fbpx
Wikipedia

Australian tonalism

January 01, 1970

Australian tonalism was an art movement that emerged in Melbourne during the 1910s. Known at the time as tonal realism or Meldrumism, the movement was founded by artist and art teacher Max Meldrum, who developed a unique theory of painting, the "Scientific Order of Impressions". He argued that painting was a pure science of optical analysis, and believed that a painter should aim to create an exact illusion of spatial depth by carefully observing in nature tone and tonal relationships (shades of light and dark) and spontaneously recording them in the order that they had been received by the eye.[1]

Clarice Beckett, Wet Evening, 1927, Collection: Castlemaine Art Museum
Clarice Beckett, Wet Night, Brighton, 1930

Meldrum's followers—among the most notable being Clarice Beckett, Colin Colahan and William Frater—began staging group exhibitions at the Melbourne Athenaeum in 1919.[2] They favoured painting in adverse weather conditions, and often went out together in the morning or towards evening in search of fog and wintry wet surfaces, which provided increased spatial effects. Their subtle, "misty" depictions of Melbourne's beaches and parks, as well as its everyday, unadorned suburbia, show an interest in the interplay between softness and structure, nature and modernity.

The movement peaked during the interwar period, and its lingering influence can be seen in experimental works by other Australian artists, such as Lloyd Rees and Roland Wakelin. Although dismissed by many of their art world contemporaries, today the Australian tonalists are well-represented in Australia's major public art galleries, and are said to have initiated the first significant advance in Australian landscape painting since the Australian impressionists of the 1880s.[3] The minimum of means they used to distill the essence of their subjects has drawn comparisons to the haiku form of poetry, and the movement is regarded as a precursor to the late modernist style minimalism.[3][4][5]

History edit

 
Max Meldrum

The main exponent of Australian tonalism was Melbourne artist Max Meldrum. In 1899, he won the National Gallery of Victoria Art School's Travelling Scholarship Award, and went to Paris to further his training. Dissatisfied with the academic teachings there, as well as the avant-garde, he instead taught himself and developed a unique theory of painting based on the importance of tonal values and objective optical analysis, what he termed the "Scientific Order of Impressions".[1] When applied, his photometric painting system resulted in simple representational works characterised by a "misty" or atmospheric quality.[6] Meldrum proposed:

All great art is a return to nature ... Art is a religion. The universe is its cathedral, and its creed is the humble and sublime one of all true artists and natural scientists whose faith is based upon demonstrable, visible or audible facts.

 
Albert Newbury, Eltham, 1919

Meldrum returned to Melbourne in 1912, established an art school at Elizabeth Street and began publishing his theories of art, which created a storm in the Australian art world. His school of painting attracted equally passionate followers and critics, and artists who adopted Meldrum's methods became derisively known as "Meldrumites".[7][8][9] They rejected the then-popular Heidelberg School tradition with its emphasis on colour and narrative, and attacked various forms of modern art which Meldrum considered to be ego-based and technically inferior.[10] In 1918, incensed at Meldrum's defeat in the election for president of the Victorian Artists' Society, his students formed a breakaway group, the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society. The group often went on plein air painting trips around and outside Melbourne. When painting still life, the Australian tonalists set their easels at least six metres away from their subject, and painted with eyes half closed, or wore sunglasses, to aid their perception of different tones.

Meldrum's students staged their first group exhibition at the Athenaeum Gallery in 1919.[3] Presented as a unified whole, the two hundred and five works on show were uniformly displayed in narrow black frames, and in the catalogue, numbers, rather than titles, were assigned to each piece. The "radically humble" qualities of their art were overshadowed by controversy surrounding the show. Art historian Tracey Lock-Weir wrote:[4]

... it was bitterly received and divided the arts community. The sheer immediacy of its technique, its modest subject matter and the subtle appearance of the paintings fundamentally challenged well-established, nationalistic and elevated painting traditions that were more reliant on high craftsmanship and immediate visual impact.

Exhibitions edit

 
The Melbourne Athenaeum
  • 1918 May, Victorian Artists' Society Autumn Exhibition, East Melbourne
  • 1918 September, Victorian Artists' Society Spring Exhibition, East Melbourne
  • 1919 September, A Meldrum Group, Athenaeum Gallery
  • 1920 June, A Meldrum Group, Athenaeum Gallery[11]
  • 1921 May, A Meldrum Group, Athenaeum Gallery
  • 1933 March, Meldrum Gallery[12]
  • 1934 October, A Meldrum Group, Athenaeum Gallery

List of artists edit

Legacy edit

 
Beckett, Solitude, c. 1932

Although Meldrum and his students rejected modern art, Australian tonalism is now regarded as a precursor to minimalism and related modernist styles of painting, due to its conceptual complexities and illusionary soft focus aesthetic.[4] In 2008, the Art Gallery of South Australia debuted Misty Moderns, the first major exhibition to cover Australian tonalism since the 1960s. Apart from Meldrum, Misty Moderns featured works by 17 of Meldrum's pupils, as well as artists who experimented with his tonalist system, including Lloyd Rees, Roland Wakelin, Roy de Maistre and Elioth Gruner.[13] The movement has been identified as "arguably the first important advance in Australian landscape painting since Australian Impressionism of the 1880s."[3]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Meldrum, Max (2008). The science of appearances. Ames, Kenyon R. Frankston South, Vic.: Cinemascope Productions. ISBN 978-0-646-50288-5. OCLC 298654470.
  2. ^ Perry, Peter W. (1996). Max Meldrum & associates : their art, lives and influences. Castlemaine, Vic.: Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum. ISBN 0-9598066-7-9. OCLC 38415991.
  3. ^ a b c d Misty Moderns - Essay, National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  4. ^ a b c Lock-Weir, Tracey. , artaustralia.com. Retrieved on 5 December 2010.
  5. ^ Mclachlan, Scott (2017-04-28). "Presence and the Australian landscape". ART150: Celebrating 150 years of art. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  6. ^ Misty Moderns: Australian Tonalists 1915-1950 July 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Art Gallery of South Australia. Retrieved on 5 December 2010.
  7. ^ ""BLACKBALLING CANDIDATES"". The Herald. No. 13, 377. Victoria, Australia. 19 December 1918. p. 10. Retrieved 4 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "ARTISTS' TROUBLES REVIEWED". The Herald. No. 13, 381. Victoria, Australia. 24 December 1918. p. 8. Retrieved 4 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ Haese, Richard; Haese, Richard, 1944-. Rebels and precursors (1982), Modern Australian art, Alpine Fine Arts Collection, ISBN 978-0-933516-50-2{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Kinnane, Garry. Colin Colahan: A Portrait. Melbourne University Publishing, 1996. ISBN 0-522-84710-2, p. 5
  11. ^ "PAINTING". Advocate. Vol. LII, no. 2750. Victoria, Australia. 10 June 1920. p. 21. Retrieved 28 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "ART". The Australasian. Vol. CXXXIV, no. 4, 397. Victoria, Australia. 15 April 1933. p. 17. Retrieved 28 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ Edwards, David. Misty Moderns - Layer upon layer 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, The Blurb Magazine. Retrieved on 5 December 2010.

