Art History Theses at Melbourne Universities 1997-1998
Baroque and 18th Century European Art
19th and 20th Century AustralianArchitecture
19th and 20th Century Australian Art
Classical Art
GREY, PATRICIA
'Some Minor Groups of "Chalkidian" Pottery: A Stylistic Study'.
MA, La Trobe University, Department of Art History, School of Artsand Media,1997. (Ian McPhee.)
In 1927 Andreas Rumpf published Chalkidische Vasen, the firstmajor work to attempt to study the whole of 'Chalkidian' pottery. Hismonograph covered every aspect of the fabric and described all the279 vases and fragments known at that time. These were assignedstylistically to various groups within the 'Chalkidian' fabric. Inthe seventy years since then the number of 'Chalkidian' pieces hasincreased to over 500.
The main focus of this study is a re-examination of the style ofthe vases and fragments assigned by Rumpf and later scholars to theseven 'minor' groups within the 'Chalkidian' fabric, in order toevaluate their attribution in the light of numerous additions sinceRumpf's publication. As most of the vases in the minor groups have noinscriptions, very few mythological or generic scenes, and aredecorated with florals, animals or fabulous creatures, this stylisticstudy is based on the minutiae of the artists' drawing.
The author establishes that two of the groups could be integratedwith others, but that one group contained several stylisticidentities. This examination also emphasises, through detailedstylistic analysis, connections and differences between each minorgroup, as well as between the minor groups and the two principalartists (the Inscriptions Painter and the Phineus Cup Painter) withinthe 'Chalkidian' fabric.
The thesis includes a description of the pottery and a survey ofthe history of the research on the vases both before and after 1927.A catalogue lists the figured vases published to date and includes aconcordance for Rumpf, Keck and Iozzo. A study of the inscriptions isdealt with in the appendix. Finally, there is a map of the findspotsand illustrations of some of the vases discussed in the text.
SIDIROPOULOS, DESPINA
'The Temple of Athena Nike: Its Iconographic Program in Context'.
MA, University of Melbourne, School of Fine Arts, ClassicalStudies and Archaeology, 1998. (Elizabeth Pemberton.)
The traditional reconstruction of events for the Athena Niketemple, as illustrated by epigraphic, architectural and sculpturalevidence, proposes that the temple was some twenty years in themaking, and was begun some years before the execution of the plans,which most probably were conceived in the early 440s BC. With theexception of one inscription (IG 112 24), the evidence validates alower dating of the temple to c.425 BC.
The iconography of the temple, which has been much debated, ishere examined by applying the results of an investigation of theclassical tradition, in particular the Parthenon. The iconographicprogram of the Temple of Athena Nike is examined for the light itsheds on our understanding of the political, military, social, andtheological history of Classical Athens.
Medieval Art and Architecture
HEMINGWAY, ANTHONY
'Asturian Architecture in the Pre-Romanesque period'.
MA, The University of Melbourne, Department of Fine Arts (ArtHistory and Cinema Studies), 1997. (Margaret Manion, Miles Lewis.)
The architecture of the northern Spanish kingdom of Asturias fromthe late eighth to early tenth century is little known outside theIberian Peninsula. Asturian architecture forms part of anarchitectural heritage of the Iberian Peninsula during the firstmillennium which can hardly be rivaled elsewhere in Europe. The typesof building surviving from this period are religious, principallychurches. Political factors caused this area to be thrust into theinternational arena, whereas earlier it had been isolated andsparsely populated. A monarchy was established, with its seat atOviedo. For a brief period of time, this capital became the focus ofa distinctive monumental architecture. When the capital moved southto León in the early tenth century French influence began todominate and the local flavour of this architecture was subordinated.
Asturian architecture is readily subdivided into three shortereras according to the reigns of the three kings: Alphonso II, RamiroI and Alphonso III. Each period has a distinct flavour, especially inregard to applied decoration and to the influence of the architectureof the preceding Visigothic and Roman periods. This thesis exploresthe nature of this influence, showing that the influence of theVisigothic period has been underestimated. Also explored are therarely noted parallels between Asturian and early Anglo-Saxonarchitecture. Particular attention is devoted to the most memorableperiod of Asturian decoration, produced in the middle of the ninthcentury during the reign of King Ramiro I. It is shown how thedecoration of Asturian churches was heavily influenced by Easternmodels and to some extent by Carolingian prototypes, resulting in astylistic amalgam of motifs from both ends of the Mediterranean thathas few counterparts at this period.
ROSARIO, IVA
'Images of Charles IV: Art in the Service of Power in theFourteenth-century Court of Bohemia'.
PhD, University of Melbourne, Department of Fine Arts (Art Historyand Cinema Studies), 1997. (Margaret Manion.)
This thesis focuses on the images of Charles IV, Holy RomanEmperor and King of Bohemia (1316&endash;1378) with the aim ofdetermining what they reveal about notions of royal power in a majorEuropean court of the later Middle Ages. The primary concern of thethesis is not with stylistic developments but with an analysis of theimages from a historical standpoint.
The study concentrates on approximately thirty images of CharlesIV commissioned by the emperor and the chief advisers of his court.Most of the portraits are located in Bohemia. Many images are on amonumental scale and are integral to the decoration of politicallyand spiritually significant buildings such as St Vitus' Cathedral inPrague and Karlstejn Castle. Other portraits of the emperor inmanuscripts, on reliquaries, panel paintings and seals are no lessimbued with political overtones.
It is argued that images of Charles IV were an important politicaltool used to promote the emperor as a legitimate, pre-eminent andsacral monarch. They incorporate virtually every aspect oftraditional ruler ideology portraying the emperor in the followingways: as a ruler destined by divinity from the beginning of historyto ascend the highest earthly throne, as one who was delegated by Godto rule as his vicar, as a holy ruler with the blood of saints andheroes flowing in his veins, as a vassal of god, as the pope'spolitical equal, as an advocate of the faith, as a ruler whoconsummated his predecessors' ambitions, as a Magus, as a priestlyMelchizedek, as a new Constantine, as Charlemagne and perhaps mostsignificantly as a second St Wenceslas. Charles IV's legitimacy isalso emphasised by his representation as a just monarch concerned forhis subjects' physical and spiritual well-being.
