Written by Ritchie Benaud Wednesday, 30 March 2011 22:05

"Experimental Gentlemen" ~ Colonial Art At The Ian Potter Museum of Art in Melbourne

Melbourne, Austrailia - The worlds of colonial art and rock music might seem like odd bedfellows, but they come together in a new exhibition at the Ian Potter Museum of Art . "Experimental Gentlemen" is a stunning showcase of the Grimwade collection, featuring a veritable who’s who of Australian colonial art–including John Glover, Eugene von Guérard, John Skinner Prout and Augustus Earle. From indisputable masterpieces like William Strutt’s Bushrangers, Victoria, Australia, 1852 (1887), through to rarely seen treasures such as Alexander Shaw’s A catalogue of the different specimens of cloth collected in the three voyages of Captain Cook (1787), it shows a changing vision of the country we inhabit. The exhibition is on view until the 15th September 2011.

The exhibition has been curated by Potter guest curator Henry F. Skerritt, who was awarded the prestigious 2010 Grimwade Internship at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, to research the Grimwade collections of the University of Melbourne. Skerritt, who studied Fine Art at the University of Melbourne, is also the lead singer of the Melbourne based rock group The Holy Sea. Skerritt is no stranger to colonial Australia; The Holy Sea’s 2010 album Ghosts of the Horizon also explored colonial themes, from the arrival of Cook to the 2004 death in custody of Palm Islander Mulrunji Doomadgee. The title of the exhibition comes from an 18th century term used to describe wealthy young virtuosi like Joseph Banks or Charles Darwin, who travelled the world in search of adventure and novelty. According to Skerritt, “Stepping into the gallery will be like diving into the pages of a Boy’s Own Adventure novel. There is nothing reverential or traditional about Experimental gentlemen; we want to reinstate the sense of wonderment and awe that inspired explorers and adventurers to risk their lives in the pursuit of new sights and experiences.” “It is easy to forget how challenging the marvels of the new world were to these adventurers. What appears commonplace to us now, was once so startling that it sent seismic reverberations through the old world, challenging the way Europeans thought about art, life and their place in the universe.”




This sense of wonderment is precisely in keeping with the spirit of the Grimwade collection, bequeathed to the University of Melbourne by Sir Russell and Lady Mab Grimwade. Comprising over 600 artworks, 1000 books and a trove of photographs and archival materials, the Grimwade collection is one of the largest and finest colonial collections in Australia. Sir Russell Grimwade (1879-1955) was fiercely passionate about fostering the development of an Australian historical narrative–so much so that in 1934 it inspired him to transport Captain Cook’s cottage from Yorkshire to Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens. Skerritt says, “Nowadays people might consider Grimwade to be something of an eccentric, but he was committed to celebrating Australia’s pioneer heritage. It was a heritage he felt closely connected to and I think he would be thrilled to think that 50 years after his death, people were still finding new ways to make the story of the past relevant through his collections.”

The Ian Potter Museum of Art's mission is to collect, preserve, display and interpret contemporary and historical works of art thereby advancing appreciation of Australia's cultural heritage on a local, national and international level, and supporting the University of Melbourne as a leading teaching and research institution. The University Art Gallery staged its first exhibition in 1973. A dedicated gallery was established in the Old Physics Building in 1975. Relocated to the Physics Annexe in 1988, the gallery became the Ian Potter Gallery and Art Conservation Centre. With the opening of its current building in 1998, the gallery became the Ian Potter Museum of Art. The Potter is now considered one of the leading university art museums in Australia. Constituted by statute of the University Council in July 1998, the Ian Potter Museum of Art has custodial responsibility for the university's art collection, as well as participating in teaching and research, exhibiting and publishing and conducting public programs. Through its core activities the Potter provides for the acquisition, maintenance, conservation, cataloguing, exhibition, investigation, interpretation and promotion of the art collections of the University of Melbourne. In partnership with academic departments, the Potter takes part in teaching and research, as well as offering vocational opportunities to students in relevant degree programs. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.art-museum.unimelb.edu.au

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