5 days in Adelaide, Australia- 5/17- 5/21/2024
Day 3-South Australian Museum-5/19/2024
The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace and has the largest collection of Australian Aboriginal cultural collection in the world. The Museum Library includes reference works relevant to the museum research, as well as being a source of specialized publications and photographs for other researchers.
The Museum today has two major legacies: natural science (geology, fauna, fossil record) and cultural heritage, with a particularly strong focus on Indigenous Australian (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) cultures and the Pacific region. It is also a research and educational institution: it doesn’t just display objects, it studies them, preserves them, and uses them to build knowledge.
The museum is free of charge.
We are in the Art Gallery that was established in 1881, originally in smaller premises before moving to its current home in 1900.
The collection is extensive: more than 45,000 works, covering Australian, Indigenous, European, Asian and decorative arts.
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The descent from the Cross by Johann Victor Kramer-1886-87, Vienna, oil on canvas. Gift of Robert Barr Smith 1891
The gallery is well known for having the largest collection of Auguste Rodin bronze sculptures in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Pierre de Wissant, Monumental Nude by August Rodin , Born in Paris 1840-Died in Meunon, France 1917.
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The Walking Man, Large Torso-1887 by August Rodin
On the left: The Three Shades -1881-83 by Auguste Rodin
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Lady Gaga: Mademoiselle Caroline Riviere by Robert Wilson, Born Waco Texas in 1941
George Cooley paints the spectacular desert landscape of the Kanku-Breakway, an area in northern South Australia that figures prominently in the creation stories and sacred song lines of the Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara people. The word kanku describes shelter, reflecting its significance as a place of protection and sanctuary, and its distinctive features are believed to originate from the Rainbow Serpent's activities when the world was formed, and ancestral being shaped the land. This includes unique mesas and ridges, sloping escarpments and floodplains that formed part of an ancient island sea and gave rise to the development of opals, making the region one of the richest depositories in the world.
Cooley paint these landscapes from memory and drawing from his experience prospecting for opal with brother John Cooley, uses color and brushwork to reveal a kaleidoscope beneath the earth's surface. His monumental works are not only a way of mapping the region but also privilege First Nations ways of knowing, being and doing.
Evening shadows, Backwater of the Murray, South Australia by H.J. Johnstone, born in Birmingham, Briatan 1835-Died in London 1907
The Art Gallery with so many paintings.
Untitled Australian Landscape Series by Fred Williams, Born in Melbourne 1927, Died in Melbourne 1982
Through the generosity of the Williams family, the Gallery has recently acquired tree seminal painting by Fred Williams. Working as a painter and printmaker, Williams was one of the most important artist of his generation. His spare, elevated views enriched our appreciation of the Australian landscape.
The Trinity of new addition are particularly significant for the way each transcend local landscape reference to explore universal concepts, such as a sense of infinite. They span from 1969 through 1981 and demonstrate the artist's ongoing experimentation with space, form and the materiality of color.
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When Williams painted this "Untitled" painting he was on the brink of moving into abstraction. Landscape details are reduced to their barest details, with the minutiae of distant treads and tracks that only elements holding it in the representational realm. The vertical fence line has formal associations with color field painting and the sense of vastness it evokes created option tension between the painting's diminutive details.
Cliff-top, we see a retreat from minimalism and a return to exploring full bodied color, texture and light. Its innovative horizontal strip format combines two separate aerial views of rugged coastline, masterful capturing the flow of time.
Absence Embodied by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota.
The piece is an immersive installation composed of thousands of meters of red wool or thread, filling a gallery space to create a dense web-like environment. It is described as a “room-filling installation” made of red wool, cast hands/arms, and plaster elements.
The red thread in Shiota’s work often symbolizes connections, memory, the body, and relationships. The volume and intensity of the installation create a physical presence, inviting viewers to feel enveloped by the narrative the artist is telling about absence, presence, and human experience.
In the Sassafras Valley, Victoria-1875 by Isaac Whiteheat, Born in Dublin, Ireland 1819-Died in Melbourne 1881
A break away -1991, Corona, New South Wales and Melbourne Victoria by Tom Roberts, Born in Dorchester, Britain 1856-Died in Kallista, Victoria 1931
This painting is regarded as a national icon, marvelously depicts the spectacle of a stampede on thirst-crazed sheep and a stockman who attempts to prevent the animals from being crushed and drowned. It became a popular symbol on national identity and strength.
However, the work is also a masterly example of captured motion. The composition is dominated on the left the downward diagonal line of a dust cloud. Like the flow of water in a waterfall painting, matter and energy are set against the stillness of the surrounding.
