Discovering global connections of a drawing from the University of Melbourne collection

There is more to the drawing which is described as ‘Adoration’, in the University of Melbourne’s print collection, than first meets the eye. This monochrome drawing on blue paper depicts a common theme in medieval and Renaissance art: Mary and infant Jesus. On the mat of the work, an artist’s name and date is neatly written, as well as the name of the collection that the drawing comes from (The John Lane Collection). I thought that my research would be simple because of the common iconography and as the name of the artist and collection appeared to be known but, I was pleasantly surprised. I will explain my reasoning for thinking that this work may fit into a rich collection of drawings all done by the same artist as preparation for a large oil painting.

Attributed to Pietro de Pietri, Adoration, pen and sepia ink with white bodycolor on prepared blue paper
Attributed to Pietro de Pietri, Adoration, pen and sepia ink with white bodycolor on prepared blue paper

My initial research goal was to figure out whether the name written in pen on the mat and on the drawing is the correct attribution. The name written, Pietro de Pietri (1633-1716), is a baroque artist whose work appears in museums all over the world. Looking at his other works, I not only found drawings that were similar to the University of Melbourne’s in style but also in iconography and composition.

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Australian Comics: Reflecting on our National Identity through Object-Based Learning

The University of Melbourne’s Special Collections – which comprises Rare Books, Rare Prints and Rare Music Collections – houses approximately 272,000 items, with the Rare Books Collection contributing to 250,000 of those materials.This abundance of primary resources may be utilised for innovative research, especially when considered as an inexhaustible source for Object-Based Learning (or OBL). OBL is a relatively new approach to understanding objects in an academic context, using the kinaesthetic, immersive experience of being in the presence of or handling archival material in order to understand and learn about it more effectively. As an educational methodology, it correlates with the principle concepts of New Materialism theory and its consideration of matter as inherently dynamic and susceptible to taking on new meaning from both human and non-human perspectives.

When recording, documenting or archiving history, there are always going to be infinite variations of ‘the story of an object’ at play. It’s important that we consistently revisit and reassess how an object has been understood up until this time so as to maintain a critical dialogue surrounding its ontology. This helps us to form a deeper understanding not just of our own personal histories and identities but also of those on a national and international scale.

Within the Rare Books, the comprehensive McLaren Collection contains many early colonial Australian texts including the first official Australian comic magazine, Vumps (1908), Middy Malone’s Magazine (1947) – plus two different issues of Ginger Meggs from the 1920s.

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Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack and the Bauhaus

Colour photograph of two people looking at a table with various spinning tops. Above the table hangs a colour chart and a colour chart explaining how the spinning tops work.
Figure 1 – Bauhaus exhibition, 1961

Jane Beattie, Assistant Archivist
Melinda Barrie, Archivist
Georgie Ward, Assistant Archivist

2019 marks the centenary anniversary of the opening of the Bauhaus Arts School in Berlin. Influenced by the 19th and early-20th-century artistic movements, the Bauhaus approach to teaching, and to the relationship between art, society, and technology, had a major impact around the world long after its closure under Nazi pressure in 1933.  

Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack delivered the first dedicated course on colour at the Bauhaus (as an unofficial course) in the winter semester of 1922-23, drawing on his life long fascination with the dynamic relationship between colour, movement and music. In his famous publication ‘The Bauhaus: An Introductory Survey’ Hirschfeld-Mack recalls how his own early interest in colour theory was inspired by the work of artists such as Paul Klee and Wasily Kandisky. He further describes the early experiments he conducted from 1922 to 1923 in the blending of primary colours and light which led to the development of his ‘Reflected Light Composition’ and ‘Colour Light Plays’. These early Bauhaus experiments later found expression in a didactic spinning top that demonstrated the optical mixing of colour upon a set of coloured plates. A model of the spinning top was produced for the opening of the Bauhaus Archive in Dramstadt, Germany in 1964, and later used in children’s education in Victoria, especially at the Kindergarten Teachers’ College in Kew. 

