Bertram Mackennal
artists :: posted on November 30th, 2008
I’m just back from Melbourne which was a feast of arts in several forms, and a feast of food and family as well! One of the reasons I headed over the Bass Strait at this time was to liaise with my researcher brother to try to solve a mystery (well it is to me) about a particular monument to our relatives from from the late 1800’s who were very active members of the new city of Melbourne. But I did get a little side tracked in the Kew Cemetery by Bertram Mackennal’s massive monumental work the Springthorpe Memorial. The superb lead light ceiling radiates a glow of varying red tones across the marble sculptures, in dedication to Annie Springthorpe who had died in childbirth.
This impressive monument is also a monument to a period of time when craftsmanship was appreciated beyond the time it took to complete such a work, and of course to a period of time that allowed time to be slow, although of course they probably thought time was moving so much faster than the century before them.
In the Ian Potter Centre which is part of the National Gallery of Victoria has the bronze sculpture “Circe” (1892-93) which really launched his career as he challenged the current trends to create work that was different in style and form. His reputation and skill eventually lead him to work for the British royal family and become the first Australian artist to be knighted.
So that was a really good distraction, but I’ll get back to the other bits from Melbnourne over the next few days.
