Travels South

As mentioned previously, I travelled with my sister to our National Capital, Canberra then across to the South Coast of NSW.

We left early on Monday in order to arrive in time for the opening of the National Gallery of Art. Our purpose was to see the Degas exhibition with works from major Degas collections, including Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Musée des Beaux Arts, Pau, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. I found it a little disappointing.
This is probably because I prefer landscapes and gardens à la Monet rather than horses and women in the bath.
We enjoyed the dance class paintings and actually preferred the sculptures especially the finale "The Little Dancer of Fourteen Years" whose face is wonderfully expressive. I did not enjoy the many monotypes and lithographs.

However it was good to see so many of his works in one place and so learn about him and his works in a way not possible when you see a painting here and there. We visited both the Getty Museum and the Musée d’Orsay in 2007 but do not especially remember the Degas amongst the many paintings viewed.

After a few hours there we went across to the newly opened National Portrait Gallery. This was only opened last November allowing more space for paintings and photographs which were housed in the Old Parliament House. I had visited that site but there is now much more on display. I resisted throwing things at the portrait of our late departed but unlamented Prime Minister Howard.
I look forward to returning and studying some areas in more detail. There are so many photos and paintings of important people in our history. I have chosen that of Justice Michael Kirby who is my hero and now recently retired High Court Judge.











The next day we travelled down the Mountain to the Bega Valley and the towns of Candelo, Kameruka and Wyndham where our mother spent her earliest years.








At both Candelo and the Anglican Church on the Kameruka estate we found our uncle's name on the war memorials. We visited his grave on the Somme in 2007.















The Holy Trinity Church at Kameruka has been beautifully maintained although it would be rarely used these days. Our mother would have worshipped there as a little girl.

We had less success in finding records of our ancestors in the cemeteries and at the Bega Pioneers Museum. They were probably too poor to afford gravestones and as I mentioned before, our grandfather was born out of wedlock. However we now have some possible leads.







That night was spent at Pambula Beach. As it is located next to a National Park there are kangaroos roaming the area. Although some overseas people think that kangaroos are found in the cities of Australia, I can assure you most of us find it unusual to see kangaroos or wallabies in the wild. I have had an occasional visitor to my garden but it is rare.

Brief Holiday

I want to visit the Degas Exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Canberra.
Last year I visited the Turner to Monet Exhibition in one day which involved 7 hours driving.
This year I have decided to stay overnight and then go across to the South Coast where my mother lived as a child. We have been researching our ancestors which has become rather involved as we have recently discovered my Grandfather was born out of wedlock. (A terrible disgrace in the 1850's). We know his mother's name but on the birth certificate the father is shown as unknown. There is a father shown on his marriage certificate but was he the father or an adopted father? I could not find my grandfather's birth certificate until an expert in the area suggested searching by the mother's name. This proved him to be 3 years younger than the age we all thought (and recently placed on a gravestone which we had made finally, 60 years after his death).

Anyway my sister has asked to come with me which means, instead of my throwing a few things in a bag and setting off, we have a major production with her driving. My car is not at all comfortable and she has an automatic which I hate.
Sorry will not be reading for a few days.

Turner to Monet

As this blog will soon change from ranting about Sydney Evangelicals to describing my wanderings around Europe I might as well begin with my visit yesterday to the National Gallery of Australia to see the Turner to Monet Exhibition. It only began about 2 weeks ago and will be finished by the time I return. It is not visiting Sydney. Therefore I drove the 600km in one day to see it. 7 hours driving and 2 hours at the Gallery with another 2 hours at war memorial and lunch. Sometimes I think I need my head read.
When I went to school we had the choice of music or art and I chose music so I always feel a bit at a loss when describing art especially when I know that my good friend Davis will be reading. He uses his blog Audacious Deviant to give us the most informative description of religious art which is spiritually uplifting and educational. I will wish he was by my side as I visit art galleries in Europe.
My first degree major was in Geography which I taught for 25 years so Landscape art is particularly appealing. I was a bit disappointed with Turner's later works which are more abstract. I liked the detail in his earlier works such as "Crossing the Brook" on loan from the Tate.

I have been in love with Monet's art since visiting his garden in 2002 and again last year. Even his more abstract art impresses me. Morning Haze is one of two artworks on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art so is probably familiar to Davis.Australian works were also included with some by overseas artists who lived here for a while
Particularly terrifying to me considering I live on the edge of the bush was
Eugene Von Guerard Bush fire between Mt Elephant and Timboon 1857