Hirschfeld-Mack remained at the Bauhaus until 1926 and developed the “Farbenlichtspiele” (colour-light play), a further demonstration of the application of colour theory. Colour light plays were developed out of Hirschfeld-Mack’s experience in painting, and the need to turn the dynamic and rhythmic movements of colours into movement. Musical accompaniment heightened the experience. The plays were first performed at the Bauhaus Archive in Dramstadt in 1923, they were again performed in 1964 at the Archive when a film of the performance was made. The collection contains complete designs of the organ, as well as instructions for how to set up and use, and scores for the musical component.   

Black and white photograph of two men looking at blueprints. They are seated in front of a large metal apparatus.
Figure 2 – The Colour Light Projection Apparatus, 1923

After fleeing Germany to London in the lead up to World War Two, Hirschfeld-Mack was deported to Australia on the ship HMT Dunera in 1940 as an enemy alien. Despite internment in camps at Hay, Orange and Tatura , Hirschfeld-Mack continued producing artistic works and was eventually released through the efforts of Dr. James Darling. Hirschfeld-Mack was employed as art master at the Geelong Church of England Grammar School until his retirement in 1957, and taught at the University of Melbourne, the Council of Adult Education and elsewhere until 1965. 

A heritage trail tracing Hirschfeld-Mack’s influence around the Geelong Grammar campus and further information about the art teacher known as “Hirsch” can be found on the school’s website. 

The Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack collection housed at UMA covers almost the whole period of Hirschfeld-Mack’s adult life, from photographs at teaching college in Dusseldorf to blueprints for the colour organ, to educational material and photographs of his students‘ artistic work at Geelong Grammar and correspondence with luminaries of the Bauhaus such as Wasily Kandisky, László Moholy-Nagy, and Josef Albers. Some correspondence, mostly between Hirschfeld-Mack and Hans Wingler, discusses destruction of the intellectual elite through the Nazis. Collection material is frequently used by students and academics alike for it’s deep research themes and comprehensive study of a fascinating life which has enriched the Australian art and educational landscapes. 

To see the Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack (1971.0009) collection listing visit the UMA catalogue.

Figure 1 – Spinning top and colour chart, Bauhaus exhibition 1961, Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack Collection, 1971.0009.00007. Reproduced with permission.
Figure 2 – Ludwig Hirschfeld’s Macks’ Colour Light Projection Apparatus, 1923, Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack Collection, 1971.0009.00013. Reproduced with permission. 

Symposium: Prints, Printmaking and Philanthropy

As part of the 50th anniversary of the Harold Wright and Sarah and William Holmes scholarships, a forthcoming symposium will be one of the largest gatherings of print scholars, curators, artists and collectors in Australia. Prints, Printmaking and Philanthropy: a symposium celebrating 50 years of The Harold Wright and The Sarah and William Holmes Scholarships features a three-day program which encompasses four keynote lectures, ten sessions, two masterclasses, a book launch, and a viewing of the exhibition, Horizon Lines: the ambitions of a Print Collection.

Department of Prints and Drawings study room, British Museum.
Department of Prints and Drawings study room, British Museum.

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Conserving Dürer’s woodcut “The Knight and the lansquenet”

Grimwade Senior Paper Conservator, Libby Melzer, with student conservator, Laura Daenke preparing the print for washing.
Grimwade Senior Paper Conservator, Libby Melzer, with student conservator, Laura Daenke preparing the print for washing.

The Poynton Collection forms part of the highly regarded Baillieu Library Print Collection, which over the years has invaluably contributed to the teaching of academic disciplines at the University of Melbourne (Anderson 2011, p. 5; Inglis 2011, p. 105). The collection is home to one of Albrecht Dürer’s enigmatic early woodcuts, The Knight and the lansquenet (c. 1496). This magnificent woodcut by the master printmaker depicts a knight on horseback and a lansquenet (foot soldier) in the woods. Unfortunately, a past attempt at repairing several prominent tears caused considerable aesthetic and physical damage. Consequently, the woodcut was deemed not suitable for exhibition without extensive conservation treatment.

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