Symposium | Academia and Bohemia: New Perspectives on the National Gallery School | Victorian College of the Arts

Image: Samuel Calvert, "Sketches at the School of Design [at the National Gallery School]", 30 April 1887, wood engraving, Illustrated Australian News; Source: State Library of Victoria

Image: Samuel Calvert, “Sketches at the School of Design [at the National Gallery School]”, 30 April 1887, wood engraving, Illustrated Australian News; Source: State Library of Victoria

A free one-day symposium, which presents new perspectives on the National Gallery of Victoria’s Art School, is organised by the Australian Institute of Art History (AIAH) in the Faculty of Arts, in collaboration with the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), as part of the celebrations in honour of the 150th anniversary of the Victorian College of the Arts.

Founded in 1867, the National Gallery Art School has remained the leading continuous centre of academic art training in Australia, becoming the first school of the Victorian College of the Arts in 1973, and later affiliating with the University of Melbourne in 1991.

You are invited to hear a group of experts, including Michael Varcoe-Cocks (National Gallery of Victoria), Professor Catherine Speck (University of Adelaide), Dr Stephen Mead (independent scholar), Dr Bronwyn Hughes (independent scholar), Ms Alexandra Ellem (University of Melbourne), Associate Professor Alison Inglis (University of Melbourne), Ms Annelies Van de Ven (University of Melbourne), and Mr David Belzycki (independent
scholar), discuss different aspects of the history of this remarkable Art School, focussing on its early years from 1867 to World War One.

Many luminaries of Australian art history were students or teachers at the School during this time – including Eugene von Guerard, George Folingsby, Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Jane Sutherland, Frederick McCubbin,  Bernard Hall, Rose MacPherson (Margaret Preston), Hugh Ramsay, among others. The links between the National Gallery School and Melbourne’s lively bohemian culture will be a major theme of the symposium, with the keynote lecture on the famous “9 by 5 Impression Exhibition” of 1889 being presented by Mr Terence Lane, an  acknowledged expert in this field, and former Senior Curator of Australian Art at the National Gallery of Victoria.
The event commences at 10.30am, with three sessions of papers being presented between 10.30am and 5.00pm.

Between 5.30-6.30 pm, the Keynote Address will be presented by Terence Lane OAM, (independent art historian and writer; former Senior Curator of Australian Art at the National Gallery of Victoria): The
“9 by 5 Impression Exhibition”: a cultural landmark.

To register just for the keynote visit this link: alumni.online.unimelb.edu.au/lane

From 6.30-7.30 pm, there will be Drinks and Conversation in the Margaret Lawrence Gallery: Fiona Gruber in conversation with Elizabeth Gower, and a viewing of 9 X 5 NOW Exhibition.

Date: Wednesday, 21 June 2017, 10.30am – 6.30pm
Venue: Federation Hall, Victorian College of the Arts, Grant Street, SOUTHBANK VIC 3006
Admission is free. Bookings are required as seating is limited.
To register visit: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/art150-9-x-5-symposium-tickets-34560956752?aff=es2

Leave a Reply