VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY
FORMED 1929
Wednesday 12th February 1930 Page 15 - Sydney Mail (NSW)
Thursday 27th March 1930 Page 6 - Western Mail (Perth, Western Australia)
PHOTOGRAPHIC HONOR
The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain has conferred a Fellowship on Mr. Spencer Shier, the well-known Melbourne photographer, for an exhibition of photographs held some time ago. This distinction is looked upon as the most treasured possession of the photographers throughout the world and it is pleasing to note that the camera brotherhood in Australia is capable of being included in the charmed circle.
Mr. Spencer Shier was appointed an associate of the Royal Photographic Society last year. He is also president of the Professional Photographers Association of Australia and chairman of the Victorian Salon of Photography. Readers of the "Mail" have his work in front of them occasionally.
MR. SPENCER SHIER
1929 - ASSOCIATE ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
1930 - FELLOWSHIP ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
Saturday 19th April 1930 Page 17 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
ART By HAROLD HERBERT
In spite of the depression that seems to have enveloped Australia, art exhibitions continue with unabated rigor and regularity. In Sydney, Mr. Arthur Streeton is showing at the Macquarie Galleries and his exhibition will be followed by a "modern group". At the Sedon Galleries, Melbourne, exhibitions will be held by Messrs. Will Ashton, Sydney Long and Charles Bryant. Particularly interesting among forthcoming shows will be the collection of French paintings to be exhibited at the Fine Art Society's Galleries. Other exhibitions to be held there include an exhibition by the Victorian Salon of Photography in July and a "one-man" show by Miss Gladys Owen, who has just arrived in Australia after several years spent abroad. Brisbane will be honored by an exhibition to be held by the Society of Artists, Sydney, later in the year, so art lovers throughout these capital cities will be well catered for during the ensuing few months.
This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8, (MUP), 1981
SIR ROBERT GIBSON
DOB 4th November 1863
DOD 1st January 1934
Sir Robert Gibson, businessman and financier, was born on 4th November 1863 at Sunnyside near Falkirk, Scotland, third son of John Edward Gibson, metal manufacturer and his wife Harriette, née Hicks. Robert's father had worked his way from employee to managing partner in the Camelon Iron Co. at Falkirk. An elder of the Presbyterian Church, he was described as retiring, reliable and steadfast. Robert's mother, who came from an impoverished English gentry family and had been obliged to teach in a Scottish ladies' seminary, was a woman of striking appearance and strength of purpose. She instilled in her children an intense sense of duty, the need for discipline and the obligation to help those in need.
Educated at Falkirk High School, Robert left school at 15 to join his father's firm. In 1883 he was apprenticed to Robert Gardner & Co., lithographic draughtsmen of Glasgow, to develop his outstanding gift for drawing and design. He also studied at the Haldane Academy (subsequently the Glasgow School of Art). Robert rejoined the Camelon Iron Co. in 1887 as designer and soon after was appointed manager of the company's London office.
With only a few pounds in his pocket, Gibson sailed for Melbourne on 22nd March 1890, the day of his marriage at Trinity Congregational Church, Croydon, Surrey, to Winifred Margaret Moore. His prospects at the Camelon Iron Co. were clouded because his father neither possessed a controlling interest nor chose to exercise his influence. Robert's brother Henry sailed ahead of him and another brother John (1861-1929), an industrial chemist who had migrated to New Zealand in 1888, moved to Melbourne in 1890 to manage David Mitchell's cement works. He became Mitchell's right-hand man and with (Sir) John Monash they formed the Reinforced Concrete and Monier Pipe Construction Co. Pty Ltd, which before World War I monopolized building in reinforced concrete in Victoria and dominated concrete pipe construction; John Gibson remained managing director through the 1920s. Robert's mother and several sisters visited him in Melbourne and he assisted his family in Scotland when able to do so. Mostly, however, kin were kept at a distance and he never returned to Scotland.
In Melbourne Gibson worked as a draftsman and designer and steadily accumulated savings despite highly unfavorable economic conditions. In 1897 he started his own business in North Melbourne: the Austral Manufacturing Co. which specialized in metal bedsteads mainly for hospital use and met with only moderate success. A second venture, the Lux Foundry Pty. Ltd, incorporated in 1906, helped to lift Gibson to a senior position in the Victorian Chamber of Manufactures and from there to national prominence. The Lux Foundry manufactured fuel stoves, metal grates, baths and other products of the light casting industry. By World War I he had established himself as a man of means.
Gibson was a man of high sensitivity and broad accomplishment with a personal style far removed from the ordinary self-made, power-seeking industrialist. A craftsman in all he attempted, he was also a perfectionist with an intense desire to impose stringent control on his physical surroundings and the emotional content of his life. His slight figure and full forehead, sculptured beard and mustache, prominent eyebrows and deep sunken eyes combined to give him a distinguished though slightly distant appearance. Fine hands with tapered fingers were used eloquently, yet he spoke slowly and deliberately, almost reluctantly. His advice was sought on many matters because of his sound judgment, clarity and simplicity of expression and the objective manner of his pronouncements. His own supreme self-control reassured and instilled confidence in other people.
Gibson lived at a pace and level of intensity exceeded by few others. As a child he attracted attention because of his inventiveness in building toys from improbable materials. In manufacturing business he designed his own products. As a husband and father he refurbished the interior of a large house on the banks of the Yarra in Toorak, built and largely maintained an extensive garden, designed Christmas cards, fixed the plumbing, turned his own shirt-cuffs, attended to his ironing when needed, acted as counsel for his five daughters and two sons, but rarely gave himself time for a full family life. Other interests reflected his preoccupation with the material world. As a motorist he most enjoyed taking the machine apart and putting it together to discover the secrets of its design. As a photographer he developed his own still-life prints which revealed his depth of perception and sensitivity to form; with his close friend and medical adviser, Julian Smith, he helped create the VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY in 1929.
The restless energy, great need for independence and highly developed sense of duty were limited by Gibson's frail constitution. From childhood he suffered many long periods of illness and several times in his fifties and sixties he was believed to be close to death. Uninterested in food he much preferred coffee. He smoked incessantly, one of the few indulgences he allowed himself. He slept poorly and was not easy to sedate; often he worked far into the night devising new schemes and planning for improvements in administrative efficiency. His undemonstrative style and tight control were disturbed only occasionally, but at such times his temper could be explosive. Much of his energy was directed towards the anticipation of threat, particularly illness and towards building for a more secure future. Thus, his economic philosophy placed a high valuation on thrift, saving, giving to those in genuine need and steady improvement in material conditions; he disliked speculation, waste, indulgence for its own sake and the overt exercise of power.
Before World War I Gibson persuaded the Victorian Chamber of Manufactures to establish its own insurance company of which he was chairman in 1914-28. Membership of the chamber's council from 1911 gave him the opportunity to expand his interests. He was nominated by the chamber to be the Victorian representative on the Central Coal Board in 1916 because of his knowledge of coal-using industries. He was a member of the short-lived Luxuries Board in 1917 and deputy chairman of the original Repatriation Commission, 1917-20. He attracted considerable attention and earned a reputation as a martinet in some circles for his forthright criticism of waste and inefficiency in the public service, particularly the Postmaster-General's Department, as chairman of the royal commission on public expenditure (the 'Economy Commission') in 1918-21. He was the Commonwealth government's representative on the board of Commonwealth Oil Refineries from 1920 and joined the Victorian State Electricity Commission in 1919; he worked harmoniously with Monash and remained a commissioner until his death. His involvement with private industry was less extensive, but he served on the board of the National Mutual Life Association, the Union Trustee Co. and Robert Harper & Co. and as president of the Victorian Chamber of Manufactures, 1922-25 and of the Associated Chambers of Manufactures, 1924-27. For a time he was a member of the Council of the University of Melbourne. He was appointed C.B.E. 1918, K.B.E. 1920 and G.B.E. 1932.
In 1924 Gibson was gazetted an original member of the Commonwealth Bank Board following the decision to substitute a seven-man board for one-man control by the governor. He was elected chairman in 1926 following the retirement through ill-health of (Sir) John J. Garvan. Gibson brought to the position the craftsman's dedication to perfection and precision and a firm conviction that his prime legal and moral responsibility was to serve as senior trustee of the nation's currency. Money was interpreted as currency and bullion in its tangible form and excluded those balances which were the result of credit creation. 'Real' money was seen as the outcome of thriftiness and the steady accumulation of savings. Gibson believed, with many of his contemporaries, in the strict separation of monetary management and government policy. His view was that governments could not be trusted with other people's money.
Although the chairmanship of the Commonwealth Bank was a part-time and non-executive position, Gibson assumed tactical responsibility for the bank's policy during the early 1930s. Already he had withdrawn from business and reduced his other commitments to concentrate on the bank. Initially he was concerned to maintain the gold standard in Australia and spoke as if the standard would be still operating well after gold payments were abandoned in January 1930. Next he sought to retain exchange parity between the pound sterling and the pound Australian, but this was being undermined by Australia's poor credit standing in London which was linked with past profligacy of governments. The only way to stabilize the value of the currency was to ensure that governments balanced their budgets. Accordingly Gibson was responsible for the invitation to a representative of the Bank of England, Sir Otto Niemeyer, to visit Australia to help devise a plan for rapid budget-balancing. When this failed and 30 per cent devaluation was forced on the country, he refused a moderate request in April 1931 for further credit expansion to permit unemployment relief expenditure and wheat industry assistance. Before the bar of the Senate the following month he gave contradictory evidence about the desirability of selling off the remaining gold reserve. His immediate objective was to force governments to balance budgets within an agreed period; his wider purpose was to maintain external financial solvency and the sanctity of contracts.
Gibson was alternatively idealized and vilified for his tough stand. Conservative and liberal groups saw him as a figure of reason and responsibility in a world that seemed to be falling apart. He was remembered vividly for his radio broadcast on 3 May 1932 in which he used his soft Scots burr to evoke a sense of strength and security in a successful attempt to reassure depositors about the safety of the Commonwealth Bank. Indeed, he liked to see himself as guardian and defender: his favorite cartoon depicted him as the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike preventing inundation by the raging sea. The Labor Party and radicals saw him as a ruthless representative of the capitalist class interest. Both views have some merit but they miss the essence of the man. Gibson was a gifted craftsman whose personal need for order, stability and control led to over-rigid reliance on a set of simple axioms which were inadequate to negotiate the turmoil of the Depression. The judgment applies to nearly all his contemporaries in similar positions of authority.
Gibson disliked publicity and the strain of the early 1930s took a heavy toll of his frail body. He had several long bouts of illness during 1932 and 1933 and, survived by his wife and children, died on 1st January 1934 at South Yarra. On 3rd January, the day of his state funeral and burial at Box Hill, the Commonwealth Bank closed during the afternoon as a mark of respect. A bronze bust to stand in Parliament House, Canberra, was commissioned by the Victorian Chamber of Manufactures, a small University of Melbourne scholarship was endowed and a biography was to be written by (Sir) Ernest Scott. The biography lapsed probably because few personal papers were available: the tasks that Gibson imposed on himself gave him little time for expressive rather than functional communication. His estate in Victoria was valued for probate at £85,811.
Saturday 3rd May 1930 Page 47 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
PHOTOGRAPHY
By A.G.B
The Victorian Salon of Photography is holding an exhibition of photographs in the Fine Art Society Gallery from July 15 to July 29 and as exhibits from all parts of Australia will be shown, all persons interested in photography will find it of interest.
Saturday 7th June 1930 Page 15 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
ART AND THE CAMERA
EXHIBITION OF PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
What is a photograph? Definitions are clear cut, or hazy with conventions. But those who deny pictorial photography even a niche in the Temple of Art will have opportunity to revise their judgment in July, when the Victorian Salon of Photography holds its exhibition.
Entries have been received from every State and from New Zealand. Even Central Australia is represented. The judges - Sir Robert Gibson, Mr George Bell and Mr. O.H. Coulson - have more than 500 prints to examine and the selection, to be hung at the Fine Arts Gallery, will number about 150.
The main objects are to foster the Art of photography and show what has been achieved by leading workers; to help the amateur and illustrate the ideals of pictorial photography. Prints, to be chosen, must have an artistic appeal and the subjects include landscape, seascape, still life studies, wild nature pictures and architectural photographs.
Many artists, while appreciative, insist that the camera imposes great limitations and will not grant to its most skillful users the title "artist". But the camera does not do everything. Pictorial photographers have an excellent case. In their hands, photography is "a medium of response to stimuli, just as is painting. I quote a leading worker, "It fosters the same ambitions and the only difference between the two is that photography avoids efforts at draftsmanship. But design, content and tone are equally at the command of both".
Essentials, both in painting and photography, are composition and arrangement of light and shade. Many are the dodges and devices that go to the making of a fine pictorial photographic print. Are not many employed also in the graphic arts? Workers with the camera claim the right to self-expression and to depart, as the painter does, from literalism. They claim, in brief, complete "freedom of action". The camera is their artist's brush.
It has been estimated that of the million persons who use cameras in the United States, only 600 are proved picture makers. The vast majority consists of happy-go-lucky amateurs, who enjoy snapshotting or making "records" without serious attempt at pictorial excellence. They are content with "straight" photography.
Now, there are hundreds of nature photographers who know beauty when they see it and capture it fairly often. But few of the band are willing to "improve" on nature. They do not trouble themselves over pictorial photography; decline to print, in backgrounds, or use other devices.
The pictorialists bring these nature lovers, who hunt with the camera into their fold or at least have them care more for composition and artistic treatment of prints.
Certainly this opens a new avenue of pleasant delights to the nature photographer, who desires more than records of bird and wildflower in the bush. It is being followed by some already. Others remain loyal to the pioneer ideal, a golden rule, made, perchance to defeat the "faker", who preferred "still" subjects to living creatures.
Soft-focus lenses are favored for pictorial photography. They give a soft rendering with sharpness, diffusion, though the subject is not out of focus. Then there is art work on the prints. Wonders are done with bromoil.
Tuesday 10th June 1930 Page 6 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Next month the Victorian Salon of Photography will be held in the Fine Art Society Gallery, at 100 Exhibition Street.
The increasing interest and appreciation of Photography as an art by the general public is due largely to the International Salons. The aim of the Victorian Salon of Photography, 1930, is to exhibit only that class of work in pictorial photography in which there is distinct evidence of personal artistic feeling and execution.
Over 500 prints have been received from all parts of Australasia and the standard is set so high that only 150 of these have been selected for hanging. The idea is to teach amateur photographers that the mere snapshot is not all that a photo should mean.
There are no prizes, but the emblem of the Salon will be given as an award of merit. Mr C. Stuart Tomkins is Hon.Secretary.
EMBLEM OF THE
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Tuesday 17th June 1930 Page 4 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
THE ART OF THE CAMERA
TRANQUILLITY
by Mr. ALBERT SUTCLIFFE
one of the 150 pictures selected by the judges of the
Australasian Photographic competition to be hung
at the Fine Arts Gallery exhibition from July 15 to July 29.
The exhibition is being conducted by the
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Saturday 28th June 1930 Page 15 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
ART By HAROLD HERBERT
The Victorian Salon of Photography will hold its annual exhibition at the Fine Art Society's Galleries, Exhibition street, in July. Last year an excellent exhibition was held in the Queen's Hall, Collins street. The work this year will be shown to much better advantage and the exhibition should prove very attractive. The high artistic standard which photography has attained of recent years should claim, for the forthcoming show, a considerable amount of public interest.
