An Invitation to ‘Modern’ Melbourne: Reconsidering the 1956 Olympic Games Poster
Dr John Hughson
'Olympic Games Melbourne' 1956 poster by Richard Beck, 1954 – 1956 Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial via Powerhouse Museum
The poster designed by Richard Beck for the Games of the XVI Olympiad introduced a significant stylistic interruption to the imagery used to promote the Olympic occasion and its ideals. Posters for the previous summer Games, since 1912, had featured different renditions of the semi-naked male athletic body. In stark contrast, Beck’s poster dispensed with human figuration instead offering a sparse geometrical design said to depict an invitation card. While there is little evidence in the formal records to indicate the commission of a specified design, Beck’s image fitted well with the agenda pursued by the local organizers for Melbourne to be represented as a ‘modern’ destination; a location where the Olympic Games could be conducted at distance from old enmities. However, rather than being a mere piece of advertising, in compliance with a desired image, Beck’s poster reflected a prevailing optimism within Australian cultural life of the 1950s and, as such, warrants further consideration within the history of our visual culture, as it also does within the history of Olympic posters.
Dr John Hughson, Professor of Sport and Cultural Studies, University of Central Lancashire (Preston, England) will present his analysis of the 1956 Olympic Games Poster at the National Sports Museum.
Date: 5.30pm – 8pm, Thursday 26 July, 2012
Venue: National Sports Museum, Gate 3, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Yarra Park, VIC
Places are limited. Bookings are essential at rsvp@nsm.org.au
Members of Museums Australia and the International Council of Museums receive complimentary admission.
See the National Sports Museum website for further information.