Further reading edit

External links edit

  • Misty Moderns - Late Night Live, ABC Radio National

January 01, 1970
australian, tonalism, movement, that, emerged, melbourne, during, 1910s, known, time, tonal, realism, meldrumism, movement, founded, artist, teacher, meldrum, developed, unique, theory, painting, scientific, order, impressions, argued, that, painting, pure, sc. Australian tonalism was an art movement that emerged in Melbourne during the 1910s Known at the time as tonal realism or Meldrumism the movement was founded by artist and art teacher Max Meldrum who developed a unique theory of painting the Scientific Order of Impressions He argued that painting was a pure science of optical analysis and believed that a painter should aim to create an exact illusion of spatial depth by carefully observing in nature tone and tonal relationships shades of light and dark and spontaneously recording them in the order that they had been received by the eye 1 Clarice Beckett Wet Evening 1927 Collection Castlemaine Art Museum Clarice Beckett Wet Night Brighton 1930 Meldrum s followers among the most notable being Clarice Beckett Colin Colahan and William Frater began staging group exhibitions at the Melbourne Athenaeum in 1919 2 They favoured painting in adverse weather conditions and often went out together in the morning or towards evening in search of fog and wintry wet surfaces which provided increased spatial effects Their subtle misty depictions of Melbourne s beaches and parks as well as its everyday unadorned suburbia show an interest in the interplay between softness and structure nature and modernity The movement peaked during the interwar period and its lingering influence can be seen in experimental works by other Australian artists such as Lloyd Rees and Roland Wakelin Although dismissed by many of their art world contemporaries today the Australian tonalists are well represented in Australia s major public art galleries and are said to have initiated the first significant advance in Australian landscape painting since the Australian impressionists of the 1880s 3 The minimum of means they used to distill the essence of their subjects has drawn comparisons to the haiku form of poetry and the movement is regarded as a precursor to the late modernist style minimalism 3 4 5 Contents 1 History 2 Exhibitions 3 List of artists 4 Legacy 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksHistory edit nbsp Max Meldrum The main exponent of Australian tonalism was Melbourne artist Max Meldrum In 1899 he won the National Gallery of Victoria Art School s Travelling Scholarship Award and went to Paris to further his training Dissatisfied with the academic teachings there as well as the avant garde he instead taught himself and developed a unique theory of painting based on the importance of tonal values and objective optical analysis what he termed the Scientific Order of Impressions 1 When applied his photometric painting system resulted in simple representational works characterised by a misty or atmospheric quality 6 Meldrum proposed All great art is a return to nature Art is a religion The universe is its cathedral and its creed is the humble and sublime one of all true artists and natural scientists whose faith is based upon demonstrable visible or audible facts nbsp Albert Newbury Eltham 1919 Meldrum returned to Melbourne in 1912 established an art school at Elizabeth Street and began publishing his theories of art which created a storm in the Australian art world His school of painting attracted equally passionate followers and critics and artists who adopted Meldrum s methods became derisively known as Meldrumites 7 8 9 They rejected the then popular Heidelberg School tradition with its emphasis on colour and narrative and attacked various forms of modern art which Meldrum considered to be ego based and technically inferior 10 In 1918 incensed at Meldrum s defeat in the election for president of the Victorian Artists Society his students formed a breakaway group the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society The group often went on plein air painting trips around and outside Melbourne When painting still life the Australian tonalists set their easels at least six metres away from their subject and painted with eyes half closed or wore sunglasses to aid their perception of different tones Meldrum s students staged their first group exhibition at the Athenaeum Gallery in 1919 3 Presented as a unified whole the two hundred and five works on show were uniformly displayed in narrow black frames and in the catalogue numbers rather than titles were assigned to each piece The radically humble qualities of their art were overshadowed by controversy surrounding the show Art historian Tracey Lock Weir wrote 4 it was bitterly received and divided the arts community The sheer immediacy of its technique its modest subject matter and the subtle appearance of the paintings fundamentally challenged well established nationalistic and elevated painting traditions that were more reliant on high craftsmanship and immediate visual impact Exhibitions edit nbsp The Melbourne Athenaeum 1918 May Victorian Artists Society Autumn Exhibition East Melbourne 1918 September Victorian Artists Society Spring Exhibition East Melbourne 1919 September A Meldrum Group Athenaeum Gallery 1920 June A Meldrum Group Athenaeum Gallery 11 1921 May A Meldrum Group Athenaeum Gallery 1933 March Meldrum Gallery 12 1934 October A Meldrum Group Athenaeum GalleryList of artists editClarice Beckett Colin Colahan William Frater Polly Hurry Justus Jorgensen Percy Leason Max Meldrum Albert Newbury Jo SweatmanLegacy edit nbsp Beckett Solitude c 1932 Although Meldrum and his students rejected modern art Australian tonalism is now regarded as a precursor to minimalism and related modernist styles of painting due to its conceptual complexities and illusionary soft focus aesthetic 4 In 2008 the Art Gallery of South Australia debuted Misty Moderns the first major exhibition to cover Australian tonalism since the 1960s Apart from Meldrum Misty Moderns featured works by 17 of Meldrum s pupils as well as artists who experimented with his tonalist system including Lloyd Rees Roland Wakelin Roy de Maistre and Elioth Gruner 13 The movement has been identified as arguably the first important advance in Australian landscape painting since Australian Impressionism of the 1880s 3 See also editMontsalvat an art colony founded by Australian tonalist Justus Jorgensen Culture of Melbourne Visual arts of AustraliaReferences edit a b Meldrum Max 2008 The science of appearances Ames Kenyon R Frankston South Vic Cinemascope Productions ISBN 978 0 646 50288 5 OCLC 298654470 Perry Peter W 1996 Max Meldrum amp associates their art lives and influences Castlemaine Vic Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum ISBN 0 9598066 7 9 OCLC 38415991 a b c d Misty Moderns Essay National Gallery of Australia Retrieved 22 November 2012 a b c Lock Weir Tracey The sound of silence Twentieth century Australian tonalism artaustralia com Retrieved on 5 December 2010 Mclachlan Scott 2017 04 28 Presence and the Australian landscape ART150 Celebrating 150 years of art Retrieved 2020 11 04 Misty Moderns Australian Tonalists 1915 1950 Archived July 6 2011 at the Wayback Machine Art Gallery of South Australia Retrieved on 5 December 2010 BLACKBALLING CANDIDATES The Herald No 13 377 Victoria Australia 19 December 1918 p 10 Retrieved 4 November 2020 via National Library of Australia ARTISTS TROUBLES REVIEWED The Herald No 13 381 Victoria Australia 24 December 1918 p 8 Retrieved 4 November 2020 via National Library of Australia Haese Richard Haese Richard 1944 Rebels and precursors 1982 Modern Australian art Alpine Fine Arts Collection ISBN 978 0 933516 50 2 a href Template Citation html title Template Citation citation a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link CS1 maint numeric names authors list link Kinnane Garry Colin Colahan A Portrait Melbourne University Publishing 1996 ISBN 0 522 84710 2 p 5 PAINTING Advocate Vol LII no 2750 Victoria Australia 10 June 1920 p 21 Retrieved 28 July 2019 via National Library of Australia ART The Australasian Vol CXXXIV no 4 397 Victoria Australia 15 April 1933 p 17 Retrieved 28 July 2019 via National Library of Australia Edwards David Misty Moderns Layer upon layer Archived 2011 07 21 at the Wayback Machine The Blurb Magazine Retrieved on 5 December 2010 Further reading editLock Weir Tracey Misty Moderns Australian Tonalists 1915 1950 Art Gallery of South Australia 2008 ISBN 0 7308 3015 2 Perry Peter Max Meldrum amp Associates Their Art Lives and Influences Castlemaine Art Gallery 1996 ISBN 0 9598066 7 9 External links editMisty Moderns Late Night Live ABC Radio National Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Australian tonalism amp oldid 1220828594, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.