Saturday 12th July 1930 Page 8 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
ART IN PHOTOGRAPHY
The Victorian Salon of Photography will open its exhibition of camera pictures in the Fine Arts Gallery, 100 Exhibition Street, on Tuesday next. There are those critics who cannot accept photographs as Art and these superior persons should attend this exhibition for their judgment's sake. The Trustees of the National Gallery in Adelaide, at any rate, have a section devoted to photography and one of its star items — MacAskill's "Of Life and Leaf Bereft" — will be on exhibition by the Victorian Salon of Photography. Six photographic pictures by G. Alston of scenes in Central Australia are of special interest. Because of the chemicals in the water up at Maree, these photographs had to be brought to Melbourne to be printed.
Monday 14th July 1930 Page 8 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
On behalf of members of the Victorian Salon of Photography, Sir Robert Gibson will open the first Victorian Salon of Photography in the Fine Art Society's Gallery, Exhibition Street, tomorrow, at 3pm.
Monday 14th July 1930 Page 8 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
CAMERA PICTURES PLEASE
ARTISTIC CREATIONS
(By BLAMIRE YOUNG, THE HERALD ART CRITIC)
The gallery of the Fine Arts Society, Exhibition Street, is hung with photographs, the work of the members of the Victorian Salon of Photography and very well they look. It is more fitting, perhaps, to call them camera pictures, rather than photographs, for they contain all kinds of variants from the accepted idea of what photographs should be.
They approach to various artistic creations. You may find etchings or pastels, watercolors or engravings which have been reached by the skillful handling of the man behind the camera.
The change from the Queen's Hall to the Fine Arts Society's rooms has made a great difference in the general quality of the exhibition. Here they can be seen and fully appreciated and in some obscure way the hanging has helped to make them look more like pictures.
PORTRAIT OF SHIRLOW
The place of honor has been given to Dr. Julian Smith with his excellent portrait of John Shirlow, the Etcher. In this picture there is less of Raeburn and more of Rembrandt.
JOHN SHIRLOW, THE ETCHER
Dr. Julian Smith
Another good portrait is Mr. Cazneaux's Norman Lindsay - a fine character study that catches the elusive, boy-like charm of the famous artist.
In landscape there is a lot of wonderful work. Mr. Cazneaux is successful, too in this and there is evidence in, "The Valley", of the untiring patience he employs, first in finding the subject, then in lighting it.
MARVEL OF BALANCE
Another exhibitor who insists on the perfect rhythm of his forms and their placing is Mr Walter Orthman, of Queensland. His single exhibit, No. 102, is a marvel of balance and of textural interest.
Harold Jones, of Sydney, has managed to get into his "River Flats" much of the tone and quality of a Bonington water-color.
There is a very good illustration of Bulldog Drummond in the end room noticeable for its shadows and the clever use made of them in the composition.
For sheer fantasy the palm must be given to Mr. Gerald Jones, of New Zealand. His "Gnomes", is a delightful piece of nonsense.
FOREIGN TRAVEL
Photographs of foreign travel are few but good. Miss Peg Clarke scores with a bit of the Alpes Maritimes, wherein the design and the lighting are equally well managed. Mr Alfred Brown's "Sugar Cane Stall" is another perfect piece of arrangement. Henri Mallard of Sydney, is a master of selection. His "Laborers", is as good as anything in the show.
Everybody will compliment Mr. Walter Porter on the success of his street-piece, No. 110. This is just a bit of Brunswick Street — a thoroughfare that does not enjoy a reputation for picturesqueness — but Mr. Porter has done wonders with it. Mystery and a haunting sense of calamity possess it.
In this picture the personality of the operator has vanquished the machine and the result is remarkable.
Tuesday 15th July 1930 Page 13 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
INTERIOR DECORATION
PORTRAITS THAT ARE PICTURES
The Victorian Salon of Photography, which opens today at the Fine Arts Gallery, 100 Exhibition Street, gives another indication of the world-wide interest in photographs that are really pictures, conceived to give the same pleasure as etchings, oils or watercolors.
All over the world these annual exhibitions are being held and the people attending must run into millions. A number of the photographs hung in the Victorian Salon this year are so interesting that they could be hung in the best of homes and fit into the scheme of interior decoration as perfectly as pictures in any of the media mentioned above. A visit to the Salon, which will be open until July 26th, will well repay any picture lover as well as anyone interested in photography, as one of the most fascinating of hobbies.
Included in the exhibition are splendid examples of portraiture and landscape, architectural and still life studies.
Wednesday 16th July 1930 Page 6 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
NOT MECHANICAL
Three knights were present at the official opening yesterday afternoon of the exhibition of the Victorian Salon of Photography.
They were Sir Robert Gibson, the Commonwealth Bank chairman, who opened the show; Sir Frank Clarke, President of the Legislative Council and Sir John Longstaff.
Sir Robert, who is an enthusiastic amateur photographer, told the gathering that real photography was not the mechanical business that many people imagined. It was not merely a matter of snapping the button and trusting to luck. The photographer, like the artist, had to study his subject. Sir Robert paid a tribute to Mr C. Stuart Tompkins, the Hon.Secretary of the Salon, who, he said, had put in months of hard work to ensure the success of the exhibition.
Wednesday 16th July 1930 Page 12 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
PHOTOGRAPHIC ART
SIR ROBERT GIBSON OPENS EXHIBITION
In opening the exhibition of photographs by members of the Victorian Salon of Photography at the Fine Arts Galleries, Exhibition-street, yesterday. Sir Robert Gibson said that photography had now reached a point at which it could be regarded as a fine art. Many people held that photography was a mere mechanical process, but he thought with others who had studied it that it was possible to portray, through the medium of the lens, the beauties of nature in much the same way as that employed by artists of the brush. Those who had studied form and composition could convey a wealth of meaning and expression by their photographic arrangements of light and shade. Nobody could produce any pictorial art by medium of the camera merely by pressing a button. It was necessary to study the atmosphere and the balance of the picture, just as much as it was necessary for the artist to do so. The study of artistic photography was another means of reaching out to a higher plane of ideals. It was a consolation to those who were unable to express themselves in any other way.
A number of artists, including Sir John Longstaff, were present. There are over 160 exhibits, many of which give evidence of poetic sensibility as well as photographic technique. The exhibition will be open until the 26th July.
SIR ROBERT GIBSON
Saturday 19th July 1930 Page 8 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
SHADOW PORTRAITS
I looked in vain round the exhibits of the Victorian Salon of Photography the other day for an example of the new shadow portraiture. The pioneer of these self shadow portraits is the chairman of the Country Roads Board (Mr W.T.B. McCormack).
Practically every photograph which Mr. McCormack takes bears this novel trade mark, or shadowgraph.
Shadow portraiture is quite simple. All you have to do is to choose a bright day and a suitable screen, such as a bitumen road or tennis court and stand with your back to the sun.
Then you train the lens so that you can snap your own shadow.
Saturday 26th July 1930 Page 15 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
ART By HAROLD HERBERT
AN EXHIBITION OF CAMERA PICTURES
Last year the Victorian Salon of Photography held an exhibition in the Queen's Hall, Melbourne. This year the exhibition is being held at the Galleries of the Fine Art Society, 100 Exhibition street, the better light and surroundings making the show infinitely more attractive. The uniformity of mounts and frames also helps considerably. This exhibition will be found full of interest. It demonstrates to what degree artistic photography can be carried and proves that photography is indeed an art. Chemistry and mechanical contrivances may be the basis of the photographer's art, but there is much more than these required in the making of a picture. All the principles of art are involved, requiring a thorough knowledge of tone values, light and shade and composition in particular. The most successful of the prints on view possess these qualities to a marked degree.
Occasionally one finds a print which has lost its identity as a photograph, the effort to make it look like an engraving having been too much. This seems a pity. The frank acceptance of the camera's limitations is more desirable and the results usually more satisfactory.
It is difficult to select the best pictures, so many of them are good. This is quite understandable when one realizes that this collection of 162 prints was made from 500 submitted. The selection has been rigid and each photograph on view is worthy of its inclusion. Dr. Julian Smith and Mr. Monte Luke show excellent groups of figure studies. Both are distinguished for their individuality. Their sitters are beautifully posed and lighting and tone are splendidly studied. Mr. Cazneaux, of Sydney, has an important panel of landscape and portrait studies; so has Mr. Spencer Shier. In landscape there are some delightful exhibits, notably those by Messrs. J.B. Eaton, W. Howieson, Arthur Smith, William Wainwright and Henri Mallard. There are so many good landscapes that it is impossible to enumerate them.
"The City of Sound", by Arthur Dickinson, is extremely clever and effective; so is "A Scene from Bulldog Drummond", by J.G. Simmons. Pegg Clarke's "Lady of Carcassonne" is good and Mr. C. Stuart Tompkins shows some clever photographs of illuminations. Many other pictures of great interest are included in this exhibition which will well repay a visit. One regrets that there is no permanent collection to which the gems from this and future exhibitions could be added. The best of these camera pictures are quite worthy of a place in a gallery or art museum. Other countries have made a beginning in this direction. Perhaps, at a later date, such a beginning might be made in Victoria. The exhibition, officially opened by Sir Robert Gibson on July 15, will close on July 26.
Saturday 6th August 1930 Page 31 - The Bulletin
POVERTY POINT
This year the Victorian Salon of Photography exhibited in the Fine Arts Gallery and this unpardonable presumption promptly started a controversy as to whether photography is art. The National Gallery doesn’t think so, apparently, since it has rejected a proposal to give a room to art photographs. Present critic will keep an open mind on the subject. Certainly those of the exhibitors who try to be most “artistic” achieve the least real art. All they produce are camera studies masquerading as etchings, lithographs or pseudo Old Masters. Their aim is that of the commercial gentlemen who stamp leather to look like snake skin, or wallpaper to look like marble. Those who use the camera with the least subterfuge, like G.R. Frankland, Charles N. Tomlinson and W. Howieson get nearest to being true artists, as does the despised press photographer.
Saturday 4th April 1931 Page 15 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
The Victorian Salon of Photography will hold its annual exhibition towards the end of August or early in September. This year many exhibits from overseas will be submitted which should add greatly to the general interest of the show.
Wednesday 3rd June 1931 Page 14 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY
July 20 will be the last day for receiving prints for exhibition at the Victorian International Salon of Photography. The aim of the Salon is to exhibit only that class of work in pictorial photography in which there is distinct evidence of personal artistic feeling and execution. Printed conditions of entry can be obtained from the Hon.Secretary, Mr. C. Stuart Tompkins.
Wednesday 24th June 1931 Page 6 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
PICTURES FROM MANY LANDS
International in scope will be the forthcoming Victorian Salon of Photography. The support received last year, when the exhibition was restricted to Australian workers, so encouraged the committee that it was decided to set to work at once to attract exhibits from abroad. Mr. C. Stuart Tompkins, the Hon.Secretary, tells me that every mail brings parcels containing exhibits of the highest standard from pictorial workers overseas. Entries have come from England, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, India, the United States, Italy and other countries and among them are some remarkable photographs. As entries will not close until July 20th, a successful and interesting show is indicated. The Salon will be held at the Athenaeum from September 1st to September 12th.
The pictures will be judged this year by Dr. JULIAN SMITH FRPS, Mr HAROLD HERBERT, the well known water colorist and Mr JAMES PATON, of Sydney.
left to right - Dr. JULIAN SMITH, C. STUART TOMPKINS
Thursday 25th June 1931 Page 6 - Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate (NSW)
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION
A month remains for the receipt of entries for the Victorian International Salon of Photography. The work received from overseas is of good quaIity and every mail brings fresh entries. The exhibition, which will be the first of its kind held in Melbourne, will be on view to the public from September 1st to September 12th. Entry forms may be obtained from Mr. C. Stuart Tompkins, The Junction, Camberwell.
Thursday 13th August 1931 Page 10 - Table Talk (Melbourne, Victoria)
SAIL AND STEAM
TWO DELIGHTFUL PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIES
Two examples of the art of the camera, which have been selected for exhibition in the forthcoming Victorian Salon of Photography.
Beautiful seascape entitled
FALMOUTH FOR ORDERS
by ARTHUR FORD
of SYDNEY.
Another nautical study of a different type.
A DUTCH RIVER SCENE
by C. SCHAEPMAN
of the NETHERLANDS
it is a particularly fine pictorial study,
giving quite a suggestion of an oil painting.
Thursday 20th August 1931 Page 4 - Table Talk (Melbourne, Victoria)
REMINISCENCES
this attractive photograph has been entered by
Mr C. STUART TOMPKINS
Victorian Salon of Photography
The exhibition is being held from August 31st to September 12th at the Athenaeum.
Saturday 22nd August 1931 Page 5 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
DAWN
A noteworthy exhibit at the
Victorian International Salon of Photography
to be opened in the Athenaeum Hall from September 1st to September 12th,
is this portrait study by
Mr. A.W. DICKINSON
of Hawthorn.
Saturday 22nd August 1931 Page 5 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
OPENING OF PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION
The exhibition of the
Victorian International Salon of Photography
was opened yesterday by Mr. Lee Neil at the Athenaeum,
where it will remain open until September 12.
Left to right: Dr. JULIAN SMITH, the noted amateur photographer
and one of the judges of the Salon; Mr. LEE NEIL and Mr. SPENCER SHIER, president.
Saturday 29th August 1931 Page 5 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
LA RIXE (The Brawl)
A magnificent example of the artistry of
Dr. JULIAN SMITH
who is exhibiting a panel comprising this and other work at the
Victorian Salon of Photography
international exhibition, to be held in the Athenäum from Tuesday to September 12.
Saturday 29th August 1931 Page 10 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
WOMANS REALM
The members of the Victorian Salon of Photography, have issued invitations to the official opening of their exhibition of international photographs, by Mr. E. Lee Neil, at the Athenaeum, Collins street, Melbourne, on Tuesday, September 1, at 3pm. The exhibition will remain open until September 12.
Monday 31st August 1931 Page 10 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
COMING EVENTS - SEPTEMBER CALENDAR
An exhibition of international photographs arranged by the Victorian Salon of Photography will be opened by Mr E. Lee Neil, C.B.E., tomorrow at 3pm in the Athenaeum Gallery.
Tuesday 1st September 1931 Page 5 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS
AN INTERESTING EXHIBITION
The exhibition of international camera pictures, which will be opened to-day under the auspices of the Victorian Salon of Photography at the Athenaeum gallery, by Mr. K. Lee Neil, is full of interest, not only for the camera expert or amateur, but for anyone whose perceptive instincts are keen enough to be moved by graphic records of subject, form and incident.
The term "international" has not been used in a general or limited sense, but covers, in addition to contributions from five Australian States, England, America, Canada and India, besides many fine pictures from Europe, Czechoslovakia and elsewhere.
In his desire to raise the standard of his work to a higher artistic level, the photographer is a little prone to leave his legitimate sphere of operations and give us imitations of etchings, paintings, or wash drawings, which, however clever or ingenious, cannot, by reason of their imitativeness, be classed as perfect examples of his art; yet in many instances he does get results with his camera which are worthy of all praise. A notable feature of the work here is the judgment shown in the matters of subject and balance of composition and in the latter particular it must be taken into account that the outdoor operator has not the power to adjust or arrange his material. Among the many good things by Australian contributors, special mention might be made of the invitation exhibits by Dr. Julian Smith, notably his The Painter and The Tryst, Pavlova and Her Ballet, by Spencer Shier; Monna Pomona, by Miss Peggy Clarke and The Renegade, by John Scott Simmons. Among the English prints one might pick out A Greek Temple, by Alex. Keighley, for its picturesque and pictorial qualities and from those supplied by the United States, the expressive head study, Helba Huara, by Dr. Max Thorek.
