Toowoomba Society News September 2017 Volume 11, issue 7

Transcription

1 Toowoomba Society News September 2017 Volume 11, issue 7 facebook.com/adfastoowoomba For additional information about your society and activities in the Art World of Toowoomba. Like us and make a comment Spring is in the Air Welcome to ADFAS TOOWOOMBA What a wonderful lecture presentation in August. Shauna Isaac was magnificent in her coverage of the topic THE ART OF THE STEAL, especially great in light of the technical glitch which could have meant she didn t have any graphics to show. She began with an image of Hitler being presented with this painting of Vermeer s The Astronomer for his birthday. It is one of her favourites; and she has seen the swastika on the back. Why was it that Hitler and The Third Reich appropriated so much of the art in Europe from 1933 to 1945? a) Hitler was a failed artist ; he had applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and was rejected, not once but twice, and some of his contemporaries who were Jews were accepted. This probably fuelled his anti-semitism. b) Hitler planned a cultural centre in his home town of Linz; The Fuhrer Museum. It was to have the greatest collection of art in the western world; Linz would be the cultural capital of the WORLD. To this end, Nazi collectors travelled to all the galleries of Europe, photographed the works and had a list of the ones they wanted. Photograph albums have been found. They especially liked the old masters, Greek, Roman and Renaissance art, nudity without sensuality; they abhorred modern art, called it degenerate. However we are fortunate that they accepted its value and used pieces to barter and acquire what was desired. Importantly it was not destroyed. They began amassing their loot originally by purchasing the works, often putting the owners under duress and at a less than market price, from a fund that Hitler set up. As the war progressed, gallery curators hid some of their greatest works outside the cities. Statues that were impossible to move were wrapped and bricked around to avoid damage from bombing. Shauna showed us an amazing slide of brick bee-hives in the Accademia, Florence. In 1943 the Allies formed the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives program (MFAA). Initially to protect galleries and churches. 130 persons joined the Monuments Men (mainly volunteer curators and art collectors), from many countries. They discovered so much looted artwork that their mission became rescue and return works to their rightful owners. This work became increasingly urgent when it became known that Hitler had ordered all artwork to be destroyed in the event of Germany losing the war. Rose Valland, a volunteer curator at the Jeu de Paume museum in Paris, had secretly made a list of all the works that came in, the secret storehouses where they were stockpiled when they left the museum and the numbers of the train cars when the last of the paintings were shipped to Germany. These records were invaluable to the Monuments Men who, in 1945 after hostilities ceased, found enormous stashes of these art works. They were found in Goring s country residence, Neuschwanstein Castle, the Altaussee salt mines and hundreds of other locations. This church pictured is just one such place.

2 By 1948 the Monuments Men had completed their mission as well as they could but there was an enormous number of artworks missing. The question of restitution resurfaced again in 1990 s as the 50yr privacy laws expired. In 1998 the Federal Republic of Germany and 43 other countries agreed to The Washington Conference Principles which required them to closely inspect their art inventories to establish the provenance of works which had changed ownership between 1933 and Artworks which are shown by renewed research to involve a persecution related deprivation of property during the National Socialist period are to be returned. Russia and France refused to sign. The agreement is thus not legally binding, so the countries may choose not to do the research and/or not to repatriate the works to rightful owners. It is estimated that 20% of all European art was looted and that 350,00 objects remain missing, worth about 42 billion USD. This Portrait of Wally by Egon Schiele belonged to Shauna s grandfather. Rudolph Leopold obtained it for his collection of the works of Egon Schiele, it was housed in the Belvedere Museum in Vienna. In 1998 part of the collection was sent on loan for an exhibition to the MOMA in NY. Shauna s Aunt saw it, she knew it from childhood and set about claiming it back to the family. After a lot of bargaining, over a 12 year period, including a court case United States vs Portrait of Wally the family accepted 19mill USD as compensation and the painting returned to Austria. It hangs with an account of its interesting ownership history. Another interesting turn of events was the discovery in 2012, in Cornelius Gurlitt s appartment in Munich, a hoard of 1406 works of art worth 1 billion. Gurlitt s father Hildebrand had been an art dealer for the Nazi s. Mattisse s Seated Woman has been returned to the art dealer Paul Rosenberg, from whom 400 works were stolen; 60 are still unaccounted for. Max Liebermann s Two Riders on the Beach has been returned to the great nephew of industrialist and art collector, David Friedmann. The great nephew is blind but was able to give a detailed description of the painting from his childhood memory. Shauna also recounted the story of Woman in Gold, well known to us from our lecture last year on the work of Gustav Klimt. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I together with 4 other Klimt s belonging to the family were on exhibition in the National Gallery of Austria in Vienna. The paintings were returned to the family in 2006 after a lengthy legal battle. Woman in Gold was bought at auction by Ronald Lauder and now hangs in his Neue Gallerie in NY. Altogether a fascinating lecture! Membership News This lecture attracted 104 in attendance, including 26 guests. Well done everyone!

