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NGV International
180 St Kilda Road,
Melbourne, Entry Fee
(Until February 24)
Across two large sections of the NGV’s St Kilda road complex spreads a plethora of paintings, sculptures and other objects of art; over 250 masterworks by 93 artists drawn from collections across Australia and New Zealand. The works in Modern Britain 1900-1960 trace enormous changes in both artistic style and British society in general. Examining the stylistic developments and the subjects depicted, you learn much about what was going on across the sixty years.
The exhibition is divided into 28 themed sections to help the viewer grasp the distinct approaches taken by British artists during these decades. Landscape painting, the nude and portraiture are just some of the thematic groupings given weight in the exhibition. Painting the landscape allowed artists such as Spencer Gore, Matthew Smith and Charles Holmes to express modernist techniques such as abstraction and surrealism. Portraiture is examined throughout the exhibition in relation to style and subject matter. The personality of the subject began to emerge from the canvas by the 1920s. Queer painter Glyn Philpot is featured extensively; a fashionable 1920s society painter whose career disintegrated as his sexuality began to express itself in his art.
Poppet (The artist’s daughter) 1927-28, a work by Augustus John, has been used to promote the Modern Britain exhibition. The painting portrays the artist’s daughter in a sensual manner. Her long neck gives her a languid look as she eyes the viewer almost precociously. This work reveals the move away from the rigid subject to one that catches the instantaneous attitude of the subject. Likewise, Bernard Fleetwood-Walker’s 1934 painting, Three Boys, focuses on the personalities of the sitters.
Another theme explored throughout the exhibition is The Nude. Here the darkly sensual work of Francis Bacon is shown, as well as the male nudes painted by Duncan Grant. By using a realist approach to painting and drawing, the nude allowed artists such as Bacon, Grant and Matthew Smith to push the conventional boundaries of what was permissible in artistic representation.
Other artists featured include sculptors Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore; the very fashionable design works of Vanessa Bell (Virginia Woolf’s sister); and fellow Bloomsbury artist Duncan Grant. Other works of interest include futurist-inspired pieces by Percy Wyndham Lewis that visualise the rapid changes taking place in the thriving cities. This is an exhibition highly recommended for the holiday break.
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