Some very fine work, judged either from the technical or artistic point of view, is also shown by Lemmens, Belgium; Frank Dritikol, Czechoslovakia and C.F.F. Schaepman, Netherlands.
Perhaps the most impressive exhibit in the show, however, is the glass case (No. 177), which contains a collection of photo-gravure reproductions of portraits by photography ninety years ago, by D. O. Hill, Royal Scottish Academician. Some of these look like reproductions of paintings by Raeburn and one suggests the earlier work of Sir J.E. Millais.
The exhibition will remain open till 12th September.
Tuesday 1st September 1931 Page 5 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
THE BISCUIT
An exhibit from the DOUGLAS STUDIOS LONDON to be shown
with other notable examples of photographic art at the
Victorian International Salon of Photography
which will be opened by Mr. E. Lee Neil at the Athenaeum, Collins street this afternoon.
The exhibition will remain open until September 12.
Thursday 3rd September 1931 Page 5 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
TABLE TALK OF THE WEEK
Dr. JULIAN SMITH FRPS
whose untiring energy and sincere pictorial work
has won international recognition and the much coveted
FELLOWSHIP
of the
ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
The prints for this year's Victorian Salon of Photography were judged by
Dr. JULIAN SMITH, Mr HAROLD HERBERT and Mr JAMES E. PATON, of Sydney.
Friday 4th September 1931 Page 15 - The West Australian (Perth, Western Australia)
HONORS IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Advice has just been received that the judges of the Victorian International Salon of Photography have accepted pictures from the following West Australian exhibitors:
| PHOTOGRAPHER | IMAGE TITLE | CLUB |
| Miss V. Albert | JAVA | DILETTANTI CLUB |
| Mr. Craig Balmer | REEFS AND SURF | THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN CAMERA CLUB |
| Mr. A.J. Burgess | AFTER A SUMMER SQUALL | DILETTANTI CLUB |
| Mr. Eustace Cohen | CHURCH DOORWAY, BISHAM | DILETTANTI CLUB |
| Mr. F.W. Flood | THE VALLEY OF MYSTERY | DILETTANTI CLUB |
| Mr. F.W. Flood | PEDESTRIANS | DILETTANTI CLUB |
| Dr. H.S. Lucraft | THE ARCHWAY | DILETTANTI CLUB |
| Mr. L.E. Pearce | ANCIENT AND MODERN | DILETTANTI CLUB |
| Mr. A Knapp | PEACE | DILETTANTI CLUB |
| Mr. A Knapp | FOUR TREES | DILETTANTI CLUB |
| Mr. A Knapp | THE GREATFUL SHADE | DILETTANTI CLUB |
No less than seven out of the eight successful exhibitors are members of the Dilettanti Club and are between them responsible for ten out of the total of eleven exhibits.
Saturday 5th September 1931 Page 13 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY
On Tuesday, September 1, Mr. E. Lee Neil opened an exhibition of international photographs at the Athenaeum Art Gallery, 188 Collins street, Melbourne. This is the first occasion upon which the Victorian Salon of Photography has held an exhibition of an international character. Photographs were received from many parts of the world and from about 600 entries the present exhibits were chosen. Some of the work is exceedingly fine and of very high artistic merit. The realm of pure photography is of most interest — some prints having suffered and lost their identity through rather too much unskilled "handwork".
The limitations of a photograph should be rigidly set out. Its legitimate aims and possibilities should be thoroughly understood and strictly adhered to. In the right hands and with due appreciation of how far it may be carried, the Bromoil process can be beautifully expressive. There are some fine examples on view, mostly from overseas, but by no means over shadowing the work of one or two Australians. In selection of subject, in composition and in all the principles involved in making a picture our best photographers are equal to experts from other countries. Moreover, they are confronted with greater difficulties, particularly in landscape, on account of the comparative scarcity of subject matter. Technically, all the prints which are being shown appear to be of a high standard. Examples from America, by Japanese photographers, illustrate the innate sense of decoration and composition, which is inseparable from Japan. "Stunt" photography is not much in evidence, but the few on view are good. There are some exceedingly fine, examples of portraiture and figure work and some beautifully composed and well considered landscapes. This very interesting and educative exhibition will close on September 12.
Saturday 5th September 1931 Page 9 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
WOMAN'S REALM
SOCIAL NOTES
So much interest is being taken in the exhibition of international camera pictures organized by the Victorian Salon of Photography that it was difficult to see the pictures on the opening day because of the eager throng of visitors and record attendances seem assured until the exhibition closes on September 12. Mr. E. Lee Neil officially opened the exhibition, which is being held in the Athenaeum Gallery and seen in the gathering on the opening day were:
Rear-Admiral Sir William and Lady Creswell, Lady Robinson, Lady Stawell, Lady Allen, Senator R.D. Elliott, Mrs. Arthur Baillieu, Mrs. Robert McDonald and Miss Meg McDonald, Mrs. H.S.K. Ward, Dr. and Mrs. Julian Smith, Mrs. James Burston, Mrs. Charles Tait, Mr. Rene Vanderkelen, Mr. Clive Bates (Geelong), Mr. Theodore Fink, Squadron-Leader Howell, Mr. and Mrs. David Ferguson, Mrs. Arthur Hordern, Miss Rita Watson, the Misses Mary and Grace Turner, Mr. and Mrs. R.W.E. Wilmot, Mr. Thomas Brentnall, Miss Francis Fraser, Mr. Edgar Rouse, Mrs. George Cummings, Miss Myrtle Manson, Mrs. R.H. Croll, Mrs. D.L. Stirling, Miss L. Harvie, Miss Ruth Hollick, Miss Dora Wilson, Miss Pegg Clarke, Miss D. Izard, Dr. Walter Summons and the Messrs. O.H. Coulson, Spencer Shier, Arthur Dickinson, C. Stuart Tompkins, E.E. Pescott, C. Nuttall, W.H. Gill, Lister Longmore, J.B. Eaton, W. Howieson, Geraud and Slocombe.
REAR-ADMIRAL SIR WILLIAM CRESWELL
DOB 20th July 1852 Gibraltar
DOD 20th April 1933 (aged 80) Armadale, Victoria
LADY ADELAIDE ELIZABETH CRESWELL
DOB 31st May 1859 Adelaide, South Australia
DOD 14th February 1945 Toorak, Melbourne, Victoria
SENATOR ROBERT CHARLES DUNLOP ELLIOTT
DOB 28th October 1884 at Kyneton, central Victoria
DOD 6th March 1950 at Toorak, Victoria
Saturday 5th September 1931 Page 5 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
AUTUMN
One of the overseas exhibits at the
Victorian Salon of Photography
now open at the Athenaeum, Collins street, until September 12,
is this Canadian entry of
JOHAN HELDERS
It is marked by beauty of composition and delicacy of treatment.
Saturday 5th September 1931 Page 20 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
Saturday 5th September 1931 Page 11 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
EXHIBITION of INTERNATIONAL
CAMERA PICTURES
ATHENAEUM, Collins-street.
Open 10am to 5pm
(Saturday included).
Under the Auspices of the
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY
ADMISSION FREE.
Thursday 10th September 1931 Page 16 - Table Talk (Melbourne, Victoria)
CURRENT ART SHOWS
By PERCY LEASON
Harold Herbert at the Fine Art Society's Gallery; Exhibition by the Victorian Salon of Photography at the Athenaeum.
These two exhibitions have at least one thing in common - in both the aim behind almost every exhibit was the production of a nice, pleasing picture. In both the aim has been rewarded with success.
In the Athenaeum show there are a great many things that are decidedly banal and in Mr Herbert's there is a great deal of vitality, but in both the most timid art lover may wander with confidence, knowing that at every turn he will meet nothing to disturb him.
He will find Nature as most art critics and many art lovers like her - a Nature, censored; her bright, stark lights, dimmed, her light and shade controlled, albeit in a doubtful way, her edges softened or made harder, her occasional colorlessness and awkwardness repaired - her character made to fit a part.
In neither exhibition does one find the student ignoring convention's and sacrificing all for the achievement of truth, self-development and the progress of art. But in one important respect these two exhibitions have little in common. As is well known, Mr. Herbert has remarkable talent and a knowledge that could only be acquired by years of careful observing. One cannot tell what talent the photographers have, since all that is significant in their work is done by the camera. But they do reveal their knowledge and very often it seems negligible.
Many appear to have studied arrangement and seem to know as much about it as the average good window dresser. But few indeed are profound students in the appreciation of relative values of light and dark - the thing in which they must succeed if they are to justify their claim to be regarded as serious artists. Students there, they could help the camera by correction.
Much of Mr Herbert's work, especially his more simple studies, show improvement. Whether the camera is also improving it is difficult to judge by a visit to the photographers' exhibition. They play about with its results so much. They are so anxious to incorporate notions borrowed from the mediocrity of art.
A special collection of camera studies made 90 years ago, together with one or two exhibits on the walls, show how strong and interesting a photograph can be.
Friday 25th September 1931 Page 9 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Mr. C. Stuart Tompkins has been elected president of the Professional Photographers Association, Mr. Dickinson and Miss Young vice-presidents, Mr. Spencer Shier treasurer and Mr. H.F. Brown auditor. Messrs Symons, Murray, Sharpe, Muntz, H.W. Cooke, J. Cato and E. Adamson and Mrs Solomon were elected on the committee. After the election a demonstration of the oleobrom process was given by Mr. Murray, of the Burlington Studios. This proved to be particularly interesting.
Mr Tompkins was secretary of the exhibition arranged by the Victorian Salon of Photography.
Saturday 29th March 1933 Page 5 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
THE SCOUT
A photographic study by
Dr. JULIAN SMITH
It will be displayed at the exhibition which will be conducted by the
Victorian Salon of Photography
at the Athenaeum from April 21st to May 6th.
Saturday 1st April 1933 Page 5 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
RETICENCE
This photograph of a child's head is the work of
Mr. J. VINCENT LEWIS,
of Champaign, Illinois (U.S.A.).
With many other photographs it will be displayed by the
Victorian Salon of Photography
in its exhibition at the Athenaeum from April 21 to May 6 inclusive.
The pictures which will be displayed cover diverse subjects and are from all parts of the World.
Saturday 8th April 1933 Page 27 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIES
Many striking examples of photographic art will he exhibited by the
Victorian Salon of Photography at the Melbourne Athenaeum from April 21 to May 6.
THE LEARNED SAGE
by BRUCE JENKINS
Shanghai, China
AVARICE
by Dr. JULIAM SMITH
PEACEFUL PASTURES
by O.H. COULSON
SINCERITY
by SPENCER SHIER
MELBOURNE
THE DUSTMAN
by DOUGLAS
LONDON
DOWN SPINNAKER
by G.L.H. BLAIR FRPS
PAISLEY, SCOTLAND
Saturday 8th April 1933 Page 5 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
THE NEW ART AND THE OLD: Two photographs which will be displayed at the exhibition of the Victorian Salon of Photography in Melbourne from April 21st to May 6th.
A picture of a news reel camera man taken by Mr. JACKSON ROSE, of Hollywood (U.S.A.)
Study of Mr. Paul Montford, by Mr. C. STUART TOMPKINS, of Camberwell.
Saturday 15th April 1933 Page 17 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
The Victorian Salon of Photography will open its annual exhibition on Friday, April 21. Dr. Julian Smith will perform the opening ceremony. This year 257 prints have been selected for exhibition, being about 100 in excess of the number shown last year. Also the number of countries represented has increased from 16 to 20. English photographers will be particularly in evidence and the Salon has been fortunate in securing several examples of early photography, which should add to the general interest of the exhibition. All through the work is said to be of a much higher standard than that of any previous exhibition.
Tuesday 18th April 1933 Page 5 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
NOTICES AND FIXTURES
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY
An exhibition of International photographs organized by members of the Victorian Salon of Photography, will be opened by Dr. Julian Smith on Friday next, at 3pm, at the Athenaeum Gallery, Collins-street.
Thursday 20th April 1933 Page 10 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
IN TOWN AND OUT
TRIUMPHS OF THE CAMERA
That devoted amateur photographer, Dr. Julian Smith, will count tomorrow as a day of high lights, for he is to open at the Athenaeum an international exhibition arranged by the Victorian Salon of Photography. Nearly every important country has sent landscape or figure studies, Germany, I am told, has entered among other subjects the photograph of a cluster of grapes so realistic as to make the mouth water and it is alleged that the pungency of a bunch of onions has been so well suggested by the camera as to bring tears to the eyes.
At last year's exhibition, 157 prints were accepted; tomorrow 257 will be on view, the number of exhibitors having increased from 96 to 123, representing 20 countries. English photographers have made a better showing than last year.
Several examples of early photography will show visitors how immensely the art has improved. The aim of the Salon in holding these exhibitions is to bring Melbourne into line with cities overseas in the encouragement of photographic art.
Dr. JULIAN SMITH
Thursday 20th April 1933 Page 19 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
WHAT CAMERA SEES
Methods Old and New
By Blamire Young
THE HERALD ART CRITIC
Camera pictures, as the members of the Victorian Salon of Photography understand them, are evolving steadily towards an ideal that is independent of the established objective of the pictorial artist. This independence is not yet quite complete, but it is rapidly approaching. Your true photographer requires to possess qualities that are, at first glance, mutually in opposition. That is to say, he must be at the same time an alert opportunist and a patient loiterer.
Think of the man who has found an ideal spot for a composition that needs for its completion the presence of a flock of sheep. The owner of the flock must be approached and persuaded to allow them to be driven to the spot in question. Just any time of day will not do. It must be done when the light is favorable for the desired effect.
Once there, the sheep will congregate everywhere but where the artist wants them. Tact and patience bring the design slowly into shape and then the opportunist makes his spring.
In the present exhibition, 19 nations outside of Australia contribute to the display and a wide variety of subject is treated. The processes employed are also very varied, ranging from the familiar bromide to the latest one called platinum japine.
With such vast resources at their command it is surprising that more has not been done with nudes. There are only two examples out of nearly 300 prints and these are not impressive.
The developments of modern ideas in painting have found interesting echoes in some of the contributions. Ultra-realism, for instance, is cleverly exploited in several cases. Miss Griffin, of Victoria, has sent a design dealing with a necklace (70), which cleverly carries out the principle upon which Cirico would present a string of birds eggs. Professor Neumuller, of Austria, approaches still life with a new process which makes his grapes and his onions (116 and 117) entirely delightful.
BEST LANDSCAPE
One does not like to be too positive in dealing with a medium in which one has no practical experience, but I think it must be admitted that the best landscape in the show is the work of a Victorian — John B. Eaton. His picture, "Man's Eternal Toil", possesses qualities of texture and composition that places it definitely in the front rank. Monte Luke's "Solitude", is a happy selection of Tea-tree.
From South Africa comes a very fine rendering of a wave — "Force Unfurling". A Japanese, resident in California, has used his native aptitude for design in "Yoi", to make out of the trestles of a bridge with a frieze of figures a composition that contains as much of the magic of Utamaro as can be got without the color.