The thesis demonstrates how the campaign to legitimise andaggrandise Charles IV through visual images reflects the emperor'sdifficulties in ascending both the imperial and Bohemia thrones andin achieving his political ambitions in the face of considerabledomestic and foreign opposition. It also shows how Charles IVharassed the Church to help him in achieving his aims. Charles IV'sambitions for his dynasty went beyond his own reign, as isdemonstrated by the visual emphasis on the promotion of his heir toboth the Bohemian and imperial thrones. By placing each portrait ofthe emperor in its historical context and by making reference tosimilar traditions in other medieval European courts, the thesisshows that while Charles IV was not unique in using this form ofvisual propaganda, the way in which domestic symbols of sovereigntyare fused with more widely used expressions of ruler ideology ishighly original. Significant also is the fact that Charles wasportrayed more naturalistically than earlier rulers.
STOCKS, BRONWYN
'Text and Image in the Early Italian Book of Hours'.
PhD, University of Melbourne, School of Fine Arts, ClassicalStudies and Archaeology, 1998. (Margaret Manion.)
This thesis presents and examines 42 Italian books of hours,dating from the late thirteenth century to the first quarter of thefifteenth century. The manuscripts originate in various regionsthroughout Italy, with sizeable groups representative of Lombardy,the Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Umbria. They have beenlocated in various collections in Italy, Australia, France, Austria,Germany, the Netherlands and the United States of America. Few of thebooks are well known and many have not been studied previously. Thisgroup constitutes a representative sample of this genre in itsincipient stages in Italy, an area that has been largelyunresearched.
The prime focus of the thesis is the relationship between the textand illustration in these manuscripts. This theme is explored by wayof an examination of each of the main components of the book ofhours: the calendar, the Little Office of the Virgin, the Office ofthe Passion, the Hours of the Cross, the Office of the Dead, thePenitential Psalms and the Litany of the Saints, as well as selectedsupplementary texts and illustrations. The thesis is structuredaccording to these distinct components. A catalogue providing detailsof each of the forty-two manuscripts is also appended to the thesis.
All 42 books contain decoration of some kind and nearly all havefigurative illustrations. The study examines the special character ofthis interaction between text and image in the early Italian book ofhours, drawing attention to distinctive characteristics and makingparticular reference to significant contrasts between the textual andillustrative programmes of these forty-two books and those of theirbetter-known French counterparts. The ways in which the imagescomplement the devotional themes of the text are discussed andsuggestions are made regarding the manner in which these elements mayhave acted as guides to the books' patrons. Of interest too is themanner in which the interrelationship of text and image in thesemanuscripts reveals devotional emphases that are peculiar to latemedieval Italy.
Renaissance Art
MCDONALD, LEE C.
'Architectural Health in the Italian Renaissance: A Study of ThreeFifteenth-century Treatises'.
MA, La Trobe University, Department of Art History, School of Artsand Media,1997. (Robert Gaston.)
No abstract available.
Baroque and 18th-century European Art
FLETCHER, JOY G.
'The Influence of Contemporary Theatre and Music on GiambattistaTiepolo's Paintings of Rinaldo and Armida.
MA, La Trobe University, Department of Art History, School of Artsand Media,1998 (Frank Heckes).
Paintings of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are oftendistinguished by their theatrical style, and the works of theVenetian painter Giambattista Tiepolo are no exception. In order todetermine the nature and extent of the influence of music and thetheatre on Tiepolo, aspects of Venetian theatrical performances areexamined, from opera to the commedia dell'arte, in relation to hisRinaldo and Armida cycle. One of the most theatrical aspects ofTiepolo's work concerns the way it was set within a room, and thisthesis makes a reconstruction of the original installation of theRinaldo and Armida cycle. This involves a study of the natural lightsources in the room in relation to Tiepolo's artificially-paintedlighting. An analysis is also made of the relationship between thepaintings and the text by Tasso on which they are based.
In order to evaluate the musical qualities in Tiepolo's paintings,comparisons are made between his Rinaldo and Armida cycle and thefirst of three operatic interpretations that Antonio Vivaldi wrote onthe same subject. These comparisons throw light on issues of theoryand design, and reveal parallels between Tiepolo's translucentcolouring and the bright, tonal quality of Vivaldi's music.
GIURINA, NADIA
'Giovanni Battista Falda's Li Giardini di Roma: Gardens and Printsin Seventeenth-century Rome'.
MA, University of Melbourne, School of Fine Arts, ClassicalStudies and Archaeology, 1998. (Christopher Marshall.)
Giovanni Battista Falda's Li Giardini di Roma, published in Romein the late seventeenth century, is an important set of views andplans of notable Roman gardens as they existed at the end of theseventeenth century. This thesis accounts for the importance andinterest of these engravings by drawing attention to selected aspectsof their design, draftsmanship and technique, and by restoring themto their historical and social context.
The thesis offers a brief biography of Falda, an account of hisrelations with his publisher, Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi, and somemethodological suggestions for the discussion of topographicalprints. It argues that to understand Falda's achievement we mustplace his garden images within the context of the cultural currentsof late seventeenth-century Rome. These include the contemporaryrevival of interest in the classical world, the secularisation ofRome as a destination for travellers and the ritual of the GrandTour, the commercial production of topographical images, the interestin garden design, and the ways in which Romans sought to takeadvantage of Rome's place as the caput mundi by producing affordableand transportable images of the city and its treasures. Falda'sgarden engravings are a continuation of his visual celebration anddocumentation of Alexander VII's redesigning of Rome, a major pieceof town planning aimed at establishing Rome as a principaldestination for travellers and Grand Tourists and the pre-eminentEuropean city, at a time when Catholic interests had sufferedreverses and the influence of the Papacy was in decline.
Falda's debt to his predecessors is assessed and the contents ofLi Giardini di Roma are described in detail, as are Falda's technicaland graphic achievements. Attention is paid to the relation betweenthe veduta and the pianta. Three of the most important garden printsare discussed in detail.