3 From the Chairman s Desk Succession Planning Dear reader, there is some light at the end of the tunnel! Some members have indicated that they will nominate to fill various vacancies on the Committee, however, more are needed! If you would like to know more, please telephone me (Caroline) on or toowoomba@adfas.org.au. I look forward to hearing from you! Don t forget to make use of your complimentary guest vouchers and invite someone you think might like to join. ADFAS Noosa Some of their members are looking forward to visiting Toowoomba during the Carnival of Flowers in September. They arrive 18 th September and Caroline has organised for a visit to DownsSteam the following day, 19 th. There will be a tour of the Dreamtime carriage, conducted by Robert Ketton, and lunch. It would be great if you could come along, make them welcome, and enjoy the tour and lunch. Cost is $43 which includes a 2-course lunch with wine /soft drink and a small donation. If you wish to participate please let Caroline know ASAP (ph ) so that she can finalise numbers by Thursday 14 th September. Raffle Our annual raffle is a cracker this year. The first two prizes (kindly donated by Wendy Allen who is a travel agent) are; 2 nights at the Hotel Jen by Shangri La Brisbane; 2 nights at the Novotel Gold Coast; third prize, a sumptuous hamper and fourth prize a beautiful grafted grevillea. Tickets will be available at the lecture this month. Would every member take a book of 12 tickets and ask friends to contribute. Butts and money to be returned at the October lecture or before to Caroline phone for instructions. The prizes will be drawn during supper at the October lecture. The proceeds will be presented to Sheridan Wright who runs the Kiyua Performing Group after her group gives their annual excerpt from their concert at our Christmas Party on Tuesday 28 th November. The tickets are $2 each or 3 for $5. I d love to give Sheridan a nice fat cheque! Next Lecture Tuesday 19 September Poetry, Passion and Painting: The Pre-Raphaelites Lecturer: Mr Michael Howard (NADFAS) Michael, although he is retired, still teaches at Manchester School of Art and Design at the Manchester University, where he teaches both academic and studio-based students. He is President of Bolton DFAS and is a practising artist; a painter, sculptor, printmaker and ceramicist. Michael s work is represented in the Manchester Art Gallery and in many private collections in UK and abroad. Michael has published widely on European art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His books include: L.S.Lowry: A Visionary Artist (also worked on a film of the artist s life), Goya, Whistler, Monet, Cézanne. In 2004 he and Ghislaine worked on a film, Dagas and the Dance which has received many awards including one of the prestigious Peabody awards. He is currently working on two major projects: one with Ghislaine and Blackburn Cathedral, The Seven Wonders of Mercy and a dramatic presentation with Liverpool Tate to mark the birth of Dada in In the nineteenth century England was the most powerful nation in the world. The challenge for ambitious artists was simple how to create modern English art that would be equivalent to any of the great civilisations of the past. Using painting and poetry, this lecture presents the art of this period in a new light. Featured are some familiar names Shakespeare, Keats, Rossetti, Constable, Turner, Landseer, the Pre-Raphaelites and Whistler as well as other lesser known but equally fascinating figures. Please note this change David Iliffe s interview with Michael will be broadcast on the ABC Local Radio s Breakfast Programme on both Monday morning 28 August and Tuesday morning, 29 August, at the later time of 9.40am.. Please be seated by 5.45pm for a 6pm start

4 If you have invited along a friend for the lecture please let Caroline know on the afternoon of the lecture (or before) so that she can have a name badge prepared. Ph or toowoomba@adfas.org.au. If you are unavoidably late and the lecture has begun (the door is closed) you should go along the corridor, turn left and come in the kitchen door (first on the left) DO NOT FORGET Libby Davis, Chairman of ADFAS Armidale has extended an open invitation to members of other ADFAS Societies to attend their lectures. Armidale is on the Hume Circuit so they have a different lecturer programme to us. There is no fee for visiting ADFAS members. Consider the Special Interest Days in our region Look on the national web site of ADFAS? Google adfas.org.au, click on ADFAS Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society, then under tab Societies find information about our programme and those of Brisbane, Brisbane River, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast all of whom have the same lecturers as do we AND they have some Special Interest Days to which we are invited. Look them up, maybe you would enjoy attending one of these days. Brisbane ADFAS Special Interest Days Thursday 14 September A Marriage Made in Heaven Drawing and Painting OR Gold Coast ADFAS Special Interest Morning - Saturday 9 September on the same topic Brisbane River ADFAS Special Interest Morning Thursday 19 October The Treasures of the Black Tent At the last lecture Chris Flemming and Shauna Isaac Lou and Rob Barnes with Jeff Flemming Don Dowe, Judy Midgley and Sue Dowe Kay Robertson, Jan Tonkin and George Tucker Our wine waiters Ron and Ken Rosemary Steenbeek, Graham and Liz Wilson

5 Left Allan Bruce and Sandy Pottinger Right Ian Jones and Mike Arnold ADFAS Travel There are some really interesting tours on offer later this year including two in Australia. October Berlin/Morocco/Japan November Adelaide and Kangaroo Island December Tasmania: history, art & gardens For details: visit adfastravel.com.au Expressions of interest are called for A New 4- day tour scheduled for August 2018, including The National Gallery of Victoria s exhibition Masterworks from New York s Museum of Modern Art. ADFAS Travel contact or info@adfastravel.com.au Toowoomba Art Society Members' Exhibition Please find attached our invitation for your members Official Opening is Friday 8th September at 6.30 and ALL are welcome. DATES: 5th September to 1st October Times: Tuesday to Friday 9am - 12noon 10-2pm Saturday and Sunday. Please note the extended hours on the 9 days of Carnival which will be 10-4 daily. With thanks Diana for TAS Editor: Pauline Gordon Publisher: Caroline Freyberg September 2017