There are, as we should expect, some outstanding examples of portraiture. Dr. Julian Smith is well up to his reputation in "The Scout", and in the subject picture "Avarice", though both are a little more theatrical than usual. From India comes a very line Da Vinci head, "Dignity of Age", and from Holland a most impressive profile, "Portrait of a Javanese". Tennis enthusiasts will view number 158 with interest, for there sits the famous "Bunny" Austin. Spencer Shier's fine portrait of Pavlova reappears, but it has lost nothing of the unstudied elegance of its pose and the suggestion of perfected artistry in the ensemble.
From that quaint little glass house that still stands on the hill at the end of Princes Street, Edinburgh, come a collection of the early masterpieces of portraiture by that magician, D.O. Hill. There are also on view some very early negatives, dating back to 1847, which are made on pieces of Whatman paper. The use of glass came later.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Then, in order to demonstrate the very latest developments of modern photography, two interesting photographs are shown of the same subject — one taken by ordinary methods and the other by the use of those invisible rays known as "infra-red". These rays penetrate mist and smoke and reveal all that is hidden behind such visual barriers. This process is still in its infancy and as the plates that are sent from England deteriorate considerably in their passage through the tropics, Australian operators have to depend upon their own resources to create plates for themselves. Messrs Rowsell and Allardice, of The Herald pictorial staff, are busy on research in this direction and they are responsible for the examples of infra-red photography that have lately appeared in The Herald.
These interesting camera pictures are to be seen at the Athenaeum Gallery. Most of them are for sale. The exhibition will remain open until May 6 and it will be opened tomorrow afternoon by the president, Dr. Julian Smith.
Thursday 20th April 1933 Page 24 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
SOCIAL CHATTER
NEWS FROM HERE AND THERE
The members of the Victorian Salon of Photography have issued invitations for the official opening of their exhibition of international photographs at The Athenaeum, 188 Collins Street, tomorrow, at 3pm, Dr. Julian Smith FRPS, will formally open the exhibition, which will remain open until May 6.
Friday 21st April 1933 Page 9 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
THE WORLD'S PHOTOGRAPHS
AN INTERESTING EXHIBITION
The exhibition of International photographs presented by the Victorian Salon of Photography, which will be opened at the Athenaeum gallery to-day by Dr. Julian Smith, provides the Melbourne public with a very fine and comprehensive idea of what is doing in the world of photography to-day.
The exhibits number 265 in all and cover a wide range of subject matter, in which the objective of the operator is clearly to attain as sound an artistic standard as the limitations of his process will allow and with a general high level of merit the success in some instances has been quite exceptional. An agreeable feature of the work, as a whole, is, that little attempt has been made to "imitate" the methods of the painter in oils or water colors, the fine results obtained being definitely legitimate and original products of the camera.
The exhibits comprise six Australian and sixteen British and foreign sections, which are not, however, hung in groups, but are distributed throughout the gallery in numbers too great to admit or more than a general mention.
Among the Australian contributions, those of Dr. Julian Smith, president of the Victorian Salon of Photography, takes first place with an admirable study in personality, The Scout and the somewhat uncanny Averiss, which is outstanding both in the matter of technique and expression. Other works by Victorians which call for special mention are Miss Neville Collins, by Arthur Dickinson; Dawn, Colombo Harbor, by E.C. Mulvany; Spencer Shier's, Pavlova and Plastic Art, by C. Stuart Tompkins; Rain Squall and Calm, by H.N. Jones; Sydney, is charming in its simplicity and sense of tone and a Portrait of a Young Girl, by Harold Cazneaux, also of New South Wales, is handled with distinction. English photography is well represented and is especially rich in the matter of subject. A fine portrait study here is The Aristocrat, by H. Douglas, while other good things are An Old Pack-Horse Bridge by E.A. Bierman; a Venetian subject. The Three Boats, by Alex. Keightly and Day Dreams, by Dudley Johnston, a nude study, the charm of which is somewhat spoiled by the disposition of the left leg of the model.
From China, Bruce Jenkins sends two graphic figure studies, Cheerful Labor and A Dull Razor and some work of unusual quality comes out of India, notably, My Mother (head), by J.N. Unwalla and The Temple Outcast, by Karl J. Khandalavala.
A magnificently studied portrait is Miss Jessie Brown, by Drummond Young, Edinburgh, while three wind and weather effects by S.L.A. Blair, Paisley, are worth considering, for their purely artistic qualities. Pictures from U.S.A. are numerous, a typical subject being Hopi Indian, by N.R. Garrett, of Arizona. In an Old New Orleans Courtyard, by Dr. F.W. Burcky, suggests Europe. A study in expression is the face of the Saxophone Player, by Dr. Max Thorek and what appears at first sight to be sausages, resolves on closer inspection into a study of Old Chains, with the sunlight glinting on them, by Ralph Rex, of St. Louis.
Some beautiful studies of picturesque ancient cities are among the attractive things of the exhibition. One of these is An Old Town in Germany, by Miss Phoebe Hyams and another, Old Street, Nice, by E.C. Mulvany.
Included in the works lent to the Victorian Salon of Photography are three subject picture compositions taken in 1880, by H.P. Robinson. They are excellent examples of what was known as the Albumen print process and are loaned by Mr. W.H. Gill. The exhibition, which is under the management of Mrs. Edith Smart, will remain open till 6th May. All the exhibits are cataloged for sale.
Saturday 22nd April 1933 Page 16 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
ART EXHIBITION
EXHIBITION of INTERNATIONAL
CAMERA PICTURES
ATHENAEUM, Collins-street.
Open 10am to 5.30pm
Saturday included.
ADMISSION FREE.
Closing Date, 6th May.
Under the Auspices of the
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Saturday 29th April 1933 Page 11 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
WOMAN'S REALM
SOCIAL NOTES
The exhibition of international camera pictures was opened at the Athenaeum Gallery, Collins street, Melbourne, on April 21, by Dr. Julian Smith, who explained that the exhibition was in no way a commercial undertaking, but was arranged by the Victorian Salon of Photography to encourage photographic art. There are 250 prints in the collection and 20 countries are represented.
Saturday 29th April 1933 Page 16 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
CAMERA PICTURES
On Friday, April 21, Dr. Julian Smith opened an exhibition of photographic art at the Athenaeum Gallery. The show, held under the auspices of the Victorian Salon of Photography, is particularly interesting on account of the number of fine prints sent from all over the world. Some are amazingly good and the visitor cannot fail to be absorbed in their sheer beauty and artistry.
An hour or so may be spent far more pleasantly at this exhibition than at many art shows which each year brings forth. "The camera cannot lie" — some of its users at least prevaricate! And those prints which ape the aquatint and the mezzotint are definitely bad artistically and aesthetically. However, there are not a great number of these and the show on the whole is of a very high standard. A few prints are commonplace and scarcely deserve inclusion in such an exhibition, but, then, that happens in the best regulated art circles. One is struck with the many magnificent compositions, both figure and landscape, not easy for the camera man who can't "leave out" or "put in". Every thing must be patiently observed and calculated to a very fine degree. Painters and etchers might well take lessons from these.
Most of the works on view are well studied. Light effects have been waited for. There is little casual snap-shotting, "hoping it might turn out all right".
Portraits are the best and most impressive in the show and among these there are some masterly achievements. Landscapes are plentiful and include some excellent tree studies. There are also many glimpses of streets and doorways.
"Stunt" photography occurs here and there. Its artistic qualities are doubtful — fashionable and full of curious ingenuity, perhaps. Does it count very much? Undoubtedly clever, it is somewhat on a par with spoonerisms.
An historical section is of great interest and altogether the show is one of the best treats Melbourne has had for a long time. A word is due to Mr. George Bell for the excellent way the show is arranged. May 6 is the closing date.
Friday 30th June 1933 Page 9 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
THE CENTENARY
PRELIMINARY PLANS
AN EIGHT MONTHS PROGRAM
The Victorian Salon of Photography would conduct an international exhibition in the Athenaeum Gallery from 20th October to 10th November, 1934 and arrangements were being made for the holding of an exhibition of Australian paintings and fine arts during that month.
Thursday 24th August 1933 Page 5 - Border Watch (Mount Gambier, South Australia)
MELBOURNE CENTENARY
AUSTRALIA WILL BE THERE
Photographic exhibitions will be staged by the Society of Professional Photographers and by the Victorian Salon of Photography, which latter body will feature its display as an international exhibition of pictorial photography.
Saturday 2nd September 1933 Page 9 - Mirror (Perth, Western Australia)
The title "Western Australia Government Photographer" on a picture conceals the identity of Craig Balmer, the Government photographer. A man who is never happy unless he is peering into the finder of a camera, he has an amazingly artistic eye and the gift for catching atmosphere even in the most prosaic subjects. Just a gum tree or a clump of bushes or some typically Australian incidental gives the true Aussie atmosphere to his work. For the Tourist Bureau he has taken numerous photos, including some particularly fine seascapes at Rottnest and Interiors of Yanchep Caves. A Rottnest enthusiast, he is a popular figure on the island during the summer and he enthusiastically co-operates with Mr. Seybert Hayward in the preparation of photos, featuring the artistic side of the State's beauty spots. Coming to Australia straight from school in the north of England, Mr. Balmer worked in the railways, did his bit with the A.A.M.C., joined the Premier's Dept. and for some years has been Government photographer. His camera is a lifelong hobby as well as a profession and he has been represented by a number of particularly fine exhibits at the Victorian Salon of Photography. This week a dozen of Mr. Balmer's, Western Australian studies were forwarded by Mr. Hayward to Sydney for exhibition at the Rangers Club and later at the Melbourne Royal Show.
Monday 30th October 1933 Page 7 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITIONS
It was announced on Saturday by the Centenary Council that the Victorian Salon of Photography would hold an exhibition at the Athenaeum Art Gallery from October 29 to November 12, 1934. Three gold medals, 15 silver medals and 150 bronze medals will be given. From November 12 to November 24 there will be an international competition for professional photographers, at which a similar number of medals will be presented.
Saturday 23rd December 1933 Page 16 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
ART By HAROLD HERBERT
Melbourne's centenary will be marked by two important art events. An all Australian art exhibition will be one and an international exhibition of photographs held by the Victorian Salon of Photography will be the other. Both will attract wide interest.
1934 BOOK PUBLISHED in 1934
500 VICTORIANS
CENTENARY EDITION
ANNA PAVLOVA AS THE DYING SWAN
MELBOURNE, 1926
SPENCER SHIER
Monday 1st January 1934 Page 1 and 22 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
DEATH OF BANKER
SIR ROBERT GIBSON
PEACEFUL END
Sir Robert Gibson, Chairman of the Commonwealth Bank Board, died at his home, Gallia, Punt Road, South Yarra, at 3.15pm, today. He was 69 years of age.
Sir Robert's end came very peacefully. His latest illness, throughout the brief time it lasted, was not marked by pain but only extreme and rapidly increasing weakness. He was attended by two leading Collins Street practitioners. Sir Robert was seriously ill recently but he appeared to make a satisfactory recovery.
The recurrence of his illness two days ago came as a surprise, therefore, to his relatives because of its sudden character.
Sir Robert will be remembered best for his outstanding work for Australia's recovery from the depression.
He married in 1891, before his arrival in Australia. Lady Gibson and two sons and five daughters survive him. Arrangements for the funeral have not yet been completed.
Mr Scullin, the former Prime Minister. who was closely associated with Sir Robert Gibson in the midst of the country's financial stress, paid the following tribute today: "Sir Robert Gibson was a man of sterling character and he was very earnest in his desire to serve the nation. At all times I found him keen to do what he believed to be best and he carried through his onerous duties in spite of ill-health.
WEPT WHEN PRAISED
How Sir Robert Gibson settled the Timbers Workers strike and then wept with emotion was recalled by the secretary of the Trades Hall Council (Mr W. J. Duggan).
"We respected him for his impartiality, fairness and sincere desire to bring the parties together", said Mr Duggan.
"When the strike settlement was announced the eulogistic references to him made by the Trades Hall representatives were such that Sir Robert blushed broke down and wept".
Not only Australia, but the whole of the Empire would feel the loss, of Sir Robert Gibson, said Sir John Higgins, who was chairman of Bawra.
"The Great War found in Australia several men of surpassing intellect and giants for work", he said.
"But there was none greater than the late Sir Robert Gibson for financial, administrative and commercial matters. He was the soul of honor and his passing will be regretted not only by the Commonwealth, but by the Empire".
"The community has lost a prominent and trusted figure", said the chairman of the State Savings Bank Commissioners (Mr. W. Warren Kerr).
"He presided with distinction over a great financial institution in a period fraught with difficulty and danger".
The Governor of the Commonwealth Bank (Mr. E.C. Riddle) said Sir Robert had a tremendously logical mind, keen foresight, combined with tact and great strength of will. His loss would be keenly felt by members of the Board and the staff.
Colonel J.M. Semmens, chairman of the Repatriation Commission: "Australia owes a debt of gratitude for the valuable honorary services of Sir Robert Gibson as the active head of the first Repatriation Commission from 1918 to 1920. He performed this work often in times of ill-health and without the least of reward for himself".
On behalf of the State Government, the Chief Secretary (Mr Ritchie), in the absence of the premier, said that Sir Robert had done great work for Australia. He made the financial credit of the Commonwealth his first concern.
PEOPLE'S BULWARK IN CRISIS
LATE SIR R. GIBSON WAS KINDLY, FIRM MAN
BLOCKED INFLATION
Twenty lines in the Who's Who in Australia are all that tell of the life and work of the late Sir Robert Gibson, but the full story of the great work done for Australia by this kindly man would fill a volume.
During the great financial crisis in 1930-31, Sir Robert, as chairman of the Commonwealth Bank Board, was the people's defender against the evils of inflation and it was his letter to the Federal Treasurer (Mr Theodore), calling a halt in Government overdrafts, that was responsible for the changed attitude of the Federal Government, which made possible the Premiers Plan.
Financial probity was his watchword and he kept to it throughout the troublesome times when politicians were declaiming against the banks as the people's enemies and the engineers of the depression. His work in 1930-31 set the seal on a career of notable achievement and public endeavor.
Born in Falkirk, Scotland, on November 4, 1863, he fought his way upward with all the traditional tenacity of the Scot. He knew what it was to work for small wages and that sympathy with the under-dog never left him.
IRON HIS FIRST MASTER
Iron was his first master, for at 15 he began work with the Camelon Iron Company, Falkirk, of which his father was managing director, but he left it in 1883 to study design at the Haldane Academy, Glasgow. He worked as an apprentice draftsman, but went back to his father's firm as manager of the London office in 1887.
In 1890, he took three decisive steps. He married the daughter of Mr. William Moore, of Glasgow, he resigned from the Camelon Iron Company and he came to Australia, where he began practice as a designer and draftsman. In 1897, he founded a company for the manufacture of metal bedsteads and in 1907 the Lux Foundry, Brunswick. Already he was becoming a prominent figure in the commercial world and many company directorships came to him.
With the war he became a public figure as one of the seven honorary commissioners appointed to administer the Repatriation Act. For this and other war work he received the C.B.E. in 1919 and was made a K.B.E. in 1920. Other important offices he held were Victorian representative on the Central Coal Board, a member of the Electricity Commission, chairman of the Supply and Purchase Board, representative of the Commonwealth Government on the Commonwealth Oil Refineries Ltd., a member of the Council of Melbourne University, president of the Victorian Chamber of Manufactures from 1922 to 1925 and vice-president of the Associated Chambers of Manufactures of Australia. In 1920, he was chairman of the Federal Royal Commission on Economics.