GRABAU, CLAIRE
'The Drawings of Benedetto Luti in the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampedegli Uffizi, Florence'.
MA, The University of Melbourne, Department of Fine Arts (ArtHistory and Cinema Studies), 1997. (David Marshall.)
This thesis critically examines the drawings of Benedetto Luti(1666&endash;1724) in the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi.Luti was a Florentine painter who moved to Rome in 1691 where heattended classes at the Accademia di S. Luca and from 1692 at theFrench Academy in Rome. By 1700 Luti had become involved in teachingand instruction at the Accademia di San Luca, setting the model forlife drawing, judging the annual concorso, and finally becomingprincipe in 1720.
The thesis examines 67 drawings, 43 of which are unpublished. Themain focus is on the academic studies, which were executed by Lutiduring his first decade in Rome in connection with the life drawingclasses at the Accademia di S. Luca and the French Academy. It isshown that several drawings are copies or studies after othermasters, including Anton Domenico Gabbiani, Annibale Carracci, Pietroda Cortona, Ciro Ferri, and Carlo Maratti. Three of the drawings areshown to be preparatory studies for Luti's paintings. Another four,although in red chalk, are discussed in relation to Luti's colouredchalk drawings and pastels. The provenance of the drawings, many ofwhich came from the Santarelli, Magliabecchiani, and Hugfordcollections, is explored in detail.
MCDONALD, MARK
'Studies in Printmaking and Print Collecting in Madrid(1584&endash;1684) and the Contribution of Pedro de Villafranca yMalagón'.
PhD, University of Melbourne, Department of Fine Arts (Art Historyand Cinema Studies), 1997. (David Marshall.)
(Awarded the Chancellor's Prize and the Harbison-HiginbothamResearch Scholarship 1998.)
Traditional print studies have concentrated on questions ofreproducibility and iconography. In this thesis the engravings ofPedro de Villafranca y Malagón (c.1615&endash;1684), the firstimportant Spanish engraver, are used as the primary documents for ananalysis of Spanish seventeenth-century printmaking in terms of itsartistic qualities and as a signifier of broad artistic and socialconcerns.
The first part examines the migration of printmakers to Madrid andthe subsequent establishment of a printmaking industry following theestablishment of Madrid as a courtly capital in 1561 and theconstruction of the monastery of the Escorial. The print collectionof Philip II at the Escorial is examined as an end result of thecontact between Madrid and broader European culture.
The second part examines the graphic work of Villafranca. Archivaldocuments, most of which are unpublished, are used to provide abiographical profile of the artist, beginning with his apprenticeshipwith Vicencio Carducho and his work in and around the court of PhilipIV. Villafranca's appointment as printmaker to the king is discussed,as are other aspects of his engraved work. The study concludes with abroader consideration of the socio-political uses of prints withinSpanish society. A catalogue provides complete details and acommentary on all of Villafranca's known works and presents a numberof new discoveries.
WOOTTON, ASTRID
'Sinibaldo Scorza (1589-&endash;1631). A Landscape Painter inGenoa and Savoy in the Early Seventeenth Century'.
PhD, University of Melbourne, School of Fine Arts, ClassicalStudies and Archaeology, 1998. (David Marshall.)
Sinibaldo Scorza (1589&endash;1631) was an important figure in thedevelopment of seventeenth-century Genoese art. Scorza was a painterand draughtsman of aristocratic descent who became a student in thestudio of Giovanni Battista Paggi at the age of fifteen. There hereceived a traditional humanist education and learned to paint anddraw, using Northern European prints as exemplars. As a studentScorza came into contact with the seicento poet Giambattista Marinoand developed a long-lasting friendship which had elements of apatronage relationship. By this time Scorza had already receivedconsiderable acclaim for his work and had developed a specialty inlandscape and animal painting which set a precedent for later Genoeseartists. Scorza also collaborated with Flemish artists working inGenoa, and in 1619 he was appointed painter to Duke Carlo Emanuele Iof Savoy and embarked upon a six-year residency at the Court of Savoyin Turin. There he occupied the dual role of courtier and artistuntil the outbreak of war between Genoa and Savoy in 1625. LeavingTurin that year, Scorza returned to Genoa where, soon after hisreturn, he was charged with treason on account of his friendship withthe Duke. He was exiled to Massa, then to Rome, where he worked forseveral years before he was granted permission to return to Genoa in1627. On his return he set up his studio in Genoa and achievedconsiderable financial success before his early death in 1631.
Scorza's paintings differ from those of his fellow students andteachers in their unusual subjects and their style, which has oftenbeen characterised as Flemish. By arranging his paintingschronologically and grouping them, some idea of his stylisticdevelopment may be obtained. It can be seen that he started hiscareer with an innovative approach to the choice of subject, but poortechnical skills. Through the use of drawings, Scorza experimentedwith the formation of complex compositions from single figurestudies. In this way he gained a greater understanding ofcompositional construction and improved his technical capacity. Bythe end of his career he was painting works which display a masteryof technical elements, including figure painting and the use ofpalette.
Scorza's drawings also differ from those of other painters in hiscircle. Examination of his drawings elucidates characteristicfeatures of his style. The recognition of a distinctive style can, inturn, clarify the issue of attribution of specific drawings. Thecatalogue of paintings by Scorza, which explores issues of style,dating and iconography, also makes reference to drawings used aspreparatory studies for paintings.
European Art, 19th Century
MCCOOK, BRANDT
'The Changing Status of Convention in the Theory of Design in LateNineteenth-century Britain: The Work and Ideas of Aubrey Beardsleyand Walter Crane'.
MA, University of Melbourne, School of Fine Arts, ClassicalStudies and Archaeology, 1998. (Vivien Gaston.)
This thesis examines the changing role of convention in Britain atthe end of the nineteenth century. In recent studies of Beardsley'swork convention has often been seen in relation to concepts developedin the twentieth century rather than in relation to those of his owntime. These studies consequently ignore the debate over the functionof representation in design theory at that time. This thesis locatesBeardsley in this debate through an analysis of the work and ideas ofWalter Crane. Both artists worked within a medium which, due toimprovements in the technology of reproduction, became the basis foran early form of mass media. This presented a challenge to the formof direct communication described by the German social theoristJürgen Habermas in his discussion of the concept of the 'publicsphere'. Through reproduction it becomes apparent that communicationrelies on the use of conventional forms which are removed from directexperience. This change is explored through an analysis of the workof Walter Benjamin and Jacques Derrida, which points to thedependence of communication upon the recognition, rather than therevelation, of meaning.
For Crane this led to a concern with the function of conventionalforms of communication, which was then taken up by Beardsley. Crane,however, attempted to place his awareness of convention within anearlier Romantic framework which saw the artist as having the abilityto express his intentions and aspirations directly. What is apparentfrom Crane's subsequent analysis of convention, which draws on theperceptual theories of Francis Galton and Herbert Spencer, is thatconventions function independently of a specific context. Thechallenge that this presented to his earlier model was taken up byBeardsley, who asserted that convention is oriented not to an idealvalue for which it is a substitute, but to the formation of atemporary agreement or understanding which can subsequently bechallenged. Although framed by Crane's interest in conventions,Beardsley represents a shift in opinion as to how they function.
Asian Art
MCINTYRE, TANYA
'Chinese New Year Pictures: The Process of Modernisation,1842&endash;1942'.
PhD, The University of Melbourne, Department of Fine Arts (ArtHistory and Cinema Studies), 1997. (Geoffrey Down, Antonia Finnane.)
The thesis is a study of a traditional popular Chinese art formknown as New Year Pictures. Although the production of thesewoodblock images virtually ceased early this century, they havecontinued to be relevant to contemporary China since the New YearPicture is often hailed as a prototype for modern forms of visualexpression. This contemporary interest has prompted the widespreadpreservation of the New Year Picture and made it the subject ofscholarly attention.
This thesis evaluates the relevance of New Year Pictures tocontemporary art and society by focusing on prints produced in theperiod 1842 to 1942. The year 1842 marks the end of the Opium Warwith Britain and the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing, permanentlychanging China's international relationships and causing significantchanges in Chinese society and culture. The year 1942 was the year ofTalks at the Yan'an Conference on Literature and Art, in which Maomapped out the ways in which artists might participate in thecommunist transformation of Chinese society and so articulated anapproach to Chinese art and culture that would permanently alter theway in which artistic traditions would be utilised and perceived.Throughout this period, various kinds of image were produced withinthe New Year Picture genre. The most numerous were prints thatreproduced images and themes that had been in production sinceearlier times. At the same time, 'new' New Year Pictures that speakof China's emergence as a modern nation and reflect the socialchanges that were going on were being produced, and providedprecedents for the kind of changes proposed in Mao's 1942 Talks.
This study explores the 'new' New Year Pictures images in thecontext of the tradition of New Year Pictures, a frame of referencethat permits a reading of some of the cultural material of China'stransformation from tradition to modernity, thus clarifying thedramatic developments in China's recent art history.
Australian Architecture, 19th and 20thCenturies
HUGHES, BRONWYN
'Twentieth-century Stained Glass in Melbourne Churches'.
MA, The University of Melbourne, Department of Fine Arts (ArtHistory and Cinema Studies), 1977. (Geoffrey Down.)
No abstract available.
JOUSTRA, JAN
'The Churches of the Diocese of Wangaratta'.
MA, Department of Art History, School of Arts and Media, La TrobeUniversity, 1997 (Joan Barclay-Lloyd.)
In the mid 1850s European settlers were moving into thenortheastern region of the Colony of Victoria. They brought with themtheir religion and its architectural heritage. This historical surveyof the churches of the Diocese of Wangaratta examines developments inEngland and Australia which led to the almost exclusive use of theGothic style, alterations that were made to their interiors inresponse to liturgical changes, and the role of individuals. Thechurches of the diocese are catalogued, drawing on unpublishedrecords.
The first section provides a general introduction to the life ofthe Diocese of Wangaratta and its history. Chapter 1 is a study ofthe architectural history of churches in the diocese over the past141 years. Chapter 2 studies early colonial church architecture inAustralia up to the time of the first white settlements in northeastVictoria. Chapter 3 looks at the geography and early history of whatwas to become the Diocese of Wangaratta, and its bishops since itsfounding in 1902.
The second section focuses on specific developments in the life ofthe diocese and how these changes have been reflected in itsarchitecture. Chapter 1 traces the development of its churcharchitecture from the building of the first permanent church in 1856until the foundation of the diocese in 1902. Specific reference ismade to the growth of the Arts and Crafts Movement and its influenceon church architecture, and in particular to the work of LouisWilliams, the most important architect in the history of the diocese.Chapter 3 deals briefly with the small group of Utilitarian churchesbuilt between 1945 and 1960. Chapter 4 discusses the changes whichtook place under the influence of the Liturgical Renewal Movement.Chapter 5 discusses those churches which have undergone many changesduring their history and how these changes have altered theirinterior ordering.
The third section contains a catalogue of the churches of thediocese, in which their mostly unrecorded history is documented in asystematic way. Illustrations of the churches follows, includingearly photographs and architectural drawings and exterior andinterior views and significant architectural details of the churchestoday.
SWEELY, GAY
'Parallel Practices: P.S. Richards and the Architectural Practiceswith which he was Associated in Australia'.
PhD, University of Melbourne, School of School of Fine Arts,Classical Studies and Archaeology, and Faculty of Architecture,Building and Planning, 1998. (David Marshall, George Tibbits.)
This thesis traces the life and designs of the architect PercivalSelwyn Richards (1865&endash;1952) and the one hundred year historyof his practice in Ballarat. Richards practised for 65 years, 53 ofwhich were spent in Ballarat. From 1881&endash;1893 he was introducedto the ideas and designs of some of the most influential Australasiancolonial architects in Christchurch and Melbourne. After the crashwhich followed the land boom of the 1880s he formed a partnership inBallarat with eccentric provincial architect William Brazenor, whohad been active in the goldrush city since the early 1860s. FollowingFederation in 1901, Richards' firm (including A. Lanyon Clark, H.L.Coburn, and G.S. Richards) dominated the profession and continued toshowcase contemporary Australian designs in the district until themid-1960s.
WELLINGTON, PAUL
'Robin Boyd: the Early Years 1919&endash;1952'.
MA, Monash University, School of Literary, Visual and CulturalStudies, Visual Culture Section, 1997. (Conrad Hamann.)
No abstract available.
Australian Art, 19th and 20th Centuries
CLABBURN, ANNA
'The Relationship between Caricature and Concepts of AustralianNational Identity, 1900 to the Present. Reclaiming the Caricaturesqueas a Social Agent of the Nation's Changing Self-image.'
MA, The University of Melbourne, Department of Fine Arts (ArtHistory and Cinema Studies), 1977. (Christopher McAuliffe.)
This thesis examines the possibility of an ongoing relationshipbetween caricature and notions of Australian national identity duringthe twentieth century. It suggests that caricature and the'caricaturesque'&emdash;a stylistic and conceptual derivative ofcaricature&emdash;reflect the evolution of ideas about Australia'sregional personae during this period. By analysing a range of imagesfrom art and popular newspapers, the discussion negotiates a socialrole for caricature as a critical strategy and as a tool for decodingthe mythical nature of the nation's identity. It is suggested thatcaricature provides one of the most valid means of assessing theambivalent structure of Australia's national visage.
The thesis begins in the 1900s with early illustrated caricaturesby Will Dyson and Norman Lindsay. These artists are used as prescientagitators for the construction of a national character or 'type', asymbolic identity. Next, the works of Australian artists such asWilliam Dobell and the Angry Penguins group are examined in order toestablish that there was a continuity in this preoccupation withnational personae and their socio-political roles. These issues areconsidered in relation to examples of historical and literary theoryconcerned with the country's rapidly altering disposition during theWorld War II period.
Chapters 2 and 3 discuss the way caricature in high art ranparallel with a growing instability in Australia's national identityfrom the 1950s to the 1970s brought on by the aftermath of war andsocial change. The examples considered focus on negative, ambiguous,or anti-heroic caricatures of nationhood in order to establish therole of caricature as a critical and deconstructive agent in visualart up to the early 1990s. Consideration is given to how themechanism of caricature relates to postmodern and postcolonialattitudes in contemporary art and theory.
In Chapter 4 the argument focuses on caricature as a social andpsychological implement which had a direct investment in Australia'sunstable national selfhood. Using examples from both art andnewspaper illustration, this chapter examines how the humorouscomponents of caricature inform its critical and ambivalent readingof nation.
This thesis seeks to reclaim caricature as a powerful socialpresence in contemporary Australian visual culture. By surveying itsoccurrence through the twentieth century it concludes by suggestingthat caricature and the humorous imaging of nation may be the mostappropriate (and viable) method of representing the contradictionswithin this country's regional paradigm.
DWYER, JILLIAN
'The "Work" of Art: the National Gallery of Victoria TravellingScholarship 1887&endash;1932'.
MA, Monash University, School of Literary, Visual and CulturalStudies, Visual Culture Section, 1997. (Leigh Astbury.)
No abstract available.
HARDING, LESLEY
'The First Australian Modernists. Tempe Manning, Norah Simpson andGrace Cossington-Smith: Gender, Myth and Art Criticism during theFirst World War'.
MA, The University of Melbourne, Department of Fine Arts (ArtHistory and Cinema Studies), 1997. (Jeanette Hoorn.)
Three women artists started the shift to modernist art practice inAustralia during the First World War. Norah Simpson, GraceCossington-Smith and little known artist Tempe Manning contributed tothe debate and practice of new techniques and new subjects. All werestudents of Dattilo Rubbo's school in wartime Sydney. Unable to finda relevant level of expression in the nationalist landscapetradition, they set about painting subjects that embraced theexperiences of women. Bringing together their exposure to modern artin Europe prior to the war, the political environment and their ownpersonal ideas, these artists forged a new vision of Australia and anew space for Australian art.
Drawing on gallery archives, newspaper articles and reviews, oralhistories and a comprehensive range of secondary sources, this thesisoffers a more detailed account than hitherto of the emergence ofmodernism in Sydney and the critical role of women artists.
STURGESS, NANCY
'Towards a Catalogue Raisonné: Julian Rossi Ashton'.
MA, Monash University, School of Literary, Visual and CulturalStudies, Visual Culture Section, 1997. (John Gregory.)
No abstract available.
WHITE, ANN-HEATHER
Social Prestige and Influence in the Visual Arts: a Melbourne CaseStudy'.
PhD, Monash University, School of Literary, Visual and CulturalStudies, Visual Culture Section, 1998. (Margaret Plant.)
This thesis exmines the accumulation of social prestige andinfluence of individuals who shaped the visual arts in Melbourne fromits colonial foundations to the present time. It explores thesociological and ideological environments and the relationshipbetween the production, distribution and consumption of art.
Contemporary Art and Art Theory
COLMAN, FELICITY
'Heroik Ventura: a discussion of contemporary aesthetics'.
MA, Monash University, School of Literary, Visual and CulturalStudies, Visual Culture Section, 1997. (Leigh Astbury.)
No abstract available.
CURTIS, SARAH
'Janet Laurence: Feminine Singularity in Australian CulturalFormations'.
MA, The University of Melbourne, Department of Fine Arts (ArtHistory and Cinema Studies), 1997. (Jeanette Hoorn.)
This thesis looks at the work of visual artist Janet Laurence andher collaborative practice in the field of art and architecture. Thedevelopment of her practice and its contingency to Australiancultural conditions is investigated from a feminist perspective inorder to bring new readings for the role of the artist in theformation of national culture. A feminist argument is developed whichshows how Janet Laurence's practice challenges traditional conceptsof transcendence and immanence.
Laurence's practice is shown to be based on a balance between'art' and the 'art of living' in order to address the separationbetween 'art' and 'reality'. Her work is contrasted with theinternational avant-garde and its 'special mission' of challengingperceptions of art in order to present an alternative to itsrhetorical closure. Her concern with alchemical transformation andthe synergy between metaphysical and material reality is demonstratedin order to show how the artist can be seen as having an integrativepractice rather than being positioned as a narcissist. By showing howJanet Laurence has transported these philosophical concerns intoarchitectural collaborative projects the way in which an artist canfunction as a conduit for the integration between emotional realityand the polis is explored.
In order to contextualise her work within the Western canon,parallels are drawn between Janet Laurence's practice and the legendof Antigone. Hegel's interpretation of Antigone is investigated inorder to show how his gendered concept of transcendence and immanenceis transported into aesthetics and the role of the artist. Feministinterpretations of Antigone are then applied to show how Laurence'sinvolvement in national monuments, such as the Tomb of the UnknownSoldier, prompts a reassessment of the relationship between'transcendence' and the feminine.
Laurence's movement between the hermetic gallery space and thesocial/political sphere of architectural collaboration is innovative,and as a result it encounters resistance. In order to show howdifficult it is for a woman to deal with the sphere of transcendenceit is demonstrated how resistance to Laurence's work can beinterpreted according to postcolonial transitions in which the whitefemale is being offered the role of scapegoat.
Laurence's involvement in the Museum of Sydney project drawsattention to the ways in which debates surrounding race and genderproduce uncomfortable and ambiguous readings. Through looking at thisproject the problematic of the gap between morality and ethics isaddressed. The ethical base underpinning Janet Laurence's work ispresented as an argument for the recognition of feminine singularityand its difference from the hegemony of homosocial culture. Herpractice is presented as an example of feminine jouissance in orderto show how this can contribute to Australia's future culturaltransitions. In relation to notions of republicanism,multiculturalism and globalisation, this thesis demonstrates, throughthe example of Janet Laurence, how the recognition of the femininecan produce new concepts of national identity and new providentialcultural structures.
GREEN, CHARLES
'Thief in the Attic: Artistic Collaborations and ModifiedIdentities in International Art after 1968'.
PhD, University of Melbourne, School of Fine Arts, ClassicalStudies and Archaeology, 1998. (Roger Benjamin.)
This thesis is a selective history and critical analysis ofcollaborations and unorthodox models of authorship in internationalart after 1960. Artistic collaboration in the late 1960s and duringthe 1970s occupied a special position: redefinitions of art and ofartistic collaboration intersected. The thesis focuses on artisticcollaborations that came to notice in the 1970s, locating them withinthe evolution of post-object art, conceptual art, installations,earth art, systems art and body art.
Collaborative artistic identity is defined through four types ofcollaboration. First, early work by Art and Language membersconstructed bureaucratic identities. Ian Burn's and Mel Ramsden'sreaction against self-expressive artistic identity resulted in theirformalisation of artistic work into administration. Joseph Kosuthphrased this as a reaction against 'painting', even though, to asurprising degree, he constructed an identifiable signature stylefrom the bare bones of typography and the delegation of manufacture.Second, Australian artists associated with Pinacotheca Gallery inMelbourne, and Inhibodress and Tin Sheds in Sydney, chose short-termcollaborative projects for works that stretched conceptual art to thelimit of intelligibility, often through semi-fictional authorship.Third, the Boyles, Poiriers and Harrisons saw collaboration byfamilies and couples as a discursive 'frame' within which content wascrucial rather than arbitrary, and ethical because of its dependenceon reading and memory. Artistic collaboration was the part of the'frame' of the work of art that destabilised its boundaries. Fourth,Christo/Jeanne-Claude, Abramovic/Ulay, and Gilbert and Georgeconflated themselves with their artistic end-product. Christo andJeanne-Claude's collaboration represented an incomplete transitionfrom traditional individual artistic identity to corporate identity.Michael Fried's terms of absorption and theatricality clarify thereasons why Gilbert and George's and Marina Abramovic/Ulay's actionsignored the viewer. The identity constituted by their collaborationsresembled a third 'entity' or doppelganger.
These collaborations represent a transition to alternativeauthorial models. The figure of the 'authors/artists' emerges as anelement in different production methods rather than as the creator ofart objects unified by signature style; this figure is a tool, not atruth, problematising straightforward suppositions about bothartistic identity and the origin of postmortem art.
HARDWICK, DEANNE
'Australian Installations: Critical Spatial Relations'.
PhD, Monash University, School of Literary, Visual and CulturalStudies, Visual Culture Section, 1997. (Margaret Plant.)
This thesis examines installation practices in Australian art fromtheir inception to the late 1960s, including interior and landscapespace, 'institutional' gallery spaces, and the social implications ofinstallations.
KERRY, ANGELA
'Whose Morality? Sexual Censorship of the Visual Arts in Australia1936&endash;1995'.
MA, The University of Melbourne, Department of Fine Arts (ArtHistory and Cinema Studies), 1997. (Christopher McAuliffe.)
Sexual censorship is the most common form of censorship of theindividual arts in Australia. Using specific examples of thecensorship of sexual artworks in Australia from 1963 to 1995 thisthesis explores the complex relationship between the art image andcensorship. An historical analysis of incidents of censorship inAustralian reveals a pattern of controversies over sexual art.Censorship scandals fall roughly into three successive periods whichcorrespond to social and political changes in the wider community. Inthese periods the scandals concerned respectively images ofheterosexual sex and nudity, images of homosexuality, and sexualimages of children. In order to understand why certain images arecensored and explain the shifts in the focus of censorship it isnecessary to identify the function of censorship in society.Foucault's 'Transgression' and 'Repressive Hypothesis', Hebdige'stheory of cultural hegemony described in his Subculture: the Meaningof Style, and Cohen's ideas set out in his Fold Devils and MoralPanics are employed to elucidate the social, political, ideologicaland moral function of censorship in Australian society. It is arguedthat although censorship purports to protect the public from offence,the ideological function of censorship is to police the sexual insociety, which in turn has wider implications for social control. Toinvestigate these issues this thesis addresses the issue of powerwithin society, and the way that the power relationships betweenstate and individual manifest themselves in the control of artisticpractice and questions the use of art as a site for the explorationof problematic sexualities. The nature of the sexual image, combinedwith societal morality, ensures that scandals will occurperiodically. The fact that they occur within the institution of artmakes sexual artworks a ideal site for the establishment of acontrolling discourse on problematic sexualities.
