Celebrating Summer

In 1962, John Olsen was commissioned by Sydney art dealer Frank McDonald to paint the ceiling of his Woollahra residence. The resulting work Summer in the you beaut country is a vibrant sunburst; its variety of creatures, grinning faces and meandering lines celebrate the totality of the environment and our integration with the natural world. The work was painted as part of a series of commissions and Olsen’s intention was that they create an immersive, all-at-once experience in which near and far, and large and small, occupy the same space.

Inge King’s Black sun is the third of three maquettes for a monumental sculpture of the same name. Alluding to the ancient interest in the tracking of the sun, Black sun consists of two semi circles assembled to form a narrow vertical slit which allows light to penetrate through. King, who studied in Germany and Great Britain before arriving in Australia in 1951, described her sculpture as romantic and emotional. When it came to her monumental public works she commented that they were conceived in direct relationship to the Australian landscape.

Del Kathryn Barton’s series Inside another land which comprises 75 collage works combining figures and flora in riotous colour. The works, inspired by the collages of celebrated Dada artist Hannah Höch (German 1989-1978) celebrate the unexpected associations that emerge from juxtaposed images. As in all of Barton’s works, the meeting of colour and pattern overflows with abundance and uncontainable life. Inside another land expresses the bounty of nature and of our creative energy.

Jane Sutherland arrived in Australia in 1864 with her family at the age of eleven. Sutherland attended the National Gallery of Victoria Art School, received a student prize, and later returned for evening classes. In the 1880s she joined her male colleagues Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts, Charles Conder and Frederick McCubbin at Eaglemont and painted with them at Alphington, Templestowe and Diamond Creek. A midsummer day was completed around 1893 and depicts a sun-bleached landscape. The painting captures a sense of the heat and blazing light so distinctive of an Australian summer day.

For many of us, summer means a trip to the beach. Early in his career, Australian photographer Rennie Ellis wrote articles and had his photographs published in the magazine Surfing World. The beach continued to be a preferred location for his fun loving version of street photography and he eagerly participated in and photographed life on the Australian coast. His photograph Lorne, New Years Day, conjures a sense of the delight of a day at the beach, the open space, the hot sand and the expectation of long summer holidays.

Surfing became an increasingly popular sport in Australia in the 1960s. The first surf movie shown in the country was screened in Sydney in 1960 to an excited young crowd. In 1962, Midget Farrelly became the first Australian to win a world surfing championship and that same year, David Beal made his photograph Surf riders, Dee Why, New South Wales. Beal’s photograph encapsulates the sense of freedom and independence associated not only with the sport but with the youthful subculture that existed around it.

This sundress, Outfit, was decorated with the fruits of summer and worn by Jenny Kee to the 1975 Flamingo Follies event at Bondi Pavilion, Sydney. It was made by Linda Jackson from original 1950s fabric found in haberdashery shops in Melbourne. Between 1974 and 1981, sensational and highly anticipated annual parades helped to establish the pairs’ Flamingo Park label as a dynamic force in Australian fashion.

Regina Pilawuk Wilson, a senior artist from Peppimentarti in the tropical top end of the Northern Territory, represents the weave of a syaw, a traditional conical-shaped fish net made from pinbin (bush vine) with Syaw (Fish net) 2008. The pinbin is harvested, split and twined together to make the syaw, which is left in the river overnight and collected in the morning. The artist plays with the concept of weaving, introducing rhythmical patches with frayed edges that together form a complex composition replete with subtle variations and shifts of texture, loose strands and interwoven fragments. Wilson distils the rhythm of weaving, the movement of water through the syaw, and the golden colours of sand palm, pandanus palm and bush vine in Country evocative of the tropical summer monsoonal climate of Peppimentarti.

Ruth Maddison’s series Christmas Holiday with Bob’s family, Mermaid Beach, Queensland celebrates people coming together for Christmas. It is an intimate sequence of works showing the close bonds between the members of her extended family, a joyful celebration of familiar rituals and activities, and a poignant reminder of the passage of time. It also speaks to an occasion familiar to many Australians: the long lunch, the giving of gifts, and aftermath of wrapping paper littering the floor.

With the reopening of The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia last month and the launch of new exhibitions including DESTINY, TIWI and Ivan Durrant: Barrier Draw, I encourage you, if you have the opportunity, to immerse yourself in Australian art over the summer.

This past week, it has also been incredible to see so many visitors reconnect with NGV International and explore the NGV Triennial 2020. This exhibition, which is possibly the most ambitious in the NGV’s history, and delivered in such unprecedented times, is an experience not to be missed. We will also host Triennial EXTRA a thirty one day festival of extended exhibition hours, live music, food and bars. A true celebration of summer in Melbourne.

For those who are not able to travel to Melbourne, our new exhibition microsite will be updated regularly with the latest virtual tours, talks and information on the artists and projects.

On behalf of the NGV team, I wish each of you and your loved ones a safe and happy holiday period.

Tony Ellwood AM
Director, National Gallery of Victoria