Gordon ANDREWS (designer)<br/>
<em>Rondo chair</em> (c.1953) (designed); (c.1969) (manufactured) <br/>
fibreglass, aluminium, foam rubber, wool<br/>
84.1 x 78.0 x 67.7 cm<br/>
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br/>
Purchased, 1999 (1999.100.1)<br/>
<br/>
on<br/>
<br/>
Mona HESSING (Australian born 1933)<br/>
<em>Circular rug</em> 1965<br/>
wool, hessian<br/>
3.5 x 271.0 x 264.0 cm<br/>
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br/>
Purchased, 1999 (1999.101)<br/>

Mid-Century Modern

Australian Furniture Design

Open 10am–5pm

Tickets
Adult (16 years and above) $10
Child (up to and including 15) Free
Concession $7
NGV Member Adult $6

Unlimited Entry
Tickets can be purchased in person at NGV
Adult $25
Concession $17.50
NGV Member Adult $15

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square

Level 3

30 May 14 – 19 Oct 14

This dynamic exhibition presents a rare chance to enjoy the art of mid-century Australian furniture design and is part of our renewed focus on modern and contemporary design at the National Gallery of Victoria.

Innovative furniture design took hold in Australia following World War Two, prompted in part by the availability of new materials (and sometimes the shortages of others), the development of new production techniques and the influx of European immigrants who were skilled in the traditions of fine furniture making. Taking their cue from international trends in furniture, local designers adopted the pared-back language of modernism to create stylish sculptural furniture that was functional and flexible and which found the ideal setting in the modernist architecture of the period.

From Grant Featherston’s iconic plywood Contour range and Clement Meadmore’s welded steel corded chairs, so distinctive of the 1950s, to Gordon Andrews’ elegant 1960s designs for home and office, mid-century modern furniture design turned its back on the overstuffed and ornate examples of previous decades and in doing so, revolutionised the contemporary interior.

The exhibition will focus on the work of figures including Grant Featherston, Clement Meadmore, Douglas Snelling, Gordon Andrews, Fred Lowen, Lester Bunbury and Schulim Krimper. It will also encompass designs by visual artists such as Robert Klippel and Janet Dawson who occasionally adapted their creative skills to the production of furniture, and examples of do-it-yourself Patterncraft furniture designed by Fred Ward.

The important relationship between contemporary architecture and furniture design will be highlighted through the ‘recreation’ of modern interior vignettes and the 1971 Marion Hall Best interior designed for Joan and Richard Crebbin’s Castlecrag home comprising Gordon Andrews’ Rondo chairs, a Mona Hessing shag-pile rug and Jack Meyers’ sound/wall sculpture (NGV). Contextual material including working drawings, textiles of the period and photographs of contemporary architecture will also be included, building a rich picture of this relatively little known aspect of Australia’s design history.

Exhibition labels

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Select Works

Grant FEATHERSTON (designer)
UNKNOWN (manufacturer)
Television BS211H Contour settee (1953)
hardwood, plywood, cotton (replacement), (other materials)
78.7 x 119.4 x 82.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Grant and Mary Featherston, 1973
D219-1973
© Grant Featherston/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Fred LOWEN (designer)
THE FLER COMPANY, Richmond, Melbourne (manufacturer)
Aluminium shell chair (1954)
aluminium, wool (replacement), steel, wood, rubber, (other materials)
93.5 x 94.6 x 81.5 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Fred Lowen, 2004
2004.585
Grant Featherston (designer)
Australia 1922–95
E2 Elastic Suspension chair 1954
hardwood, plywood, rubber, wool, (other materials)
92.0 x 84.0 x 80.0 cm
Collection of Cameron and Alison Lyon, Melbourne
Gordon Andrews (designer)
Gazelle chair (c. 1950) designed, 1957 manufactured
plywood, aluminium, wool
74.0 x 48.0 x 55.0 cm
Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney
Purchased, 1989 (89/499)
Grant Featherston
Living room setting at Hotel Federal exhibition 1953
type C photograph
Featherston Archive, Melbourne
Gordon ANDREWS (designer)
Rondo chair (c.1953) (designed); (c.1969) (manufactured)
fibreglass, aluminium, foam rubber, wool
84.1 x 78.0 x 67.7 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1999 (1999.100.1)

on

Mona HESSING (Australian born 1933)
Circular rug 1965
wool, hessian
3.5 x 271.0 x 264.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1999 (1999.101)
Roger McLAY
Kone chair (1948)
plywood, steel, rubber, brass
72.0 x 78.3 x 63.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1998
1998.2
Roger McLAY
Kone chair (1948)
plywood, steel, rubber, brass
72.0 x 78.3 x 63.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1998
1998.2
Grant FEATHERSTON (designer)
UNKNOWN (manufacturer)
R160 Contour armchair (c. 1951)
hardwood, plywood, cotton, (other materials)
91.0 x 73.0 x 83.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift from the Estate of Mr George Seger, 1987
D74-1987
© Grant Featherston/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Grant FEATHERSTON (designer)
EMERSON BROS PTY LTD, Melbourne (manufacturer)
R152 Contour chair (1950) {designed}; (1951) {manufactured}
hardwood, plywood, linen, (other materials)
91.0 x 59.0 x 77.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1955
1532-D4
© Grant Featherston/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia