|
Melbourne
Art Galleries
National Gallery of Victoria, Ian Potter Centre,
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
By
Richard Moore
National
Gallery of Victoria
 Melburnians
are a very lucky lot when it comes to the arts. Within five minutes
walk from the city centre they have three magnificent art galleries
to visit - and all are free entry.
The
major house of art is the National Gallery of Victoria, which was
the city's original premium gallery and opened in 1968.
It
is a short walk or tram ride down St Kilda Rd and is a large block
building that from the outside hides well the treasures within.
The
only clue that you are about to enter an extraordinary place is
the glass-wall water curtain at the entrance.
 Kids,
and adults, can't resist running their hands along it.
Inside
are gallery after gallery of truly stunning works that will delight
the eye and the mind.
There
are tens of thousands of pieces at the NGV - a whole world of international
art, as the gallery says.
There
is European, Asian, Oceanic and American art brought together into
one of the most impressive collections housed in the Southern Hemisphere.
 And
since the NGV's collection has been divided between it and the Ian
Potter Centre, which has the Australian and Indigenous art collections
- then there is room to display most of the gallery's pieces.
One
that had been hidden, sorry stored, for years was the marvellous
Napoleonic image The 28th Regiment at Quatre Bras by Elizabeth Thompson
(Lady Butler).
I'd
only seen it once on the walls of the gallery over the years but
on our recent visit bowled up to the information desk, they ran
a check and said it is here.
So
off I went and tracked it down. It made my visit to the NGV.
 The
coloured-glass ceiling of the gallery's Great Hall also needs to
be seen.
It
is one of those wonderful examples of creativity that beg you to
sit, or lie, down and just look at it in a relaxed manner.
Just
magnificent.
The
NGV is family friendly and this has never been more obvious than
the new artwork just inside the entrance.
It
is blue and the size and depth of a public paddling pool and filled
with white bowls that float around sometimes clanging into each
other.
The
sound is delightful and the visual appeal makes this for a perfect
spot to just sit and contemplate.
 180
St Kilda Road
Open 10am–5pm
Closed Tuesdays
Open all public holidays except: Christmas Day & Good Friday
Open from 1pm ANZAC Day.
The
Ian Potter Centre
 Federation
Square isn't only Melbourne's funky new meeting place, but it is
home to both the Ian Potter Centre and the Australian Centre for
the Moving Image.
The
IPC concentrates of Australian art - both from colonial master painters
and modern classics to indigenous artworks from Aboriginal artists.
It
certainly has a wow factor, both in the building design and the
collection on show.
I
particularly loved the Australian masters works - Tom Roberts, Frederick
McCubbin - and those done by the Heidelberg School.
 They
were the art history subjects I grew up on and while I really enjoyed
the modern pieces on show, it was these works that had me thinking
I was in a major art gallery.
Federation
Square
Cnr Russell & Flinders Streets
Open 10am–5pm
Closed Mondays
Open all public holidays except: Christmas Day & Good Friday
Open from 1pm ANZAC Day.
Australian
Centre for the Moving Image
If
movies are your thing then take the time to stop in to the Australian
Centre for the Moving Image.
The
centre takes you into the world of Australian movies and television
with screenings, exhibitions and workshops.
You
can catch movie classics, enjoy state-of-the-art cinemas or take
part in a huge variety and number of events that the ACMI hosts.
|