BANK CHAIRMAN IN 1926
It was in 1926 that Sir Robert became chairman of the Commonwealth Bank Board, on the resignation of Sir J.J. Garvan, who died within a year. Sir Robert soon showed his ability to make as great a success at banking as in other walks of life, but he was not yet well known to the public.
It was while he was chairman that the Bruce-Page Government vested control of the note issue in the Bank Board, a step which was to have an important bearing on the future of the country a few years later.
When Sir Otto Niemeyer came to Australia in 1930, Sir Robert attended the vital August conference of Premiers, to present the case for Australia and the figures he gave in his clear, logical but irresistible way showed that Australia was heading for bankruptcy, unless a courageous course was taken. That conference agreed to attempt to balance budgets by reductions in Government spendings which were crippling the country, with its reduced national income. Unfortunately, that agreement was not honored by all governments.
Before Mr. Scullin went abroad he extended Sir Robert's appointment for seven years, believing that there should be no change of horses while crossing the stream. For this act, he was much criticized by his own followers, particularly in the later days when Sir Robert and the Board were the obstacles to the Federal Government's inflation plans.
INFLATION OPPOSED
With the return of Mr. Scullin and the adoption of note-printing as the Government's policy for righting the country's finances, Sir Robert became the most talked-of man in Australia. He resolutely refused to countenance inflation and with a hostile Senate, the Government found it impossible to amend the constitution of the Board to remove from it the control of the printing presses.
Meanwhile, Governments had been going cheerfully on, spending at the old pre-depression rate and calling on the banks, mainly the Commonwealth Bank, for overdrafts. It was a letter from Sir Robert that stopped this and paved the way to a change.
Sir Robert frankly told the Treasurer (Mr Theodore) that the Bank could not continue to finance Governments indefinitely and fixed a limit beyond which the Board would not go.
Mr. Theodore replied in a letter which charged the Bank Board with attempting to take from the Government the control of the public purse, but Sir Robert's ultimatum stood.
A Loan Council followed which appointed a committee of experts. The committee presented a report showing that Australia was perilously near default. This and the fact that, when the end of the financial year came, no more advances could be expected from the Bank, had much to do with the Governments agreeing to do that which they should have done months before — reduce costs.
Ill though he was at the time, Sir Robert's blessing was sought by the Premiers Conference of May-June, 1931, on its momentous plan. It was realized that his word would carry great weight with the bond-holding public in the big conversion scheme.
APPEARED BEFORE SENATE
Sir Robert made history when, early in 1931, he appeared before the bar of the Senate to give his opinion on the proposal of the Federal Government to ship the gold reserve abroad to meet outstanding debts. Clearly, concisely and calmly, as though it were an everyday occurrence, instead of the only time in Federal history, he gave his views and it was mainly as a result of the advice given at the request of the Senate that the bill was rejected.
On top of the arduous work caused by the general financial situation came the closing of the State Savings Bank of New South Wales and Sir Robert took part in innumerable conferences in attempts to re-open it. He was just as firm with the N.S.W. Premier (Mr Lang) as he had been with Mr Theodore and throughout the negotiations insisted on his first duty to the depositors in his own bank and the need for stringent guarantees that Mr Lang would pay interest on the money owed by the N.S.W. State Bank - a course rendered necessary by Mr Lang's repudiation of interest overseas.
After the State Savings Bank of New South Wales had been temporarily closed in 1931, Sir Robert Gibson curbed a run on the Commonwealth Bank by a dramatic broadcast to the people on a Sun day night.
Sir Robert assured the depositors that it would be impossible to "break" the Commonwealth Bank. The result was a complete restoration of confidence. When the bank opened its doors the following morning business was again normal.
Sir Robert's defiance of the Federal Government in Australia's greatest crisis conjures up a picture of a man of steel, obstinate and harsh.
Nothing could be further from reality. He was courteous, kindly, thoughtful, a lover of art, a seeker of solitude. The glare of the limelight he never sought, but he did not swerve from his course when politicians attacked him.
WHITEST MAN EVER KNEW
His broad humanity bridged the gap between the traditional idea of the "financial magnate" and the worker when, in 1929, he mediated in the disastrous timber strike.
Thanks to his efforts, peace was restored in the industry and the secretary of the Timber Workers' Union described him as "the whitest and kindest man I have ever met, in or out of the Labor movement".
It was a strange paradox that the man who was accused of being the pawn of the financiers by politicians who talked of the wrongs of the worker in words which seemed to show that the milk of human kindness had turned sour within them, should have wrung such a tribute from a representative of organized industry.
Few knew that in his spare time Sir Robert was a water-colorist of no mean talent, a lover of fine books and an ardent photographer whose skill can be gauged from the fact that he was a judge of the Victorian Salon of Photography.
Australian public life and finance will be the poorer for his death, but the greatest loss is that of a personality which had few equals. He will be remembered as a pillar of the People's Bank, a bulwark against those who would have plunged the nation into the horrors of currency inflation; and, best of all, as a man.
DEATH OF BANKER
SIR ROBERT GIBSON
PEACEFUL END
Sir Robert Gibson, Chairman of the Commonwealth Bank Board, died at his home, Gallia, Punt Road, South Yarra, at 3.15pm, today. He was 69 years of age.
Sir Robert's end came very peacefully. His latest illness, throughout the brief time it lasted, was not marked by pain but only extreme and rapidly increasing weakness. He was attended by two leading Collins Street practitioners. Sir Robert was seriously ill recently but he appeared to make a satisfactory recovery.
The recurrence of his illness two days ago came as a surprise, therefore, to his relatives because of its sudden character.
Sir Robert will be remembered best for his outstanding work for Australia's recovery from the depression.
He married in 1891, before his arrival in Australia. Lady Gibson and two sons and five daughters survive him. Arrangements for the funeral have not yet been completed.
Mr Scullin, the former Prime Minister. who was closely associated with Sir Robert Gibson in the midst of the country's financial stress, paid the following tribute today: "Sir Robert Gibson was a man of sterling character and he was very earnest in his desire to serve the nation. At all times I found him keen to do what he believed to be best and he carried through his onerous duties in spite of ill-health.
WEPT WHEN PRAISED
How Sir Robert Gibson settled the Timbers Workers strike and then wept with emotion was recalled by the secretary of the Trades Hall Council (Mr W. J. Duggan).
"We respected him for his impartiality, fairness and sincere desire to bring the parties together", said Mr Duggan.
"When the strike settlement was announced the eulogistic references to him made by the Trades Hall representatives were such that Sir Robert blushed broke down and wept".
Not only Australia, but the whole of the Empire would feel the loss, of Sir Robert Gibson, said Sir John Higgins, who was chairman of Bawra.
"The Great War found in Australia several men of surpassing intellect and giants for work", he said.
"But there was none greater than the late Sir Robert Gibson for financial, administrative and commercial matters. He was the soul of honor and his passing will be regretted not only by the Commonwealth, but by the Empire".
"The community has lost a prominent and trusted figure", said the chairman of the State Savings Bank Commissioners (Mr. W. Warren Kerr).
"He presided with distinction over a great financial institution in a period fraught with difficulty and danger".
The Governor of the Commonwealth Bank (Mr. E.C. Riddle) said Sir Robert had a tremendously logical mind, keen foresight, combined with tact and great strength of will. His loss would be keenly felt by members of the Board and the staff.
Colonel J.M. Semmens, chairman of the Repatriation Commission: "Australia owes a debt of gratitude for the valuable honorary services of Sir Robert Gibson as the active head of the first Repatriation Commission from 1918 to 1920. He performed this work often in times of ill-health and without the least of reward for himself".
On behalf of the State Government, the Chief Secretary (Mr Ritchie), in the absence of the premier, said that Sir Robert had done great work for Australia. He made the financial credit of the Commonwealth his first concern.
PEOPLE'S BULWARK IN CRISIS
LATE SIR R. GIBSON WAS KINDLY, FIRM MAN
BLOCKED INFLATION
Twenty lines in the Who's Who in Australia are all that tell of the life and work of the late Sir Robert Gibson, but the full story of the great work done for Australia by this kindly man would fill a volume.
During the great financial crisis in 1930-31, Sir Robert, as chairman of the Commonwealth Bank Board, was the people's defender against the evils of inflation and it was his letter to the Federal Treasurer (Mr Theodore), calling a halt in Government overdrafts, that was responsible for the changed attitude of the Federal Government, which made possible the Premiers Plan.
Financial probity was his watchword and he kept to it throughout the troublesome times when politicians were declaiming against the banks as the people's enemies and the engineers of the depression. His work in 1930-31 set the seal on a career of notable achievement and public endeavor.
Born in Falkirk, Scotland, on November 4, 1863, he fought his way upward with all the traditional tenacity of the Scot. He knew what it was to work for small wages and that sympathy with the under-dog never left him.
IRON HIS FIRST MASTER
Iron was his first master, for at 15 he began work with the Camelon Iron Company, Falkirk, of which his father was managing director, but he left it in 1883 to study design at the Haldane Academy, Glasgow. He worked as an apprentice draftsman, but went back to his father's firm as manager of the London office in 1887.
In 1890, he took three decisive steps. He married the daughter of Mr. William Moore, of Glasgow, he resigned from the Camelon Iron Company and he came to Australia, where he began practice as a designer and draftsman. In 1897, he founded a company for the manufacture of metal bedsteads and in 1907 the Lux Foundry, Brunswick. Already he was becoming a prominent figure in the commercial world and many company directorships came to him.
With the war he became a public figure as one of the seven honorary commissioners appointed to administer the Repatriation Act. For this and other war work he received the C.B.E. in 1919 and was made a K.B.E. in 1920. Other important offices he held were Victorian representative on the Central Coal Board, a member of the Electricity Commission, chairman of the Supply and Purchase Board, representative of the Commonwealth Government on the Commonwealth Oil Refineries Ltd., a member of the Council of Melbourne University, president of the Victorian Chamber of Manufactures from 1922 to 1925 and vice-president of the Associated Chambers of Manufactures of Australia. In 1920, he was chairman of the Federal Royal Commission on Economics.
BANK CHAIRMAN IN 1926
It was in 1926 that Sir Robert became chairman of the Commonwealth Bank Board, on the resignation of Sir J.J. Garvan, who died within a year. Sir Robert soon showed his ability to make as great a success at banking as in other walks of life, but he was not yet well known to the public.
It was while he was chairman that the Bruce-Page Government vested control of the note issue in the Bank Board, a step which was to have an important bearing on the future of the country a few years later.
When Sir Otto Niemeyer came to Australia in 1930, Sir Robert attended the vital August conference of Premiers, to present the case for Australia and the figures he gave in his clear, logical but irresistible way showed that Australia was heading for bankruptcy, unless a courageous course was taken. That conference agreed to attempt to balance budgets by reductions in Government spendings which were crippling the country, with its reduced national income. Unfortunately, that agreement was not honored by all governments.
Before Mr. Scullin went abroad he extended Sir Robert's appointment for seven years, believing that there should be no change of horses while crossing the stream. For this act, he was much criticized by his own followers, particularly in the later days when Sir Robert and the Board were the obstacles to the Federal Government's inflation plans.
INFLATION OPPOSED
With the return of Mr. Scullin and the adoption of note-printing as the Government's policy for righting the country's finances, Sir Robert became the most talked-of man in Australia. He resolutely refused to countenance inflation and with a hostile Senate, the Government found it impossible to amend the constitution of the Board to remove from it the control of the printing presses.
Meanwhile, Governments had been going cheerfully on, spending at the old pre-depression rate and calling on the banks, mainly the Commonwealth Bank, for overdrafts. It was a letter from Sir Robert that stopped this and paved the way to a change.
Sir Robert frankly told the Treasurer (Mr Theodore) that the Bank could not continue to finance Governments indefinitely and fixed a limit beyond which the Board would not go.
Mr. Theodore replied in a letter which charged the Bank Board with attempting to take from the Government the control of the public purse, but Sir Robert's ultimatum stood.
A Loan Council followed which appointed a committee of experts. The committee presented a report showing that Australia was perilously near default. This and the fact that, when the end of the financial year came, no more advances could be expected from the Bank, had much to do with the Governments agreeing to do that which they should have done months before — reduce costs.
Ill though he was at the time, Sir Robert's blessing was sought by the Premiers Conference of May-June, 1931, on its momentous plan. It was realized that his word would carry great weight with the bond-holding public in the big conversion scheme.
APPEARED BEFORE SENATE
Sir Robert made history when, early in 1931, he appeared before the bar of the Senate to give his opinion on the proposal of the Federal Government to ship the gold reserve abroad to meet outstanding debts. Clearly, concisely and calmly, as though it were an everyday occurrence, instead of the only time in Federal history, he gave his views and it was mainly as a result of the advice given at the request of the Senate that the bill was rejected.
On top of the arduous work caused by the general financial situation came the closing of the State Savings Bank of New South Wales and Sir Robert took part in innumerable conferences in attempts to re-open it. He was just as firm with the N.S.W. Premier (Mr Lang) as he had been with Mr Theodore and throughout the negotiations insisted on his first duty to the depositors in his own bank and the need for stringent guarantees that Mr Lang would pay interest on the money owed by the N.S.W. State Bank - a course rendered necessary by Mr Lang's repudiation of interest overseas.
After the State Savings Bank of New South Wales had been temporarily closed in 1931, Sir Robert Gibson curbed a run on the Commonwealth Bank by a dramatic broadcast to the people on a Sun day night.
Sir Robert assured the depositors that it would be impossible to "break" the Commonwealth Bank. The result was a complete restoration of confidence. When the bank opened its doors the following morning business was again normal.
Sir Robert's defiance of the Federal Government in Australia's greatest crisis conjures up a picture of a man of steel, obstinate and harsh.
Nothing could be further from reality. He was courteous, kindly, thoughtful, a lover of art, a seeker of solitude. The glare of the limelight he never sought, but he did not swerve from his course when politicians attacked him.
WHITEST MAN EVER KNEW
His broad humanity bridged the gap between the traditional idea of the "financial magnate" and the worker when, in 1929, he mediated in the disastrous timber strike.
Thanks to his efforts, peace was restored in the industry and the secretary of the Timber Workers' Union described him as "the whitest and kindest man I have ever met, in or out of the Labor movement".
It was a strange paradox that the man who was accused of being the pawn of the financiers by politicians who talked of the wrongs of the worker in words which seemed to show that the milk of human kindness had turned sour within them, should have wrung such a tribute from a representative of organized industry.
Few knew that in his spare time Sir Robert was a water-colorist of no mean talent, a lover of fine books and an ardent photographer whose skill can be gauged from the fact that he was a judge of the Victorian Salon of Photography.
Australian public life and finance will be the poorer for his death, but the greatest loss is that of a personality which had few equals. He will be remembered as a pillar of the People's Bank, a bulwark against those who would have plunged the nation into the horrors of currency inflation; and, best of all, as a man.
SIR ROBERT GIBSON
Born 4th November 1863, Falkirk, Scotland
Died 1st January 1934, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia
BUSINESSMAN AND FINANCIER
Thursday 4th January 1934 Page 7 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
Saturday 20th January 1934 Page 19 - The Australian Women's Weekly
VICTORIA'S YEAR
PLANS FOR CENTENARY
October 29 - The Victorian Salon of Photography international exhibition opens in Melbourne Athenaeum and continues until November 10.