We are now at the Asian Art Gallery. A large foldable panel with Chinese writing.
A gold panel with birds likely uses either gold leaf or a gold‐colored ground, which was a technique used in Chinese screens (and similar lacquer or export works) to convey luxury, auspicious symbolism, and visual impact.
This one is a modern panel with caricature characters.
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On the left: Fuji in Moonlight by Nishiyama Hideo, born in Japan 1911-Died in 1989
On the right: Japanese Prayer by Hiramatsu Reiji, Born in Tokyo 1941
This painting depicts Mount Fuji, as the red sun rise in the background, with a profusion of flowers in full bloom on its slopes. At the base of the mountain, on the verdant green hills, plum or cherries tree appear in full flower, while in the background the boisterous rolling waves and sea mist contrast with the striking cut gold. Hiramatsu is one of the prominent painters in Japan today, and utilizes the materials and techniques associated with the ninhonga style of painting. The name nihonga which means "Japanese Picture" was coined in the early twentieth century when artists and scholars south to reinvigorate historical themes and media considered particularly Japanese.
Ever Blossoming Life II, A whole year per hour: Gold. 2016-Tokyo by teamLab, Japan, formed in 2001.
This is a video of over sixty minutes long projecting a work of art portrays and entire year of seasonal flowers, which grow, blossom, wither and fade away in a propulsion of scattered petals. The cut-gold background, the black brush strokes of writing and pools of a vibrant hue pay homage to the screen painting of the Edo Periods (1615-1868)
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The aim of the teamLab, a collective formed in 2001, is to achieve a balance between art, science, technology and creativity, with the collective subsequently creating an algorithm that enables the creation o new compositions in real time. The result is an artwork that, like nature, endlessly creates itself anew, presenting each viewer with unique, if fleeting, moments.
The Adoration of the Magi-Tapestry 1900-02 by J.H. Dearle.
John Henry or J.H. Dearle began his working life as a shop assistant and then became a design apprentice for Morris & Co, while still a teenager. He had become the firm's chief design by 1890, creating designs for tapestries, embroidery, wallpaper, woven and printed textiles, stained glass and carpets. Following Morris's death in 1896, Dearle was appointed art director for the firm, and became its principal stained glass designer of the death of Edward Burne-Jone in 1898
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Angel of Faith, 1909 New York and River of Life by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Born in New York 1848-Died in New York 1933.
Angel of Faith and Rive of Life are the only windows in Australia designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The windows were commission by Ada Ayers as a memorial to late husband, Harry Locket Ayers, and six of their eight children. The windows were installed in St Paul's church on Pulteny Street, Adelaide, in 1909, the windows were moved to locations across the city, including a Pulteney Grammar School's chapel, before being acquire by the Gallery in 2001.
The Angel of Faith an angel is shown paring the clouds, to represent Harry Ayer's should ascending into heaven. The River of Life window was dedicated to six of the couple's children who dies during childhood. They are symbolized by the six cherubs at the apex of the window.
The inner Sanctum is where Clara Adolphs assembles candid shots of groups in landscapes, solitary figures, and clouds. Adolphs uses anonymous, discarded photographs from markets, deceased estates, and online shops as the subjects of the paintings. The snapshots display a welcoming familiarly, moment of leisure in nature, small social gatherings or scenes of solitude.
Adolphs finds that these readymade scenes have a universal appeal, what she describes as "a collective memory banks", adding further, "The wider word and society might change, but the human condition doesn't".
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These two paintings, Moment of leisure and outdoor settings, quietly observed domestic or social scenes.
Her style emphasizes the passage of time, memory and mood. She uses muted palettes, the looseness of brushwork or palette-knife marks, and often evokes a soft melancholy or wistfulness.
Sitting on Water II
While her paintings may not be iconic in the sense of being world-renowned classics, Clara Adolphs is a recognized and celebrated contemporary Australian artist. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows, and she was part of the 18th Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art “Inner Sanctum” at the Art Gallery of South Australia.
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On the left is "Dream (Green dress)" and on the right is "Two Men I"
We are now heading to the Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery.
The entrance to the Australian Aboriginal Culture Gallery.
This is one of the museum's signature permanent exhibitions and is renowned worldwide. It spans two floors and features over 3,000 items from the Museum's extensive collection, which is considered the largest and most comprehensive collection of Australian Aboriginal cultural material in the world.
Aboriginal heritage & repatriation
The South Australian Museum is committed to
reconciliation as an underpinning principle both in our exhibition and
research programs, and also in relation to the history of the Museum itself.
