Merric Boyd and Stephen Benwell: two exceptional artists
Boyd and Benwell: two exceptional artists | Thursday 19 March
Join us on Thursday 19 March from 6:00pm–7:15pm in the Roman Room, as art historian John McPhee delves into the works of two exceptional Australian artists.
Merric Boyd was among Australia’s earliest studio potters, holding his first solo exhibition of studio pottery in Melbourne in 1912. His highly idiosyncratic pots were based on his observation of the Australian landscape, their turned and hand-built forms painted and modelled to represent native plants and animals. Today they are recognised for their sophistication as the first expressions of Australian imagery in clay.
Half a century later, Stephen Benwell broke away from the brown-glazed, wheel-thrown forms that defined Australian pottery of the 1970s. His hand-built, painted pottery owes much to his observation of the everyday world around him, including newspaper photographs, his acute knowledge and appreciation of the decoration of ancient pottery, and the sculpture of antiquity.
This lecture explores how the highly individual work of Merric Boyd and Stephen Benwell broke away from popular traditions and fashions of their time.
About the speaker
John McPhee was appointed the founding Curator of Australian decorative arts at the National Gallery of Australia in 1980 and later became the Senior Curator of Australian art. In 1992 he was appointed Deputy Director at the National Gallery of Victoria. Since 1997 he has worked as an independent historian and curator. He is the author of books on the colonial artists John Glover and Joseph Lycett, Australian decorative arts, and folk and popular arts.
When:
Thursday 19 March | 6:00pm–7:15pm
Cost:
$25 | Members $22.50
Limited parking available on-site.
Wheelchair accessible.
Image: Merric Boyd, Jug with tree decorations, no date, coloured pencil on paper. Bundanon collection. Photo: Rob Little
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