Saturday 20th January 1934 Page 19 - The Australian Women's Weekly
A statue of Matthew Flinders stands near the railway station which bears his name and in the midst of the hub-bub of the city. Did the vision of even so great a man glimpse anything of the Melbourne of to-day with its area of 250 square miles and population of 1,000,000.
Photo by
W. HOWIESON
reproduced by
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TRAVEL ASSOCIATION
Saturday 17th February 1934 Page 16 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
PHOTOGRAPHY
A feature of Melbourne Centenary celebrations will be an exhibition of photography in the Athenaeum Art Gallery during the latter part of October until November 10. "The Victorian International Salon of Photography" the exhibition will be styled and it will include exhibits from all parts of the world. It will be the finest show of photography that has ever been held in Australia and gold, silver and bronze medals have been struck as awards in honor of the occasion. Many people will remember previous exhibitions of the Victorian Salon of Photography. They have always been noted for their very high quality. The aim of the Victorian Centenary Salon of Photography is to exhibit only that class of work in pictorial photography in which there is distinct evidence of personal artistic feeling and execution.
Tuesday 17th April 1934 Page 11 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
FULL CENTENARY PROGRAM
Victorian Salon of Photography ... October 29
Friday 1st June 1934 Page 6 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
IN TOWN AND OUT
WORLD'S BEST PHOTOGRAPHY
Gold, silver and bronze medals will be the prizes in the international exhibition of photographs sponsored by the Professional Photographers Association of Victoria for the Centenary. It will be held in the Athenaeum art gallery from November 12 to November 24 and admission will be free. The association is very proud of the design of the medal, the work of Mr. S.W. Tompkins, art master at the Swinburne Technical College. It shows the city "skyscraper" area, on the other side a photographer operating a stand camera. "The association's secretary (Mr. G.E. Newton) has already received many entries from England, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Japan, so that the success of the exhibition is assured. It will be preceded by an exhibition under the auspices of the Victorian Salon of Photography — the amateurs. This will also be international.
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY, [gilt medal], 1934
COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSIONS:
The following images are from the collections of the STATE LIBRARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES.
CALL NUMBER:
SAFE/DN/M 552
IE NUMBER:
IE14934497
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY, [silver medal], 1934
COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSIONS:
The following images are from the collections of the STATE LIBRARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES.
CALL NUMBER:
SAFE/DN/M 553
IE NUMBER:
IE14933544
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY, [tombac medal], 1934
COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSIONS:
The following images are from the collections of the STATE LIBRARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES.
CALL NUMBER:
SAFE/DN/M 554
IE NUMBER:
IE14933729
Thursday 5th July 1934 Page 10 - The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania)
VICTORIAN CENTENARY
STATE-WIDE CELEBRATIONS
Beginning next September and continuing for nearly 12 months, the people of Victoria will celebrate the centenary of the settlement of their State. In order to commemorate the historic occasion a series of elaborate shows, exhibitions, pageants and sporting events has been arranged.
They will continue through the summer and autumn and into the winter of 1935, but the majority of the more important attractions will be held in October, the centenary month and November.
October 29 to November 10: The Victorian Salon of Photography Exhibition.
Friday 14th September 1934 Page 5 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Saturday 15th September 1934 Page 23 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
Monday 17th September 1934 Page 15 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
NEWS IN BRIEF
Entries for the Victorian International Salon of Photography will close on September 18, but a few extra days grace until the end of the week will be allowed. The response from overseas has been most gratifying, a total of 33 countries being represented. A record exhibition is likely.
Saturday 13th October 1934 Page 7 - The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania)
THE SPORT OF KINGS
An exhilarating Waikiki pastime pictured by
M. ARTHUR ROBINSON, Hawaii,
which will be seen at the
Victorian International Salon of Photography
opening at the Athenaeum on October 30.
Thursday 18th October 1934 Page 39 - Table Talk (Melbourne, Victoria)
Monday 22nd October 1934 Page 9 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Tuesday 23rd October 1934 Page 16 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Thursday 25th October 1934
Page 19 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Page 10 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
Friday 26th October 1934 Page 4 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Saturday 27th October 1934
Page 25 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
Page 18 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Monday 29th October 1934 Page 8 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
CENTENARY PROGRAM OF OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS
The Victorian Salon of Photography Exhibition from October 29th to November 10th.
Monday 29th October 1934
Page 8 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
Page 7 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Tuesday 30th October 1934 Page 6 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
CENTENARY PROGRAM
TUESDAY 30th OCTOBER
The Victorian Salon of Photography exhibition opens.
Tuesday 30th October 1934 Page 5 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
PLYING HIS TRADE
the work of WILLIAM S. HAMILTON, of Glasgow, exhibited at the
Victorian Salon of Photography
opened today at the Athenaeum Gallery.
Tuesday 30th October 1934 Page 7 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
THE ART OF THE CAMERA
The exhibition of international camera pictures, arranged by the Victorian Salon of Photography, which will be opened to-day at the Athenaeum Gallery, by Professor E.J. Hartung, provides a very attractive demonstration of the artistic possibilities of the camera when used judiciously and with knowledge.
The exhibits, which number about 340, include examples of work from the various Australian States, the United States of America, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, China, Dutch East Indies, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Java, Latvia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, Spain and Switzerland, a comprehensive list which shows that the claim of the show to being "International", is no mere figure of speech.
Throughout the exhibition there is a noticeable absence of any tendency to "treat", the plate in such a way as to produce an "arty" water-color effect, the general objective being rather the production of a perfect photograph, with, of course, due consideration given to the matter of subject, which in many instances shows originality and an instinct for pictorial balance. The work may be divided generally into three sections; landscape, figure and portraiture — with a proportion of intermediary studies in genre, or still life.
Australia is well represented, Off Sydney Heads, by Arthur Ford, N.S.W., being awarded a silver medal, in class A, while another sea piece, After a Summer Squall, by Arthur Burgess, Western Australia, won a bronze medal in the same class. Especially good things in the Victorian display are Stormy Days, by F. Lewis, Forest Sunshine, by A.W. Briggs; Morning Light, by A. Dickenson and The Student, by Spencer Shier.
A figure study of great charm and technical excellence is the Drinking Girl, by Julius Ramhab, of Hungary, awarded gold medal in class B.
While the landscape, Quel Vent (also awarded a gold medal), by Leonard Misonne, Belgium, carries a suggestion of a painting by one of the older Dutch masters, say, Hobbema.
A work of beauty and one which must have been something of a problem to the executant, is Elemental, by H.F. Kells, Canada and two child studies In the American section, Approval, by Fred P. Peel and Animation, a living head of a young girl, call for more than passing notice. A collection (unhung) of Fox Talbot prints, dating back about a hundred years, have an historical interest, being the first evidences of the use of the sensitized plate in photography.
The exhibition, which is under the management of Edith Smart, will remain open till 10th November.
Tuesday 30th October 1934 Page 12 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Thursday 1st November 1934 Page 16 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Friday 2nd November 1934 Page 8 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
CENTENARY PROGRAM
EVERY DAY
The Victorian Salon of Photography exhibition, Athenaeum Gallery, 188 Collins Street (open 10am to 5pm).
Friday 2nd November 1934
Page 11 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
Page 14 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
CENTENARY SIDELIGHTS
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION
In response to requests, the Victorian Salon of Photography Exhibition, in the Athenaeum Hall, Collins street, will be kept open to-day until 9.30pm.
Friday 2nd November 1934 Page 7 - The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW)
CENTENARY PHOTOGRAPHS
Mr. Keast Burke sends news of an International Exhibition of photographs which is being held in Melbourne during this week, as part of the Centenary Celebrations. The collection has been assembled by the Victorian Salon of Photography, at the Athenaeum Gallery and it marks the centenary of the photographic camera, as well as that of Melbourne. About 1200 photographs were sent in from all over the world and from these the committee selected and hung 300.
The New South Wales exhibitors number 21 and have 39 pictures on the walls. Amongst them, they have won three silver and two bronze medals. The successful exhibitors include, beside Mr. Burke, Mr. Harold Cazneaux and Mr. Monte Luke.
Saturday 3rd November 1934 Page 5 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
WONDER - Childish amazement has been well caught in this picture by SJOOWALL, of Oslo, Sweden, now being exhibited at the Victorian Salon of Photography at the Athenaeum.
Saturday 3rd November 1934 Page 18 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Monday 5th November 1934 Page 4 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Tuesday 6th November 1934 Page 10 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Wednesday 7th November 1934 Page 8 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Thursday 8th November 1934 Page 16 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Friday 9th November 1934 Page 8 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Saturday 10th November 1934 Page 18 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Monday 12th November 1934 Page 12 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Tuesday 13th November 1934 Page 12 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
CENTENARY PROGRAM
EVERY DAY
The Victorian Salon of Photography exhibition, Athenaeum Gallery, 188 Collins Street (open 10am to 5pm).
Saturday 24th November 1934 Page 16 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY
It has been remarked that the International exhibition of professional photography now on view at the Athenaeum is not as interesting as that held under the direction of the Victorian Salon of Photography a week or two ago. There are definite grounds for such a remark. The present show suffers rather from lack of variety. There are too many large studies of heads. The exhibition is a little like a collection from the glass showcase exhibits at the entrances to city studios. Perhaps its purpose is such, but the other show had a great number of fine landscapes on view. However, there is much excellent work displayed and the general standard is exceptionally high both from artistic and photographic viewpoints. Some character studies are magnificent. With modern apparatus for lighting manipulation extraordinary effects are produced. Some of these prints are the envy of painters. They would be hopeless problems in paint and largely color-less, but for the camera such strong contrasts are ideal.
There are few artists, by the way, who paint heads only, that is, a large face or portion thereof peering out of the frame. This type of portrait appears to appeal to many of the present exhibitors. It is not very attractive. By far the most pleasing studies are those in which the half-length figure and hands have set a problem to be solved in a happy arrangement. A gold medalist in Max Habrecht, of the United States of America, with his portrait "Lady Jane" has achieved a composition thoroughly delightful. The camera these days, in experienced hands directed by an individual of taste, can produce results of the highest artistic quality. Trick or "stunt" photography is of little more than passing interest and anything in the nature of hand-colored photographs is of course dreadful and in the worst possible taste. The simple standardized framing of this show and its predecessor is to be highly commended, as also the hanging. The work of the world's finest photographers is and has been on view - an excellent Centenary gesture.
This exhibition, opened by Sir Harold Gengoult Smith, will close on November 24. Admittance is free.
Sir (Harold) Gengoult Smith; Cynthia Mary (née Brookes), Lady Smith
SIR HAROLD GENGOULT SMITH
Born 25th July 1890, East Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria
Died 14th April 1983, Armadale, Melbourne, Victoria
LORD MAYOR OF MELBOURNE
1931 to 1934
Wednesday 19th December 1934 Page 21 - The West Australian (Perth, Western Australia)
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION
LOCAL EXHIBITORS SUCCESS
Nine prints from Western Australia were accepted for an International Exhibition of camera pictures held at the Athenaeum Gallery, Melbourne, last month. Captain A. Burgess, of 114 Vincent-street, North Perth, won a bronze medal in the landscape section for a river study entitled "After a Summer Squall".
The exhibition was held under the auspices of the Victorian Salon of Photography and over 1,200 prints from all parts of the world were received. About 300 of these were hung. Three sections were created. They were (A) landscape, (B) portraits and figures and (C) still life and other subjects. In each section one gold medal, five silver and five bronze medals were awards. Salon members excluded themselves, from competition for medal awards. No one was allowed to submit more than four prints.
Of the Australian exhibitors Western Australia was third in the number of prints submitted. Five of the nine accepted were from members of the Van Raalte Club, Perth. These were "Ti-Trees", "Winter Sunshine" and "Fishing Boats", by Mr Augustus Knapp and "Turkey Point W.A". and "The Fair City", by Mr E.A. Coleman. Other West Australian exhibitors were Captain A.J. Burgess ARPS, Mr F.R. Berry and Miss Nancie Ford.
Commenting on the exhibition, the judges said that there was a high percentage of good quality prints in the 1,200 submitted and although it proved comparatively easy to select the first 200 the selection of the remainder was difficult. There was a scarcity of freak work and an almost universal return to a sane outlook was noted.
Saturday 7th March 1936 Page 4 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
ART OF THE CAMERA
There must be few people in these days who have not a deep admiration for the art of the photographer and I was interested to learn today that the 1936 Victorian Salon of Photography will open in the Athenaeum gallery on 17TH April.
Modern photographers have shown us what can be done by an intelligent application of lighting and grouping and many of their productions are triumphs of their kind.
It is interesting to note, however, that despite all the technical progress which has been made, some of the old portraits produced by the labored processes of the early days of photography can still compare for richness of texture, in the view of many people, with anything of their kind today.
For some weeks now photographs have been arriving in Melbourne from all over the world for the 1936 Salon and it promises to reach the high level previously set in these interesting exhibitions organized by an enthusiastic group of Melbourne camera workers.
Local photographers have until 14TH March to submit entries.
Saturday 4th April 1936 Page 5 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
NEW BEADS
A photographic study by Mr. Arthur Dickinson ARPS, of Melbourne, in the
Victorian Salon of Photography
to be held in the Athenaeum from April 17 to May 2.
MATROS
An unusual study of a sailor calling out to a shipmate up aloft.
An overseas entry by Fred. Marnitz, of Hungary, in the
Victorian Salon of Photography.
Saturday 11th April 1936 Page 17 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
The members of the Victorian Salon of Photography have issued invitations to the opening, by Professor W.A. Osborne, of an exhibition of international photographs in the Athenaeum gallery, Collins street, Melbourne, on Friday, April 17, at 3pm.
Thursday 16th April 1936 Page 13 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
AMERICAN EXHIBIT AT PHOTOGRAPHY SALON
MAY MAIDENS
by Hector Rabezzana, Michigan, U.S.A.,
a delightful exhibit in the
Victorian Salon of Photography
at the Athenaeum Gallery, which will be opened tomorrow by Professor Osborne.
Friday 17th April 1936 Page 10 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
PHOTOGRAPHY'S CHALLENGE TO THE MODERN ARTIST
by BASIL BURDETT
THE HERALD ART CRITIC
Is photography an art? Many of the visitors to the Victorian Salon of Photography's international exhibition, officially opened today by Professor W.A. Osborne, will feel inclined to answer the question in the affirmative.
Whether that answer is right or not, there is much for the intelligent artist to ponder in such an exhibition and plenty to make the painter whose conception of art is limited to the slavish imitation of nature despair.
Not that the "camera-artist" limits his conception of "camera-art" so drastic- ally. On the contrary, he has proved that the camera, in the hands of a skillful manipulator, can, within its limits, be as personal a medium as paint and brushes in the hands of a painter.
The camera, in such hands and in defiance of the ancient dictum, can lie exquisitely and to some purpose. As an effective substitute for imitative painting, the camera lacks only color. Despite some able color experiments in this exhibition, it is evident that painting is as yet in no danger from color photography. Actually, I do not believe it ever will be.
It is much more likely to be challenged by photography frankly recognizing the monochromatic limits of the medium. The challenge is already there, in the best photographs in this exhibition, in which the skillful manipulation of tone is made to suggest color in an uncannily effective way.
USE OF LIGHT
This brings us to the question of the photographer as artist. Whether or not photography is an art, it is certain that the photographer is often a good deal of an artist.