The South Australian Museum holds one of the most important collections of
Aboriginal material culture in the world
The legacy of these collections carries great potential, but also great responsibilities. The 30,000 individual items include irreplaceable artifacts, artworks and ceremonial materials of great significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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Hunting & gathering. During times of drought, the Arrente people depended on the permanent waterholes of the MacDonnell Ranges for their survival. The people had detailed knowledge of desert plants and animal and were skilled hunter-gatherers. They survived well for thousands of years in this harsh environment..
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2008 overall winners-Fighting Egrets by Allen Peate.
This is how Allen was able to take the winning picture: "before daylight, near St Lawrence, Queensland, I crept into a natural freshwater billabong (a pond) that was teeming with birdlife. I photographed the birds for about two hours. A small flock of egrets was feeding along the edge of the billabong when a lone egret flew in. A flight broke out just in front of where I was sitting and I was lucky enough to get a series of shots.
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2014 Overall Winner-Physalia Physalia (Bluebottle Zooid) by Matty Smith.
This is how the author talk about this shot: "despite its potentially dangerous sting, the bluebottle zooid is an amazingly beautiful creature, I wanted to demonstrate this with careful lighting and composition. On this particular morning a whole armada of them had been blown into this little bay where they were trapped overnight, enabling me to get my shot."
2017 Overall Winner- Predatory Pursuit by Justin Gillian
We are now heading to the State Library which is composed of three main buildings located along North Terrace
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The statue of Robert Burns
in front of the State Library of South Australia
is a significant piece of public art and a testament to the strong Scottish
heritage in the region.
The statue commemorates
Robert Burns
(1759–1796), the beloved Scottish national poet and lyricist, widely known as
"The Bard."
This is the entrance to Spence Wing, a contemporary addition to the complex, connecting the historic Mortlock Wing with the Institute Building.
This wing opened in 2003 and features an iconic glass foyer and a modern design. This wing houses the main entrance, the Research Library, a popular "Treasures Wall" display, and the library's other modern facilities and services.
We are now in the Mortlock Wing, originally known as the Jervois Wing, is the most celebrated part of the library and is often cited as one of the most beautiful libraries in the world.
This wing houses the Mortlock Library of South
Australiana, showcasing the
state's rich heritage through a collection of books, manuscripts, and other
materials relating to South Australia.
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It is a magnificent example of late Victorian architecture, featuring a grand, multi-tiered chamber with wrought-iron balustrading and a stunning glass-domed roof that allows natural light to stream down the three levels of towering bookshelves.
Ground Floor (Level 1): Houses the main exhibition bays displaying a curated selection of South Australiana.
The Mortlock Wing of the State Library of South Australia is an architectural masterpiece celebrated globally, often being cited on lists of the world's most beautiful libraries. It truly embodies the "grandly contemplative" ideals of a late-Victorian public institution.
The Mortlock Wing is a magnificent, self-contained space designed by colonial architect E. J. Woods and built in the French Renaissance style.
Lofty Central Space: The main chamber is a single, towering space that is visually divided into three main levels, creating a stunning verticality.
Galleries (Levels 2 & 3): The upper levels, accessed by staircases, serve as galleries for more bookshelves and quiet study areas.
Wrought Iron Balustrading: The railings on both the upper levels are intricate wrought iron balustrades. This detailed iron lacework is a characteristic touch of late 19th-century architecture.
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The most dramatic feature, and the one that floods the space with light, is the roof.
Glass-Domed Lantern/Clerestory: The entire central roof is constructed as a long, barrel-vaulted skylight (or glass-domed lantern/clerestory) running the length of the chamber.
Natural Illumination: This extensive glazing allows vast amounts of natural light to stream down into the three-level chamber, creating a soft, ethereal atmosphere and naturally illuminating the books and study areas.
This place is so amazing! Hoa sitting down and enjoying the space.
The State Library of South Australia
maintains its role as a reference library for the state and oversees the wider
Public Library Service.
We are now leaving the library and we are now at the Spence Wing. The view from the Spence Wing looking into the courtyard of the State Library of South Australia offers a dramatic contrast between striking modern architecture and stunning 19th-century heritage.
This modern glass-and-steel structure serves as a bright, airy connection point, and the view is typically seen through its expansive, transparent walls.
To complete the scene, the view also encompasses the Institute Building (the library's oldest section, dating back to 1861). The walls of the Institute Building that face the courtyard are notably used as a screen for outdoor.
As soon as we walked out of the library you get to see is the North Wing of the museum and the most The most visible feature of this older wing is its grand central entrance/staircase section, which rises higher than the wings on either side, resembling a prominent tower from certain angles along the streetscape. This section, known as the North Wing, was opened in 1895.
We are now done with the visit and we are leaving the building.
NEXT... Dinner at Restaurant Botanic