Two exhibitions which may be of interest to members, the first is currently on in Melbourne, and the second is opening in Brisbane next year.
“The Four Horsemen: Apocalypse, Death and Disaster”
31 Aug 2012 – 28 Jan 2013 | National Gallery of Victoria (NGV)
‘The Four Horsemen’ presents images of death and disaster in prints, illuminated manuscripts, illustrated books and paintings from the fifteenth to the early eighteenth centuries. This was a period of great turmoil in Europe, during which bitter religious conflict, war, famine and pestilence generated deep anxiety. Dramatic events and natural disasters were increasingly read as divine punishments or warnings that the Last Days were imminent.
This exhibition explores the ways in which artists gave expression to the beliefs and fears that plagued individuals and whole societies. The 120 works on display, including Albrecht Dürer’s extraordinary woodcuts illustrating the Apocalypse, prints by Hans Holbein, Jacques de Gheyn and Jacques Callot, illustrate witches, monsters, demons and the Devil. Death, personified as a skeleton, featured prominently in the visual culture of the period, and is represented in all guises – dancing, riding on horseback, and stalking unsuspecting men and women as they go about their daily lives.
The works in this exhibition are drawn from the Prints & Drawings collection of the NGV and include key loans from the State Library of Victoria and the Special Collections of the Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne.
“Quilts 1700-1945”
15 June – 22 September 2013 | Queensland Art Gallery (QAG)
In collaboration with London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), ‘Quilts 1700-1945’ explores more than 200 years of British patchwork and quilt-making. The exhibition resonates with historical and cultural references that challenge the assumption that stitching is simply ‘women’s work’ – every quilt has a hidden history: an unspoken story which is concealed within its layers.
Exclusive to Brisbane, this exhibition will comprise objects drawn from the extraordinary textile collection of the V&A, with additions from some of the UK’s finest regional museums and private collections. The exhibition also includes one of the world’s most important textiles, the Rajah Quilt 1841, from the National Gallery of Australia, sewn by convict women during transportation to Van Diemen’s Land.