All of our painters could learn something from the photographs at the Athenaeum. As pictorial composers, many of the exhibitors show an inventiveness and originality from which every student could profit. They have a pictorial sense which makes much of the work we see in art exhibitions seem puerile and their skillful use of light is full of suggestion for the realistic painter, whose element it equally is.
One of the interesting things to note in this exhibition is the way in which national characteristics persist, even in the use of the camera. This is more obvious in the case of one or two Japanese exhibits. The affinity, for instance, of the photograph called "Morning Calm", by S.H. Matsushima, with Japanese prints and painting is very clear.
There is the same careful selection, the identical use of a restrained tonal gamut and a characteristic touch in the posing of the figures against the simplified expanse of sea and sky.
It is interesting to compare this with some other photographs, by Europeans, in the Japanese manner. The differences are illuminating, not to say essential.
Less obviously, but hardly less certainly, national feeling declares itself in other sections.
There are so many fine photographs in the exhibition that it would be bad taste to single out any single one for mention. The Australian sections make a very creditable showing and the best of our exhibitors challenge comparison with the fine work from abroad.
The Press sections deserve a special note. Working against time, the Press photographer is still able to show him- self, on occasions, something more than a mere recorder of visual facts. From the point of view of selection and design, some of the photographs in this section take their place with the finest things in the show.
The following from the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA
Title: DRY WEATHER
Creator: WILLIAM HEATH MOFFITT (1886 - 1945)
Two plates stuck under the mount read: "This Print was Accepted and Hung at the VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY, 1936 (Australia)" and "AUSTRALIA'S 150TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY 1938, Silver Medal"
Saturday 18th April 1936 Page 23 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
EXHIBITION OPENED
A MILESTONE IN ART HISTORY
Before a large gathering, who filled the room, the exhibition of camera pictures arranged by the Victorian Salon of Photography was opened in the Athenaeum gallery yesterday by Professor W.A. Osborne. The show, the sixth of its kind, contains photographs from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, China, England and Germany, besides a large entry from every Australian State.
The president (Mr. A. Dickenson) said these photographs represented a modern type of interior decoration that was fast becoming popular. Owing to accumulated costs, it was not practicable to offer the overseas exhibits to the public, but a number or the Australian photographs were for sale. Professor Osborne described the exhibition as a milestone in the art history of Melbourne. Miracles had been accomplished by the camera, as they would see when they looked around the walls.
The exhibition will be open until 2nd May. It will be open until 9pm on the next two Wednesdays and on Friday, 1st May.
Saturday 18th April 1936 Page 22 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
CAMER ART IN MANY LANDS
FINE EXHIBITION
By HAROLD HERBERT
Professor W.A. Osborne opened an exhibition of international camera pictures, arranged by the Victorian Salon of Photography, at the Athenaeum Art Gallery, 188 Collins street, yesterday afternoon. It will be open until Saturday, May 2.
The art of photography has now ascended to great heights, vieing with the art of the etcher and the painter. Perhaps painters have helped a little in this direction because their works have been studied by those photographers who seek composition, effects of light and so on. These qualities are by no means the private preserves of the painter, however. They are instinctive in every true artist.
In this show there is a character study, "Dick Swiveller", by Dr. Julian Smith, which is as fine a decoration as "The Laughing Cavalier", by Franz Hals. Dr. Smith is obviously influenced by the works of the old masters. All of his work bears a hallmark of excellence. A study of great merit is by W. Howieson, "Vineyard Specimens". It is a richly conceived arrangement of grapes, lovely in their luscious quality. These are only two of 271 exhibits. Portraiture is ably dealt with. Such names as Cazneaux, Luke, Dickinson, Shier and others show us what the camera can do, plus taste and discretion in printing. There are dozens of very fine landscapes, enough well sought-out compositions to make a painter envious. From all parts of the world these prints come, all by accredited men and women. A section devoted to the press is of passing interest only. Sensational events are not necessarily artistic, but they show, at least, the skill of the man who presses the bulb, or whatever the contrivance may be.
A few "stunt" prints are hung in a separate section. They have a certain interest, but why try so hard to be different? There is also some interest for those people who insist upon making a photograph look like a mezzotint, even to a plate mark. This form of photography is bad. It is a sham and is to be deplored, as in every art or craft simplicity, sincerity and the proper use of suitable materials must be primary considerations. Once a photograph ceases to look like a photograph it is a bad production. This statement may be dogmatic, but it is true. Colored photographs are also in bad taste.
There are too many prints on view to discuss them in detail, but the general standard is of a very high order. Twenty foreign countries are represented. This show, which is open to the public free of charge, should be well supported. The catalog says: "We wish to point out that these exhibitions represent a hobby - a sort of little backwater in the great river of world-embracing commercial photography, with which it has little connection. Moreover, the pictures are made for the sheer love of it, just as the exhibitions themselves are definitely not profit seeking, but are set out for those interested in and enjoying pictures made by photography".
Saturday 18th April 1936 Page 23 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
ART OF THE CAMERA
INTERNATIONAL PICTURES AT ATHENAEUM
The exhibition of nearly 300 international photographs arranged by the Victorian Salon of Photography, which opened at the Athenaeum Gallery yesterday, raises again the question, "Is a photograph a work of art?" with a strong claim to an affirmative answer. The show is a comprehensive one. Besides England, New Zealand and the Commonwealth, sixteen different nationalities are represented in what may fairly be described as a demonstration of the work of the world's best camera artists. There are to be seen portraits and out and indoor figure subjects, together with a proportion of pure landscape pictures, the majority being treated simply and directly, without recourse to artificially produced effects or eccentricities of composition. At the same time, however, there is a good deal of ingenuity shown in choosing subjects which will display to the best advantage the skill of the operator and the possibilities of the camera.
The Victorian section is extensive and full of interest, ranging from a forceful but somewhat tragic portrait of Max Meldrum, by John Scott Simmons, toStreet Waterers, Old Cairo, by Otto Coulson and among the New South Wales pictures one is drawn to a fine head of Norman Lindsay, by Monte Luke and among other good things, The Passing of the Windjammer, by Jeoffry S. Currey.
Ox Carts, by Alex Keighley, in the English section, is, apart from its technical soundness, a well-balanced composition and there is grace and originality in No. 166, by Miss G. Popper, of Czechoslovakia. Works that specially charm the eye among the American pictures are Central Park Lake, by Edward Alenius and On the Baltic Sea, by the same artists; but the good things from Hungary, India, China, Canada, Belgium and other countries are too numerous to mention in detail.
The exhibition, which is under the management of Edith Smart, will remain open till 2nd May. Special sections are occupied by "The Age", "Argus", "Herald", "Sun" and other Melbourne papers.
Saturday 18th April 1936 Page 5 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
PROCESSION
European photographers are very keen on the pictorial effect of what is
known as "the repetition of units", which underlies this interesting exhibit
by Erno Vados, of Hungary, in the
Victorian Salon of Photography
now open at the Athenaeum.
Monday 20th April 1936 Page 18 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
A WORK OF ART:
Special praise is given by Mr. Harold Herbert, "The Argus" art critic, to this character study by Dr. Julian Smith of Mr. Frank Talbot as DICK SWIVELLER, in the Victorian Salon of Photography, which is now open at the Athenaeum Art Gallery.
Saturday 25th April 1936 Page 18 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
INTERNATIONAL CAMERA PICTURES
Members of the Victorian Salon of Photography have arranged an exhibition of international photographs at the Athenaeum Art Gallery, Collins street, which was opened by Professor W.A. Osborne on April 17. It will remain open until May 2. There are exhibits from 20 or more foreign countries and Britain and Australasia are finely represented.
The general standard of the show is very high. There are few prints hung that are unworthy of acceptance. In any case, in a display of about 271 photographs it is well-nigh impossible to avoid the inclusion of an indifferent effort or two.
An Australian, Dr. Julian Smith, leads the field, in my opinion, with a character study, "Dick Swiveller". This camera picture is to be commended from every point of view. For a number of years, both here and abroad, Dr. Smith has maintained a high reputation for fine and unique portraiture. A close follower in a scale of merit is Mr. W. Howieson with a splendid study of grapes, "Vineyard Specimens".
But there are dozens of fine things on view by talented men and women. Portraiture is very strongly represented. "The Child, the Blossom", by Mr. Harold Cazneaux is a charming thing. "Dr. John Dale", by Mr. Spencer Shier, is an impressive picture. Work by Miss Dorothy Wilding (England) and Messrs. Arthur Dickinson, Monte Luke and a number of others is distinguished to a degree. There are fine landscapes and still life studies to be seen. Modernists have "shot" views and objects from curious angles. There are all sorts of differing printing processes. The least satisfactory are those which ape at turning out a photographic print closely resembling a mezzotint or an aquatint. These excursions outside the definite realm of photography are to be condemned. Figure groups of all kinds, interiors and such close-up studies as "Composition", by Miss G. Popper, of Czechoslovakia and "Kompot", by M. Malnasy, Hungary, vary the interest of the exhibition.
All of the works are selected on account of their merits, photographically and artistically.
An innovation this year is the section devoted to the press. Graphic events are cleverly recorded, each one having more news value, perhaps, than artistic pretensions. As examples of the everyday work of press photographers, however, they reflect great credit upon their powers of quick observation and selective ability. This show is in the nature of a trip around the world. Everybody should enjoy it.
Saturday 25th April 1936 Page 18 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria)
PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIES
Exhibits at the Victorian Salon of Photography, which is now being held at the Athenaeum Art Gallery, Melbourne.
TECHNICAL INSPECTION
by Athol L. Shmith, F.R.S.A., Melbourne
FIJOURNCA
by Francisco Sanchez Ors, Spain
SHADOWS
by Walker P. Eastman, Chicago, U.S.A.
STILL LIFE
by H. Tompkins, Melbourne
THE BOWL
by Laurence Le Guay, Sydney
UNCIVILISED
by Henri Mallard, Sydney
AROUND THE OASIS
by E. Alemins ARPS, U.S.A.
REFLECTIONS
by F. Blew ARPS, California, U.S.A.
CHILDREN DANCING
by Fred. Mornitz, Hungary
STORMY WEATHER
by F. Lewis, Melbourne
The following is from the web site of the ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Jack Cato called Eaton 'the Poet of the Australian landscape'. Among his contemporaries he was considered one of the most gifted interpreters of the landscape.
When this photograph (below) was exhibited at the Victorian Salon of Photography in 1936, the reviewer claimed that it already was a 'picture too well known to need description'.
Eaton’s reputation as an interpreter of the Australian landscape extended overseas, with one English reviewer noting, 'when it comes to Australian landscape, we in England regard John B. Eaton as its interpreter'. Like the painter Elioth Gruner, Eaton frequently depicts wide, expansive landscapes, denuded of trees, with low receding hills in the distance. He was very skilled at rendering atmosphere and it was probably his aerial, rather than linear, perspective – that sense of distance given by atmosphere which seems to veil and lighten certain parts of the landscape – which appealed so strongly to his admirers here and overseas.
CATTLE TRACKS
JOHN BERTRAM EATON
England b.1881; Australia, d.1966
Saturday 2nd May 1936 Page 20 - The Telegraph (Brisbane, Queensland)
PROCESSION
European photographers are very keen on the pictorial
effect of what is known as "the repetition of units", which
underlies this interesting exhibit by
Erno Vados, of Hungary, in the
Victorian Salon of Photography
at the Athenaeum.
Friday 8th May 1936 Page 10 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
COMPETITION IN PHOTOGRAPHS
The character study Dick Swiveller by Dr Julian Smith, which was shown at the exhibition of the Victorian Salon of Photography at the Athenaeum, received the most votes for the prize donated by Mr. A.H. Spencer for the best photograph by popular choice.
Friday 8th May 1936 Page 3 - The Daily News (Perth, Western Australia)
ATTRACTIVE CAMERA STUDY
MAY MAIDENS
by Hector Rabezzana, Michigan, U.S.A.,
a delightful exhibit in the
Victorian Salon of Photography
which was recently opened at the Athenaeum Gallery.
Thursday 29th October 1936 Page 4 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
CAMERA STUDIES
Fine Examples
By HAROLD HERBERT
Australian photographs are being shown by Kodak (A'asia) Pty. Ltd., in the basement of its new building in Collins street. The exhibition will be opened to-day. The show is a triumph of skill and artistry in the employment of the camera for portraits, landscapes and still life studies. Among 71 exhibits there is not an inferior one. Some are slight and suffer by comparison with the more important prints, but even these are full of very good qualities.
The best men in Australia are represented and the standard of excellence is extremely high. Although comparatively small numerically, the display, in merit, is equal to, if not better than, the annual exhibition held by the Victorian Salon of Photography.
The leading exhibitor is Dr. Julian Smith. He shows some magnificent character studies. His types are well selected and costume, composition and arrangement of lighting are faultless. A clever self-portrait, "In the Mirror", is of considerable interest. "Sincerity", by Mr. Spencer Shier, is good. "Le Fugitif", by Mr. John Scott Simmons, is another fine thing and he has treated very cleverly and simply "The Source of All Light" - the mass of a cathedral dome tipped by light. Mr. Athol Shmith is original in "Nude In Repose" and a delightful print of the undulating country near Heidelberg by Mr. C. Stuart Tompkins is worth while. A still-life, "Vineyard Specimens", by Mr. W. Howieson, is a beautiful study of grapes and "Top of the Hill", a composition of two stark gums, by Mr. J.B. Eaton, is fine in its dramatic effect. Mr. Jack Cato shows a good nude study. A curiously real head of a surfer, water dripping down his face, is by Mr. Malcolm McCartney.
There are so many other excellent prints that it is hopeless to select further. It is the best exhibition of photographs that I have seen.
Friday 6th August 1937 Page 14 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY
When the Melbourne Camera Club held its first meeting last night in its new rooms in the Book Buildings in Little Collins Street, City, Mr C. Stuart Tompkins, professional photographer, outlined plans for the forthcoming Victorian Salon of Photography.
Mr Tompkins said that photographs from all over the world would be hung and more than 30 countries should be represented. The exhibition will be held in the Athenaeum in October.
Tuesday 7th September 1937 Page 6 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Some English Photographers will exhibit their work outside their native land for the first time when the sixth Victorian Salon of Photography is held here next month. About 300 pictures will be shown, I hear. They are now arriving from all corners of the world, where enthusiasts practise the art of the camera. Pictures already in hand include some from Chinese and Japanese photographers.
The closing date for entries is September 18.
Tuesday 5th October 1937 Page 15 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
THE THINKER
is the title of this delightful child study by Grete Popper, of Prague.
It will be shown at the exhibition to be held on October 18, by the
Victorian Salon of Photography
at the Athenaeum.
Thursday 7th October 1937 Page 5 - The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW)
HOOP GAME
An artistic action study selected for exhibition at the
Victorian Salon of Photography, Melbourne.
Tuesday 12th October 1937 Page 5 - The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW)
TRY THIS trick when you get home tonight,
EQUILIBRIUM
a camera study exhibited in the
Victorian Salon of Photography
Wednesday 20th October 1937 Page 6 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
DEVELOPING
The Victorian Salon of Photography, presenting its sixth show at the Athenaeum Gallery, can claim to have developed strongly in its eight years of existence.
A group of nine enthusiastic photographers launched the Salon idea in 1929. They put on an Australasian Salon here in 1930 and then they began to strike the difficulties of the depression. A week before the 1931 show, the Primary Producers Bank closed its doors, thereby clicking a shutter on the Salon funds. The set-back was only a temporary one to men who are used to turning negatives into positives.
