecture, Jenny explores contemporary textile arts from all over Egypt. Her presentation covers The Tentmakers of Cairo who stitch appliqué hangings and the groundbreaking work of the Wissa Wassef tapestry school. She discusses amazing patchwork projects with the wives and daughters of the garbage collectors of the huge city of Cairo, as well as embroiderers of Upper Egypt who sew their stories into fabric. The lecture extends to silk dyers in the dyeing khans, and how this silk is used for tassels for curtain making or spun by spinners in the long alleys of the City of the Dead.



2020 Lectures – continued

Monday 20th July : Summer Palaces of the Tsars - Dr Alexey Makhrov The royal estates in St Petersburg’s environs not only impress with their splendour but also give fascinating insights into the private life of the Romanovs. During the 18th century, inhospitable terrain was transformed into idyllic locations in Oranienbaum, Peterhof, Strelna, Gatchina, Tsarskoe Selo and Pavlovsk. Peter the Great, daughter Elisabeth, Catherine the Great and their successors spared no expense in building and decorating palaces, villas and gardens. During World War II most of the estates were heavily damaged but have since been lovingly restored. The lecture represents the palaces and gardens in the environs of St Petersburg and gives an account of their past and present. Monday 24th August : John Peter Russell - Australian Artist and Friend of the Impressionists - Lucrezia Walker

Impressionist painter, Claude Monet, rated the work of fellow artist, Australian John Peter Russell highly, and Matisse claims that Russell had taught him everything he knew about colour. Sculptor Rodin believed that in the future, Russell would be as famous as himself, Monet and Renoir. This did not turn out to be the case. However, during their lifetimes Russell was more successful than the unknown van Gogh. What reversed this situation? How do artists become famous? His extraordinary story rarely told, is of a life devoted to adventure, love, tragedy and art and is one worth telling.

Monday 21st September : And so, to bed … The History of the Bed - Janusz Karczewski-Slowikowski This lecture traces the significance and use of beds from the medieval period through to the 18th century in terms of both their association with the highest level of society as expressed through the great ‘State Beds’ and also the history of their construction. The significance of beds through the ages can be judged by the prominence given to them in wills and inventories: Shakespeare, in his will, left his wife Anne ‘my second-best bed’ and modern-day audiences may be surprised to learn that in times gone by, married or single, rich or poor, one never slept alone. Monday 19th October : The Book as Art - Form and Function in Creative Book Structures - Dominic Riley

This lecture illustrates the potential of the book as a three-dimensional object, from pop-ups, hidden fore-edge paintings and peep-show books, to books with hidden compartments and intriguing surprises. Whatever the reason for the creation of these unusual books, playfulness and humour is always a guiding principle. Dominic Riley will show work from his favourite book artists, including examples of experimental book structures he has collected and some he has made himself as part of his interest in this creative genre. Seen together they represent over two hundred years of questioning the notion of "what is a book?"



Major Exhibition at QAGOMA

WATER 7 DEC 2019 – 26 APR 2020

Walk across a vast, rocky riverbed created by Olafur Eliasson. See animals from around the world gather together to drink from Cai Guo-Qiang’s brilliant blue waterhole. Gaze at Peter Fischli and David Weiss’s snowman frozen in Brisbane’s summer heat. Traverse a cloud of suspended gymnastic rings in a participatory artwork by William Forsythe. View the tidal currents rise and fall around Angela Tiatia. Reflect on the cultural traditions of bodies of water with Judy Watson, and on the long history of our reliance on water through Megan Cope’s re-created midden. ‘Water’ invites you to do all this and much more.

‘Water’ explores the vital element which sustains all life on Earth. From major immersive experiences to smaller-scale treasures by Australian and international artists, the exhibition highlights this precious resource and sparks conversations about the environmental and social challenges we face today.

Dive deeper with guided tours of the exhibition at 11.00am every day from 9 December, and at the Water Sundays events with tours for kids, talks and hands-on workshops. See below for other exhibition related events.

Purchase tickets in advance online or at the exhibition ticket desk until 4.00pm during the exhibition period. For more information go to https://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/whats-on/brisbane-qagoma-events-calendar

USC Art Gallery

USC Art Gallery has temporarily closed its doors whilst undergoing an ambitious capital works project to extend the gallery’s facilities, made possible through the generosity of the late Arija Austin.

The project will see an expansion of the Gallery’s footprint through the construction of additional exhibition space, storage for our growing University art collection, and much-needed space for education and public programs.

USC is committed to its communities and this revitalisation will provide the capacity to present inspiring world-class exhibitions and programs that encourage curiosity, inquiry and exchange.

The project is due for completion in the first half of 2020, but you can keep up-to-date with its progress by visiting the USC website, joining their mailing list or following them on Facebook and Instagram.

https://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/whats-on/brisbane-qagoma-events-calendar



Text Box



Dear ADFAS Members

Just a brief reminder to our readers that I would welcome contributions from any members who would like to share information about their talents and interests, provide reviews or recommendations about books or local exhibitions, or entertain the rest of us with travellers’ tales and amusing anecdotes.

So get writing and mail your results to [email protected] !

The Editor

Painting to me is something of a tightrope act; it is between representation

and the other thing – whatever that is. It is difficult to keep one’s balance.

Ian Fairweather

Check your answers!... Did you get them all ?

Starting with the top row and working down, from left to right, the artists were :-

Rembrandt van Rijn

Pablo Picasso

Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun

Diego Velasquez

Egon Schiele

Paul Cézanne

Oskar Kokoschka

Frida Kahlo

Mary Cassatt

Vincent van Gogh

Salvador Dali

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

The other puzzle : 6 spades are required to balance the scales. ( = 2, = 3, = 4 )

Australian Decorative & Fine Arts Society Sunshine Coast ABN: 91 792 901 750 Postal address: PO Box 1592, Buderim Qld 4556 Email: [email protected]

Chairman : Dawne Clark : Ph 5448 6234 Membership Secretary : Brian Smith : Ph 5445 4439

Disclaimer: The information presented in this newsletter is based on information provided by the members and friends of ADFAS Sunshine Coast, every care has been taken to trace and acknowledge copyright. The publisher tenders its apology for any accidental infringements. The editor and volunteers involved in the production of this newsletter do not accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the content of the newsletter.

Dennis Panchaud - Newsletter Editor 2020

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

ADFAS Sunshine Coast Inc. Newsletter · Volume 12, No 1. January 2020 ADFAS Sunshine Coast Newsletter 2 We had an extremely rewarding Young Arts Programme in 2019. We were able to