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Hallowed Heide recognised for centenary
Heide I, the original home of John and Sunday Reed, holds a unique place in Australian national culture.
It has become one of the most hallowed grounds of Australian modern art, and will serve as a focal point for celebrating Australian achievement.
Some of Australia's most revered works of art were painted there; Sidney Nolan drew on the surrounding landscape and environment for his iconic Ned Kelly series.
It was where artists associated with the famous Angry Penguins movement gathered.
The candid moments of the Heide circle were captured in personal photographs during the war years by artist Albert Tucker, whose snaps of the period were 'discovered' in 1980 by art historian Richard Haese. These were the subject of the Heide exhibition, The Eye of the Beholder: Albert Tucker's Photographs, which toured to nine venues with Visions of Australia support in 1999-2000.
Now Heide is to get a facelift. Under the Federation Fund, the Commonwealth Government is contributing $1 million to the restoration of Heide I heritage house and gardens, and a further $1.5 million towards the expansion of existing galleries at Heide.
The project is one of a unique group of 60 projects created out of the $70 million Federation Cultural and Heritage Projects program.
Work has recently begun to restore Heide I, bringing it to full international museum standards, whilst retaining its cultural integrity. The project will also involve integrating the Heide property into the existing museum complex established in 1981. Known today as Heide Museum of Modern Art, many of its facilities will be improved to allow more effective exhibition of its history and cultural collections.
Museum Director, Warwick Reeder, told Artbeat of plans to present the Reed's original home as a house museum. The intention is to tell the story of Heide through the occupants who lived there.
'From time-to-time, we would like to show contemporary art by emerging artists as special projects or installations which are informed by the house and its history,' Reeder said.
'Original works of art and archival material from the collection, and loans from public and private lenders will be able to be seen in the home in which the Heide circle met in the halcyon days of the 1930s and 1940s-through to the period of op, pop and colour field painting which the Reeds embraced in the final years of their long and rewarding lives.'
According to Reeder, each period of occupation has been examined to uncover the original colour schemes, wallpapers and floor finishes.
'The Reeds lived simply and indeed many paintings were not even hung on the walls during their occupation, they were simply leaned in the hallway and some made their way onto the walls periodically,' he said.
'In the 1940s, Sidney Nolan used the dining room as a studio for his Kelly series, and in 1969 Mike Brown made a mural called It ain't necessarily so, painting and collaging over every surface, doors and windows included. It didn't last long and was painted over.'
A section of this 'lost mural' will be revealed as part of the restoration.
Contact:
Warwick Reeder, Director
phone: (03) 9850 1500, fax: (03) 9852 0154
email: moma@heide.com.au