Velasquez Gallery

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Velasquez Gallery, also known as Velasquez Gallery at Tye's, and later Tye's Art Gallery, was a Melbourne art gallery that showed contemporary traditional, and later, modernist Australian art, including some sculpture and prints, as well as Australian indigenous art. It operated from 1940 to 1955. [1]

Contents

History

The Velasquez Gallery, located in the basement at the rear of Tye's Furniture Building, 100 Bourke Street, Melbourne, [2] was one of the few places to exhibit in 1940s Melbourne. [3] The gallery opened during WW2 on 4 June 1940 with an exhibition of work by Australian proponent of Tonalism, Max Meldrum, and "autumn leaves from Mr. Tye's Macedon garden decorated the gallery". [4] [5] [6] When it first opened in June 1940, [7] The Age described its facilities;

The Velasquez Gallery an interesting development in the progress of art in Melbourne is the establishment of a new gallery — to be known as the Velasquez Gallery— by Tye and Co., at their Bourke-street premises. The gallery, which is 50 feet square, is artificially lighted on a carefully considered plan, which allows for adjustments and modifications, and will ensure a uniform and even glow, such as cannot be got by a daylight arrangement. The general setting of the gallery is adequate, and pictures will be seen under the best possible conditions. The gallery will open with a one-man exhibition by Max Meldrum on June 4. [8]

The business later expanded to 110-116 Bourke Street. [9]

Ethos

The manager was painter/printmaker, critic, broadcaster and lecturer Stephanie Taylor (1899–1974), [10] [11] [12] and director, the art collector and connoisseur [13] George Page-Cooper (c.1895-1967). [14] [15] The gallery showed contemporary traditional, and later, Modern Australian art, including some sculpture and prints, as well as indigenous art. In 1948, twenty-seven of Sidney Nolan's Kelly series paintings were shown at the Velasquez Gallery for the first time. [3] [16] Under the management of Taylor, women artists were given much better exposure than at other galleries, [12] [17] and she organised a number of shows to raise funds for charities. [18] [19] A September 1943 report in The Bulletin demonstrates its optimistic openness to Modernism;

Art shows of various groups and the crowds they draw give abundant evidence that war hasn’t yet squelched our aesthetic senses. Norman MacGeorge, expatiating on surrealism and symbolism and such developments, drew a surprisingly large audience to the Velasquez Galleries. He took his examples from the Contemporary Art Group’s show. [20]

Closure

Page-Cooper moved on in 1952 with the unrealised intention to set up another gallery in the city [21] before Velasquez Gallery closed early 1955. [22] Taylor wrote to The Age newspaper:

...the passing of Tye's Art Gallery will be regretted by many art lovers who will remember some of the fine exhibitions that were held there. It Is a pity that there are not a few more public-spirited people like the late Mr. Tye, who are willing to sacrifice a little of their profits for the cultural development of the city which gives them a living. [1]

Page-Cooper's collection, which included significant works by S. T. Gill, William Dobell, Arthur Streeton, Hans Heysen, Charles Conder and Tom Roberts, was offered for sale by the Leonard Joel auction house after his death in 1967 [23] [24] with further works disposed by auction in 1995. [15]

Exhibitions

As 'Velasquez Gallery':

By the late 1940s in publicity and in general references to it, the gallery is usually just 'Tye's Gallery’:

Footnotes

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References

  1. 1 2 Stephanie Taylor, 'Closing of Tye's Gallery' in 'Letters to the editor', The Age Friday 21 Jan 1955, p.2
  2. ↑ Akehurst, Christopher (June 2019), "Books and mateship at the bread and cheese club", Quadrant, 63 (6): 93–96, ISSN   0033-5002
  3. 1 2 Wendy Donald-Bradley (1991) Alannah Coleman: The Woman and her Role in Promoting Australian Art and Artists in the United Kingdom 1950–1990, M.A. thesis, Melbourne: Victoria College, 1991
  4. 1 2 The Age, Thursday 13 Jun 1940, p.3
  5. 1 2 The Age, Friday 24 May 1940, p.4
  6. 1 2 Bishop Family, Joseph (1900), Mr Allen Tye's, Romsey , retrieved 22 October 2020
  7. 1 2 "MELBOURNE TO HAVE NEW ART GALLERY". The Herald. 31 May 1940. p. 4. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  8. ↑ "The Velasquez Gallery". The Age. 24 May 1940. p. 4. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  9. 1 2 The Age, Tuesday 11 Mar 1952, p.3
  10. ↑ "Stephanie Taylor". printsandprintmaking.gov.au.
  11. 1 2 The Age, Thursday 24 Jul 1947, p.2
  12. 1 2 Kerr, Joan; Holder, Jo (1999). Past present : the national women's art anthology. Sydney, Australia: Craftsman House. ISBN   90-5704-141-3. OCLC   43456583.
  13. ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday 2 Apr 1932, p.9
  14. ↑ "George Page-Cooper". printsandprintmaking.gov.au.
  15. 1 2 Lahey, John. "Pleasant surprises in a life full of art", The Age, Tuesday, 21 Nov 1995, p.11
  16. ↑ "The Kelly gang in pictures", The Age, Wednesday 27 Jun 1956, p.2
  17. ↑ The Age, Wednesday 14 Apr 1937, p.18
  18. ↑ The Age, Wednesday 16 Jun 1943, p.3
  19. ↑ The Age, Saturday 29 May 1943, p.4
  20. ↑ The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W.: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, Vol. 64 No. 3317 (8 Sep 1943), p.25
  21. ↑ The Age, Saturday, 29 Nov 1952, p.14
  22. ↑ The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W.: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, Vol. 76 No. 3910 (19 Jan 1955), p.19
  23. ↑ Geoff Maslen, 'Still going, going, gone', The Age, Thursday 24 Mar 1994, p.9
  24. ↑ Mary Eagle, 'Fancy prices and bargains', The Age Saturday 7 Oct 1978, p.25
  25. ↑ "MELDRUM SHOW IN NEW CITY GALLERY". The Herald. 3 June 1940. p. 13. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  26. ↑ Basil Burdett (3 June 1940). "Art Of Max Meldrum In Retrospect". The Herald. p. 17. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  27. ↑ "THE LIFE OF MELBOURNE". Argus. 4 June 1940. p. 6. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  28. ↑ "ART GALLERY OPENING". The Age. 4 June 1940. p. 10. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  29. ↑ "ART AND CULTURE WORTH FIGHTING FOR". Argus. 5 June 1940. p. 2. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  30. ↑ "PICTURES BY CHILDREN". The Age. 2 July 1940. p. 11. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  31. ↑ "Children's Art Exhibition". The Age. 3 July 1940. p. 5. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  32. ↑ "ART OF ARNOLD SHORE". The Age. 7 August 1940. p. 5. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  33. ↑ "NEWS IN BRIEF". The Age. 30 August 1940. p. 8. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  34. ↑ "105 volumes : illustrations (chiefly coloured), portraits (chiefly coloured) ; 30-40 cm.", The bulletin., John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues)., Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 1880, ISSN   0007-4039, nla.obj-592278493, retrieved 10 August 2021– via Trove
  35. ↑ ”ART EXHIBITION OPENED,” The Age, Wednesday, 28 Aug 1940, p.5
  36. ↑ "NEW PATHS IN ART". The Age. 13 September 1940. p. 11. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  37. ↑ Malloch, H., & Bread Cheese Club. (1940). A brief history of the Bread and Cheese Club, Melbourne / by Harry Malloch. Melbourne: The Club.
  38. ↑ The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W.: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, Vol. 61 No. 3172 (27 Nov 1940), p.29
  39. ↑ Ricketts, W., & Waller, O. (1941). Exhibition of clay sculptures on Australian Aboriginal folk-lore by William Ricketts: Legends collected by Sir Baldwin Spencer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S. and David Uniapon. Brighton, Vic.: Middle Brighton Printery.
  40. ↑ "Hand-bound books displayed", The Age, Tuesday, 17 Aug 1943, p.3
  41. ↑ The Age, Wednesday, 15 Sep 1943, p.3
  42. ↑ The Age, Friday, 05 May 1944, p.5
  43. ↑ "Art as antidote", The Age Thursday 11 May 1944, p.2
  44. ↑ The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W.: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, Vol. 65 No. 3352 (10 May 1944), p.24
  45. ↑ Bell, George (6 June 1945). The Sun.{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  46. ↑ "ART EXHIBITION - ATHENÆUM -". The Age. 6 June 1945. Retrieved 8 August 2021– via Trove.
  47. ↑ "THREE ART SHOWS". Argus. 5 June 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  48. ↑ The Age, Tuesday 23 Sep 1947, p.14
  49. ↑ The Age, Tuesday 12 Oct 1948, p.2
  50. ↑ The Age, Thursday 23 Jun 1949, p.5
  51. ↑ "'War Artists show at Tye's Gallery'". The Age . No. 29447. Victoria, Australia. 13 September 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 22 October 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  52. ↑ The Age, Saturday, 24 Sep 1949, p. 6
  53. ↑ "Colorful work", The Age Tuesday 27 Sep 1949, p.2
  54. ↑ The Age, Wednesday 8 Feb 1950, p.5
  55. ↑ The Age, Tuesday 1 Apr 1952, p.2
  56. ↑ "High Standard of Children's Art". Advocate . Vol. LXXXV, no. 5071. Victoria, Australia. 2 October 1952. p. 18 – via National Library of Australia.
  57. ↑ The Age, Tuesday 6 Apr 1954, p.7

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