Melbourne Athenaeum: Difference between revisions

The Athenaeum is a restrained [[Boom style architecture|boom-periodstyle]] [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] three-storey building designed by architects [[Smith & Johnson|Smith and Johnson]] with stuccoed facade with [[Pilaster|pilasters]], [[Hood mould|label moulds]], and bracketed [[cornice]].<ref name=":0" /> It was completed in 1886 on the site of the original building of 1842, and is surmounted with a parapet with a niche housing a statue by Richard Kretzschmar<ref>{{Cite web |title=Richard Kretzschmar (Artist) - Art Index |url=https://dxlab.sl.nsw.gov.au/art-index/artist/1296/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=DX Lab {{!}} State Library of NSW}}</ref> of [[Minerva]] ([[Athena]], hence 'Athenaeum'),<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=1886-10-18 |title=Monday, October 18, 1886. |pages=5 |work=Argus |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11576418 |access-date=2023-07-08}}</ref> goddess of reason, wisdom, arts and literature.<ref name=":1" /> The building was added to the [[National Trust of Australia (Victoria)|National Trust]]'s Register of Historic Buildings in 1981 and is listed on the [[Victorian Heritage Register]].<ref name=":0">{{cite VHD|726||hr=0501|ho=587}}</ref>

Construction on the new building began in 1855, but only the front portion was finished. The rear hall, intended to be designed by [[Charles Webb (architect)|Charles Webb]], was deferred until 1871 and ultimately completed in 1872.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book | author1=Ziegler, Edith Miriam | title=The worlds and work of Clarice Beckett | year=2022 | page=83|publication-date=2022 | publisher=Arcadia | isbn=978-1-922669-33-9}}</ref> Alfred Smith served as the architect, while Turnbull and Dick were the builders. The Institution changed its name to the Melbourne Athenaeum in 1872<ref name="History forum">{{cite web |title=175 years of the Melbourne Athenaeum Library – where to from here? Paper presented at the Library History Forum, State Library of NSW, November 2014. |url=http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/services/public_libraries/docs/ALHF2014_RoseBlustein.pdf |access-date=12 January 2015 |publisher=State Library of New South Wales}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=27 January 1921 |title=MELBOURNE ATHENAEUM. |page=9 |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |publisher=National Library of Australia |location=Melbourne |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1734232 |access-date=12 January 2015}}</ref> During the period when its own church was being reconstructed, [[Scots' Church, Melbourne|Scots Church]] utilized the premises as its temporary location.

Among the office bearers of the institution in the nineteenth century was the author [[Marcus Clarke]] who was the chairman of the library committee in 1877.<ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/233674323/25298055 ''The Argus'', 6 March 1877, p.10.]</ref> As now, a focal point was the library and by 1877, membership was 1,681 and in 1879 there were 30,000 visits to the library. In 1880 it was reported 'that the floor of the large hall was the only one in Melbourne expressly constructed for dancing'. The remodeled facade was finally concluded in 1886. The statue of Minerva, which was modelled by Richard Kretzschmar on that at the [[Vatican City|Vatican]], was funded through Alderman Thomas [[Moubray]]'s gift of 100 guineas.<ref>{{Citation |last=Rainer |first=Anthony R. |title=Moubray, Thomas (1825–1891) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/moubray-thomas-4263 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=2023-07-08 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

After [[World War I|WWI]] had reduced the freqencyfrequency of shows, in 1919 and after a complete refurbishment, the [[Australian tonalism|Australian tonalists]] staged their first group exhibition there, one of whom, [[Clarice Beckett]], held nine solo shows there between 1923 and 1932, with a posthumous exhibition mounted there after her premature death. [[William Frater|'Jock' Frater]] held his first solo show there in 1923, marking his break from the Tonalists. The gallery was much in demand and artists had to book a year in advance. It showed paintings by [[Rupert Bunny]], [[Hans Heysen]], [[Albert Namatjira]], [[Tom Roberts]], John Rowell, [[Ernest Buckmaster]], [[Constance Stokes]] and [[Arthur Streeton]], before closing in 1971.<ref name="History forum" /><ref name="CT2014">{{cite news|title=Portrait of a mystery|last=Summers|first=Anne|date=29 March 2014|work=[[The Canberra Times]]|pages=20}}</ref> The gallery also hosted talks by the [[Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors|Melbourne Society of Women Painters]], including one in 1935 at which [[Mary Cecil Allen]] spoke.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11775623 |title=Women Painters Entertain Miss Allen. |newspaper=The Argus |location=Melbourne |date=10 October 1935 |access-date=11 March 2015 |page=15 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

* 1930, August-September: Ernest Buckmaster<ref name=":0art">{{Cite news |date=1930-09-20 |title=ART. |pages=17 |work=Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946) |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140832979 |access-date=2020-10-08}}</ref>

* 1930 September, Twenty Melbourne Painters<ref name=":0art">{{Cite news |date=1930-09-20 |title=ART. |pages=17 |work=Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946) |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140832979 |access-date=2020-10-08}}</ref>

* 1940, 19-22 March: Exhibition in support of the Red Cross<ref>{{Cite news |date=1940-03-01 |title=Artists Help Red Cross |pages=3 |work=Age |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204425669 |access-date=2023-07-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1940-03-08 |title=Four Events Planned |pages=10 |work=The Argus |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12431109 |access-date=2023-07-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Burdett |first=Basil |date=1940-03-18 |title=Art Donations For Red Cross Appeal |pages=10 |work=Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243231672 |access-date=2023-07-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Harcourt |first=John |date=1940-03-19 |title=Art Exhibition : Fine Show For Red Cross |pages=3 |work=The Argus |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12435891 |access-date=2023-07-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1940-03-19 |title=Lady Dugan Opens art Show |pages=14 |work=Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243237637 |access-date=2023-07-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1940-03-20 |title=Lady Dugan Buys A Picture |pages=7 |work=Argus |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12436634 |access-date=2023-07-09}}</ref>

[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Australia]]