NICOLL, FIONA
'From Diggers to Drag-queens: Configurations of Twentieth-centuryAustralian Nationalist Subjectivity'.
PhD, University of Melbourne, Department of Fine Arts (Art Historyand Cinema Studies), 1997. (Roger Benjamin.)
This thesis analyses configurations of Australian nationalistsubjectivity through an examination of cultural texts. In particularit focuses on two constructions of the 'digger' as an exemplarynationalist subject. It is demonstrated that, during the interwarperiod, the digger was attributed with a cluster of specific featureswhich excluded 'Others', such as women, modernists, Asian-Australiansand Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. It is argued that therevival of the digger's popularity in the 1980s and 1990s requiredthis interwar icon to be extensively renovated in order to signify aninclusive, or 'tolerant' version of nationalist subjectivity.
The introductory chapter of the thesis highlights the importantrole played by the Australian War Memorial in Canberra in producingand disseminating representations of the digger. Art theoreticalissues arising from the Memorial's large official war art collectionare analysed in the light of C.E.W. Bean's construction of thedigger. The Memorial's recent reconfiguration of the digger isconnected to the internment of an unknown soldier in the Hall ofMemory in 1993.
Chapter 2 explains why, in contrast to the profound impact of theGreat War upon the work of the European avant-garde, Australianofficial war art was constrained by an 'academic' idiom. The use of amodernist idiom enabled British official war artists to register thecorporeal and psychic disintegration to which modern trench warfarefrequently gave rise, whereas in Australian official war art thedigger was constructed as a synecdoche for an undivided nation. It isargued that the respective visions of war presented in the AustralianWar Memorial and the Imperial War Museum are the product of twodifferent configurations of the relationship between class andnationalist subjectivity.
Chapter 3 takes the absence of representations of women in the WarMemorial as its point of departure. It demonstrates that during theinterwar period, women, shell-shocked diggers, and modern artistswere constructed as 'partial' in relation to a national 'whole'embodied by the male digger. The emergence of the 'home front' as asignificant arena of nationalist investment during World War II isthen analysed. Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's concept ofdesiring&endash;production is used to illuminate the threat thatwomen's activities on the home front posed to the pre-existinghomosocial configuration of nationalist subjectivity.
Chapters 4 and 5 expand upon the 'tropological' method employed inthe thesis. It is shown that the digger-sign, as a synecdoche for aundivided nation, was used by Proto-fascist organisations such as theVictorian White Army to configure political dissent as treachery. A1929 dispute over the appearance of the digger's face demonstrateshow the digger-sign was used to establish a metonymic connectionbetween nationalist subjectivity and the values enshrined in theWhite Australia policy.
In Chapter 5, the 'tolerant' face of late twentieth-centurynationalist subjectivity is analysed. Policy documents and politicalspeeches are used to illustrate the important role played by metaphorin reconfiguring nationalist subjectivity as inclusive of difference.Drawing on Michel Foucault's account of panopticism and Deleuze andGuattari's concept of the 'semiotic regime', the idea of the'powerful figure' is used to problematise accounts of nationalistsubjectivity as a journey from intolerance towards tolerance. Therecent eruption of MP Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party arecited as evidence of the tenacity of a xenophobic configuration ofnationalist subjectivity.
Chapter 6 examines nationalist subjectivity in relation to thepractice of Australian multiculturalism. It is argued thatmulticulturalism inscribes a distinction between Anglo-Celtic andAustralians of non-English speaking background. The 1994 'Demidenko'hoax is explained in relation to this distinction. Culturalproduction elaborated in relation to the metaphor 'Australia is partof Asia' is then analysed. The ambiguous situation ofAsian-Australian artists is cited as evidence that the 'tolerance'which this metaphor promotes disguises its irreversibility.
In Chapter 7, nationalist subjectivity is refracted through thecultural politics of Aboriginal 'reconciliation.' Drawing onFoucault's theory of 'govermentality', it is demonstrated that duringthe 1980s contemporary Aboriginal art and culture were harnessed to a'disciplinary' policy agenda which sought the 'reform' of Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander subjects. An analysis of the rhetoricdeployed in the recent political debate over native title is thenused to support the argument that the anti-Aboriginal backlash whichfollowed the High Court's 1996 'Wik' decision is inextricably tied tothe genocidal mode of colonialism celebrated by the Australian WarMemorial.
Chapter 8 analyses the relationship between homosociality,homoeroticism, and nationalist subjectivity. Drawing on recentAustralian cinema it is argued that, not withstanding their'tolerant' avowal of homosexuality, the films, The Sum of Us and TheAdventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, reinscribes ahomosocial-homophobic configuration of nationalist subjectivity. Theconfigurations of nationalist subjectivity crystallised in therespective annual parades of Anzac Day and the Sydney gay and lesbianMardi-Gras are then compared. Mardi-Gras' 'camp' appropriation ofAnzac iconography is contrasted with digger-nationalism's hostilitytoward 'queer' sexualities. Drawing on Michael Taussig's account of'state fetishism', it is argued that Mardi-Gras destabilises ahomosocial-homophobic configuration of nationalist subjectivity byexposing differ-nationalism as an 'impure sacred'.
The conclusion draws these different strands together in adiscussion of the different rhetorical approaches to nationalistsubjectivity adopted by Australia politicians over the past decade.It also highlights the critical contribution of the thesis toexisting scholarship on nationalist subjectivity.
NOWAK, JOLANTA
'A House Divided: The Positions of Beauty in Australian PostmodernArt, 1983&endash;1997'.
MA, University of Melbourne, Department of Fine Arts (Art Historyand Cinema Studies), 1997. (Christopher McAuliffe.)
This thesis examines and critiques the definition and use ofbeauty in contemporary Australian postmodern art and art criticism.
