Media release15 July 2002
Stella Bowen: Art, Love and War
Art Gallery of South Australia
On show 19 July – 29 September 2002
The works of one of Adelaide’s finest painters will be shown in a new exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia – the first time many have been seen together and in public.
Stella Bowen: Art, Love & War, an Australian War Memorial Travelling Exhibition, showcases 70 of this important artists most significant works spanning almost 40 years, and is the largest retrospective of her work to go on display. It includes many previously unseen pieces belonging to private collections throughout Australia, Britain and the United States.
Ron Radford, Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia says “Many of Bowen’s paintings remain undiscovered as they are in private collections, but this exhibition gives people a wider view of the artist as someone who recorded the bigger picture – her art was very personal, but in this collection we see her quest was universal: the struggle to pursue both duty and freedom.”
Stella Bowen’s career took her from Adelaide in 1914 to the bohemian world of Paris and London in the 1920s. She worked between the wars in the midst of a bright circle of artistic and literary figures. Passionate about her art, she juggled motherhood and a nine-year relationship with the writer Ford Madox Ford. Her work, which includes portraits, interiors, still-lifes and landscapes, illustrates a private view of a woman’s life – her home, her friends and the places she lived.
In late 1943, Stella Bowen became the second of only three women to be appointed as official war artists during the Second World War. This appointment was received towards the end of her career primarily to depict the activities of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) stationed in England and participating in the intensive bombing operations over Germany. Some of her most admired work was completed during her twenty-month tour of duty and includes pieces such as Bomber Crew 1944.
Head of Art at the Australian War Memorial, Lola Wilkins, has worked for a number of years to bring the exhibition to fruition. Former Curator of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia Jane Hylton assisted with the exhibition and has also contributed to the catalogue.
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Her story features (with that of Grace Cossington Smith) in Drusilla Modjeska’s best-selling book Stravinsky’s Lunch and Stella Bowen’s own memoirs Drawn from Life have been recently been republished. Her marvelous self-portrait was recently given to the Art Gallery of South Australia by the artist’s niece Suzanne Brookman. Stella Bowen’s neices, Suzanne Brookman and Mary Alice Pelham Thorman along with Ms Wilkins, will be at the media preview of the exhibition.
Media preview: Thursday 18 July at 11 am at the Art Gallery of South Australia
Media contact:Neil Ward
Neil Ward Publicity
Ph: (08) 8361-3577
M: 0438 095 580
From Drawn from Life:
Art
“I suppose this gift of creating life at a touch is the most enviable gift that a painter can have.”
Love
“Why are people allowed – and women encouraged – to stake their lives, careers, economic position and hopes of happiness on love?”
War
“War’s purpose was destruction, which appeared to be the opposite of our function as would-be artists, or as women.”
Stella Bowen: Art, Love & War is an Australian War Memorial Travelling Exhibition and was developed with funding from the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Commemorations Program. The tour of this exhibition is supported by Visions of Australia, a Commonwealth Government Program.
Art Gallery of South Australia
North Terrace, Adelaide
Open 10 am – 5 pm every day
Admission:
Adult $ 6
Concession $ 5
Member $ 4
Students 16 and over$ 3
Children U16 free entry
Veterans and War Widows,
Defence Force members and familes, and ANZAC Foundation membersfree entry
Event Program for Stella Bowen: Art, Love and War
Enrich your visit and extend your interests by attending some of the many events in the exhibition’s program.
Friday 19 July at 11 am
Stella Bowen: Art, Love and War.
Lola Wilkins, curator of the exhibition, talks about the life and times of the artist.
Free with exhibition entry.
Sunday 25 August at 1 pm
Painting Ghosts: Stella Bowen's war art
Cathy Speck talks about Stella’s exploration of the psyche of Australian airmen defending Britain and her extraordinary vignettes of wartime life.
Cathy Speck is an art historian and writer who lectures at the University of Adelaide
A free lecture in the Art Gallery Auditorium.
Sunday 22 September at 1pm
Adelaide from a distance
Jane Hylton talks about Stella’s enduring relationship with Adelaide and her family.
Jane Hylon is a freelance curator and contributing writer to the exhibitions catalogue.
A free lecture in the Art Gallery Auditorium.
THE ARTIST’S EYE
Thursday 5, 12, 26 September at 1 pm
Three South Australian artists comment on selected works in the exhibition.
Thursday 5 SeptemberDi Longley
Thursday 12 SeptemberDee Jones
Thursday 26 SeptemberKay Lawrence
Free with exhibition entry.
MEMBERS’ EVENTS
Friday 19 July at 6.15 pm
The Private Viewing
Our special guest Lola Wilkins shares her rich knowledge of the artist and her works in this special after hours event for Members and their guests.
Tickets: $30, $25 Members and includes a light supper.
Bookings: call Karina on 8207 7050
Wednesday 18 September at 6.15 pm
Peter Churcher: the war artist today.
Peter Churcher is the Official War Artist appointed by the Australian War Memorial to record the activities of the Royal Australian Navy in the Gulf and the Royal Australian Air Force based in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean as part of Australia’s involvement in the International Coalition against Terrorism. Peter will talk about his experiences in these battle zones and how they have affected the way he approaches his painting.
Tickets: $30, $25 Members and includes a light supper.
Bookings: call Karina on 8207 7050
For further details on the events, contact Megan Henschke on 8207 7009
NORTH TERRACE ADELAIDE SOUTH AUSTRALIA 5000 TELEPHONE (08) 8207 7000 FACSIMILE (08) 8207 7070