The thesis begins by interrogating the relationship between thedominant conceptions of beauty and postmodernity. This relationshipis uncovered by comparing the work of Elizabeth Kruger and JohnYoung. First, this comparison reveals that in contemporary Australianart beauty is consistently defined in neo-Ruskinian, pre-modernist,humanistic terms. This understanding of beauty has some fundamentalparallels with Immanuel Kant's Critique of Judgement, particularly inits emphasis on the notion of a universal order, but is bestunderstood through the legacy of John Ruskin. Second, this comparisonshows that the dominant, critical branch of postmodernity encouragedby Jean-François Lyotard is predicated on a scepticism towardnatural truth. This scepticism has led to a complete rejection ofbeauty and all the values it carries, particularly its universality.This stance is evident in the postmodern sublime. It is concludedthat beauty and postmodernity are diametrically opposed bothideologically and aesthetically. Despite this opposition, the twostances have been presented in a way which makes them pivotal in thecontemporary discussion of each other.
The thesis then considers the benefits and problems attendant onpostmodernism's scepticism toward beauty. Susan Norrie's work isstudied through Jean Baudrillard's notion of seduction. With the useof Emmanuel Levinas' work on scepticism, this reading of Norrie'swork shows how the sceptic can present his or her thesis so thatreason and ontology are elided. It is also shown that scepticism inart produces an antagonistic relationship between the viewer and thework. The grunge work of Hany Armanious is then scrutinised as thelogical extreme of a sceptical art practice which has rejected everylast vestige of beauty's values. Analysing Armanious' work throughthe notions of the abject and informe, it is argued that the viewer'srelationship with sceptical art is similar to our relationship withthe commodity (as theorised by Terry Eagleton and Fredric Jameson).Assuming that art which maintains some ideological distinctions fromthe commodity is valuable, it is demonstrated that Armanious' fullblown scepticism is simply not an adequate alternative toneo-Ruskinian beauty. It is concluded that scepticism is paradigmaticof a legitimate attack on reason and neo-Ruskinian beauty. However,it is also revealed that sceptical art is dangerously antagonisticand politically conservative. Hence a new approach to the problem ofbeauty must be sought.
Finally, the thesis provides a alternative understanding of beautyfree of the problems attendant to postmodern scepticism. It issuggested that a better alternative to scepticism and neo-Ruskinianbeauty can be achieved by drawing parallels between Kant's analysisof our relationship with the beautiful object and Levinas'post-ontological ethics. This notion of beauty is neither humanistnor sceptical. The work of Rosslynd Piggott is taken to draw out thekey features of this aesthetic.
The thesis draws the conclusion that the contemporary use anddefinition of beauty is simplistic, fundamentally flawed, andrequires urgent re-conceptualisation.
Museology
COPCIC, TUGOMIL
'Situating the Virtual Gallery. The Rhetoric and Reality ofInteractive Technology'.
MA, University of Melbourne, School of Fine Arts, ClassicalStudies and Archaeology, 1998. (Vivien Gaston.)
This thesis presents an interdisciplinary critical analysis of theideological concepts of transparency and interactivity in electronicnetworks. It argues for a phenomenological perspective oncommunication and insists on the active role of the subject in thecreation of meaning. Arguing against the ideological employment ofthe confusion between aesthetic and referential function incomputer-mediated communication, the thesis postulates the 'virtualgallery' as a significant artifactual realm of art on the Internet.
DOWNER, CAROLINE
'Music in the Museum: An Examination of the Collections of MusicalInstruments in the Powerhouse Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences inSydney'.
MA, The University of Melbourne, Department of Fine Arts (ArtHistory and Cinema Studies), 1997. (Alison Inglis.)
This thesis explores the nature and significance of musicalinstruments in public collections. Concepts of 'collection' and'interpretation' are examined through a analysis of a particularcase-study: the musical instruments in the Music Collection at thePowerhouse Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney. Thiscollection, which is exceptional in Australia, comprises six hundredinstruments, mainly in the Western art music tradition. A frameworkfor its interpretation is provided by a comparative analysis ofleading international collections.
Part 1 examines the history and collection development policies ofthe Powerhouse and places the Music Collection against the backgroundof ideas of collecting, both local and international. Whereas musicwas of particular significance for the collecting of musicalinstruments in international collections, other concerns underlay theformation of the Powerhouse collection. The early history anddevelopment of the Museum emphasised progress and innovation inmanufacture, issues which replaced earlier notions of the curious. Aconcern with national identity was important from the founding of theinstitution and manifested itself in a number of acquisitions andbequests.
Part 2 investigates the interpretation of musical instrumentcollections through display and use. In the display of musicalinstrument collections, three distinct types of interpretive strategyhave been identified: the unitary display based on organology; thecontextual display which includes references to social history ormusicology; and the multiform display which incorporates severalaspects of the musical instrument, especially its function as aproducer of sound. The primacy of music can be identified in theseinterpretive strategies, from organology to the role of the musicalinstrument in music history and the importance of sound and musicalperformance. This thesis argues that the emphasis on music allows themusical instrument to be invested with a multiplicity of meanings andin particular allows it to reflect its original context. Theunderlying concept of music is largely absent in the display ofmusical instruments at the Powerhouse, yet the museum has beenparticularly prominent in the commissioning of musical instrumentsand historical reproductions. This practice reconciles the problemsof playability and preservation, and consequently can overcome theparadox of mute musical instruments in the museum.
JOCIC, LAURA
'The Digitised Field of the Cloth of Gold. Costume Collections andComputer Technologies'.
MA, University of Melbourne, School of Fine Arts, ClassicalStudies and Archaeology, 1998. (Alison Inglis, David Marshall.)
Costume collections are located in many public museums, but theirdevelopment and interpretation have been restricted by the missionand focus of these institutions. As items that are particularlyvulnerable to deterioration, costumes require specialisedpreventative conservation strategies that restrict their display.Recent developments in computer technologies offer alternative modesof access to these collections which can overcome the limitations andbiases of the museums and allow for more varied approaches to asubject that is by nature fluid and cross-disciplinary.
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