The organizers tell me that an international show of photographs, like the present one, calls for intricate and expensive arrangements. The Customs Department, of course, demands its bond on imported prints and entry forms have to be sent out in three languages. With rent and other charges, the outlay on a Salon may be £200. The objective is not profit-making, but the demonstrating of photography as a fine interpretative craft.
Thursday 21st October 1937 Page 32 - Chronicle (Adelaide, South Australia)
ART WITH AN EGG
EQUILIBRIUM
is the title given to this photographic study
by Fernande Baiwey, of Budapest,
which is entered in the Victorian Salon of Photography exhibition.
Tuesday 26th October 1937 Page 11 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
A STUDY IN CHILD EXPRESSION
NO MORE COOKIES
by Don Loving, an American photographer.
This expressive child study is one of two by Mr. Loving
which are on view at the Victorian Salon of Photography at the Athenaeum Gallery.
Wednesday 10th November 1937 Page 14 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
EVENTS IN CITIES AND TOWNS - MALDON
At the Victorian Salon of Photography International Exhibition held in Melbourne, Mr. C. McArthur was successful in having one of his photographs "A Study of Swanston Street in a Fog", accepted.
December 1937 Page 584 - The Australasian Photographic Review
THE VICTORIAN INTERNATIONAL 1937
This Salon, which has a fine following, both in Australia and overseas, is summarized in this review by John Scott Simmons ARPS.
In the presence of an interested gathering at the Melbourne Athenaeum, on October 19th, the Rt. Hon. R.G. Menzies, K.C., declared the Salon officially open.
The judges (left to right): Dr. JULIAN SMITH FRPS, JOHN B. EATON FRPS, and W. HOWIESON
in addition to hanging an invitation panel of four prints each, selected 352 prints from a large entry.
Two bromoils, "His Majesty" by Monte Luke FRPS, and "Prologue" by Peter Lawrence, were of exquisite quality and masterly treatment. Harold V. Jones also showed a bromoil, "Silver Bark", a clean, sparkling print that was most appealing. "Power", showing a steam shovel in operation, by Harold Cazneaux, was a print strong in both design and mass. In spite of the fact that it was a comparatively small print, "Power" had very pronounced carrying qualities from almost any part of the room. The same worker’s "Mighty Gums of the Flinders” took the writer’s eye with the manner in which the two trees seem to curl themselves into unity, also the decorative and effective foreground of rocks and broken branches. Lawrence Le Guay’s best was his delicate "Symphony in Grey". This was a still life in high key and full of subtle tones, with effective composition. Max Dupain sent only one print, "Le Spectre de la Rose", which was a success from every point of view, the lighting appropriately theatrical, and the technique flawless.
Arthur Dickenson ARPS, exhibited three prints. His portrait of "A.A.K. Kendall" was full of strength and tone, with the hands effectively managed, and "Ann", a delightful child study in red chalk. The black regulation Salon frame was unfortunately a jarring note, but not sufficiently so to detract from the appeal of this wistful little print.
Athol L. Shmith ARPS, showed what could be done with effective lighting on a commonplace subject in "That’s It". The distorted shadows of the tripod, Cine-Kodak, and the operator made a very effective pattern, and gave interest to the subject matter.
The never-ending variety of shadows and sunlight on fresh snow have always been a fruitful field to photographers. Edwin G. Adamson ARPS, and H.J. Holst, in "Wind-driven Snow" and "Hotham Heights", respectively, both took advantage of this fascinating subject, and showed the whole rich gamut of light and shade. K. Crawford Condie, in "Modern Facade", showed a tendency to modernism in his print; while H.T. Farrer preferred realism in his "Snow Gum".
E.B. Hawkes exhibited the only Australian nude. It was of good technique and finish.
"Furrowed Fields", by C. Stuart Tompkins ARPS, was the best of his quartet. The lines were effectively managed into a splendid composition; but his other print, "High Light", was rather too dark.
Duncan H. Wade introduced a welcome note of humor with "The Club Bore", then in "Hastening Clouds" he was in more serious mood, thus making a good exhibit. "Where the Clouds Are Made" was an excellent study by P.E. Hull. Spencer Shier FRPS, formed the nucleus of his entry with portraits of the quality we expect of him.
Of the overseas workers, Leonard Missonne, Alex Keighley FRPS, J. Dudley Johnson Hon.FRPS, Bertram Park, J.N. Unwalla FRPS, and F.J. Mortimer FRPS, all showed work that has made their names famous.
England, Australia and the United States, formed approximately sixty per cent, of the entire Salon. Dr. Max Thorek and William Mortensen showed interesting work, especially Mr. Mortensen with his "Galileo", which showed the individuality that it is possible to achieve by means of photography. This print had a character that was different from any other in the show, and as a character portrait it was superb. While it was refined and reserved, it had a strength and drive that made it, in the writer’s opinion, the best print in the show. Surely no greater praise can be given when one says, "I wish I could do one as good".
SIR ROBERT GORDON MENZIES
Born 20th December 1894, Jeparit, Colony of Victoria, British Empire
Died 15th May 1978, (aged 83) Malvern, Victoria, Australia
12th PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA
19th December 1949 – 26th January 1966
MIGHTY GUMS OF THE FLINDERS
HAROLD CAZNEAUX
LE SPECTRE DE LA ROSE
Portrait of Tamara Toumanova
by MAX DUPAIN
Monday 13th December 1937 Page 22 - The West Australian (Perth, Western Australia)
CAMERA ART
A FIRST-RATE DISPLAY
(By W.G.M.)
There are two great impulses governing man, the impulse of acceptance - the impulse to take unchallenged and for granted all the phenomena of the outer world - and the impulse to confront these phenomena with eyes of inquiry and wonder.
A quarter of a century ago, when photography was still in its infancy, those who practised it exhausted their sense of wonder on their cameras and in their contact with the visible universe their impulse was to take for granted all that happened to be in front of it.
Nowadays, they are actuated by a very different impulse. It is the camera they take for granted and, masters of their machine, they look with questioning wonder and excitement. at the world within their focus. They do not take the beauty of any scene for granted; they select. They challenge effects of light and the disposition of persons and things and waiting and arranging, always questioning, they wonder all the time whether they can get something even better. Their work is in the truest sense romantic, for the impulse of wonder is the secret which lies hid in the heart of all that we call romance.
There is abundant evidence of this element of high romance, this impulse of wonder and inquiry, in the recent work of members of the Van Raalte Club, whose annual exhibition will be officially opened in the Newspaper House art gallery at 3pm this afternoon. I recently had an opportunity of inspecting a display in Melbourne by the Victorian Salon of Photography, with exhibits from crack photographers in all parts of the world. I can say in all seriousness and sincerity that after making allowance for its necessarily more restricted scope and making sheer merit the touchstone of criticism, the Van Raalte Club exhibition compares very favorably indeed with the Victorian display.
A warm welcome should be given to any organized efforts (all too few in this State, unfortunately), to bring artistic expression into close contact with the people, by employing terms which the people understand and treating of themes with which they are familiar, without pandering to sentimentality and remaining faithful to the artist's special responsibility in the molding of sound taste. Such efforts are being earnestly made by the Van Raalte Club and those who attend the Newspaper House exhibition will be impressed by the very considerable success achieved by the club's members in their aim to contribute something, however small, to attainment of the great ideal of unifying art and life. It is cause for gratification and indeed for cheerful hope, that in these unhappy times there exists in our midst at least one organization which realizes that the cult of Art - an escape from life - is sterile pleasure, the cultivation of life through the arts a pressing need.
AIR OR LEISURED PEACE
To succeed as a pictorial photographer requires a great fund of patience and a genuine aptitude for looking about one to seize fleeting aspects of beauty. As we inspect the club's display and observe composition after composition in which designs of great loveliness have been snatched from some fragment of the actual spectacle of daily life, we feel that many of these camera-artists must have echoed the question asked by W.H. Davies, "What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?" There is a fine air of leisure, the sense of a place where the inhabitants will "hurry no man's cattle", but accept standing-and-staring as normal human behavior, in A. Knapp's placid scenes (remarkable, as ever, for their delicacy and sensitive delineation); in H.S. Lucraft's delightful glimpses of an old Fremantle cottage and of the picturesque Yundurup mill; and yet again in F. Roper's "Solitude", a study of the countryside, so skilfully observed, so eloquent of repose and peacefulness.
To say that photographers have a finer sense of leisure than their brothers of the brush might sound paradoxical, but it is certainly difficult, on the evidence before us, to avoid coming to the conclusion that photographers - the best of them - are in far closer touch with reality than the majority of painters. It appears to be undeniable also that photographers show more initiative, enterprise and originality in discovering new subjects and in exploring the possibilities of new angles of vision. In the display under review there are successful decorative prints founded on the reality of such commonplace objects as cart-wheels (J.V. Finney), steam rollers (J.H. Hallam) and an empty dinghy (A. Knapp). From all of these have been made photographic pictures and not silly pictures, but compositions which contain elements of genuine interest. Here is high artistic integrity; the beauty which abides in common things has been admirably captured and recorded.
Emphasis has been laid on some alluring scenes of peace and quiet, so that it is only fair to add that there are several prints in which the strenuous life and man's activity have given opportunities to the artist. And if a good deal of attention has been paid to architecture (particularly by D. Vincent with his successful series of university glimpses), there are some fine pictures dealing with the poetry of movement, as, for example, J.V. Finney's "Flight", with its beautiful pattern of seagulls. This peculiarly appealing picture is the photographic counterpart of Sir John Squire's sonorous word picture:
Right and left
A dizzying tangle of gulls are floating and flying,
Wheeling and crossing and darting, crying and crying.
Circling and crying, over and over and over,
Crying with swoop and hover and fall and recover.
DIVERSE CONTRIBUTIONS
There are some notable portraits, especially A. Knapp's "Velasquez" (the late H. Van Raalte in costume) and studies of a girl and a child by J.H. Hallam and of a man by J.A. Jeffery. "The Assayer", by R.C.S. Steele, though not strictly speaking a portrait, is another impressive piece of work. Further exhibitors are G.H. Baker, E.A. Coleman, J. Dent and W.T. Phillipps, whose contributions, though utterly diverse in style, sentiment and expression, illustrate the ever changing loveliness of the pageant which Nature, every morning, noon and night, provides for all who have eyes to see. With so many wonderful things to look at, surely we should all be as happy as kings (or considerably happier) if only we followed the photographers example and allowed ourselves more time to stand and stare.
The exhibition is a very varied one, not only in the subjects depicted, but in the differing methods of technical treatment. It proves, if any proof were needed, that Perth is by no means lacking in men who worthily uphold the claims of modern photography to an honorable place among the fine arts and who are able to show that the triumphs of their chosen medium are not limited to landscape and portraiture, but embrace all kinds of expressive and decorative picture-making.
Wednesday 19th July 1939 Page 15 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
1915
is the title of this arresting study by Athol Shmith
and is one of the exhibits which will be on view at the
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY
exhibition at the Athenaeum from August 7th to 18th.
Monday 31st July 1939 Page 7 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
The members of the Victorian Salon of Photography have issued invitations to the official opening of their exhibition of International photographs at the Athenaeum, Collins street, on Tuesday, August 8, at 3pm, Mr. Harold B. Herbert will open the exhibition.
HAROLD BROCKLEBANK HERBERT
Birth 16th September 1891, Ballarat, Victoria
Death 11th February 1945, Melbourne, Victoria
Tuesday 8th August 1939 Page 7 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
ARTIST'S PRAISE FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
Describing the work of professional and amateur photographers as "far superior to half the bad art in etchings and lithographs bought as 'art' and hung in homes". Mr Harold B. Herbert warmly praised exhibits when he opened the Victorian Salon of Photography, International Camera Pictures Exhibition at the Athenaeum Gallery today.
He praised, too, "the excellence of press photography of these days".
In the last few years photographers had displayed great skill and needed knowledge of composition equal to that possessed by a painter, Mr Herbert said.
Tuesday 8th August 1939 Page 13 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION
Critics examining prints at the Victorian Salon of Photography exhibition of international photographs at the Athenaeum Gallery. The exhibition will be open to the public from to-day until August 19.
Tuesday 8th August 1939 Page 10 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
CAMERA ART
A COMPREHENSIVE EXHIBITION
The exhibition of International photographs presented by the Victorian Salon of Photography, which will be opened to-day at the Athenaeum Gallery by Mr. Harold Herbert, is one of the largest and most comprehensive yet held in Melbourne. The 350 exhibits include, in addition to the Australian States, contributions from 21 other nationalities and the work, taken as a whole, is rich in original subject matter and finished execution.
It is always possible for the photographer in his desire to produce an "artistic" picture, to make It so artistic as to miss the true objective of his art, which is to produce a good photograph and not a passable imitation of a painting in oils or water colors. There is an element of honesty about the camera picture which is always acceptable and when taken by an operator, who has, in addition to technical skill, a gift for arrangement and lighting, the result may be, within its limitations, a true work of art. In this exhibition there are to be found many such and looking round the walls interest is stirred by the pictorial initiative and diversity of motive shown. The subject matter is divided; much as in an exhibition of paintings, between landscapes, figure and still-life studies.
A feature of the figure work is the attention given to movement and facial expression, a particularly happy example being "Entre nous", by Dr. Julian Smith, Victoria and further, "Dance of the Mountaineers", by M. Markov, U.S.S.R. and a head study, "Refugee", by Olaf Wallace, N.S.W.
Among the English figure subjects are several excellent portraits of King George and Queen Elizabeth with the Princesses, taken by Marcus Adams and among many fine things in the French section attention is drawn to "Maternite", by Quinto Albicocco and "Solitude", by Raymond Bacnelard. The camera artists of Hungary, Italy, Germany, Russia, Japan, India, U.S.A., China, Belgium and other more or less disturbed parts of the earth, unite here in a harmonious gesture of peace and goodwill.
The exhibition, which is under the management of Edith Smart, closes on August 19.
Wednesday 9th August 1939 Page 5 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS
OFFICIAL OPENING
An exhibition by the Victorian Salon of Photography attracted a large crowd of visitors to the Athenaeum galleries yesterday, when it was formally opened by Mr. Harold Herbert.
Introduced by the president (Mr. A. W. Dickinson), Mr. Herbert congratulated the Salon on the exhibition and said he thought the Australian section was equal to the pictures exhibited by other nations. The exhibition contained many fine examples of the art of photography, which were greatly superior to many bad prints and etchings which people hung on their walls. He paid a tribute to the excellence of the work of the press photographers, who had to work against time.
Among those present were Mrs. H. Herbert (who pinned a spray of lily of the valley to her navy coat worn with a navy beret of the same material). Mrs. A.W. Dickinson (who wore a sea-blue handkerchief linen blouse with her town-blue suit and matching felt hat), Dr. and Mrs. Julian Smith, Mr. and Mrs. W. Howieson, Mr. Spencer Shier, Mr. C. Stuart Tompkins, Lieutenant-Colonel W. Pestel, Mr. Russell Grimwade, Mrs. R.G. Casey, Captain and Mrs. Stanley Smith, Mrs. G. Bakewell, Mrs. R. Wilks, Miss Valerie Purves, Mrs. F.W. Thompson and Miss W. Thompson, Mr. E. Rouse, Mrs. S. Addison, Mrs. A.T. Sissons, Mrs. Chinnery, Mrs. J.C. Cumming. Mrs. E.V. Dunn, Mrs. Craig and Miss Sybil Craig, Mr. and Mrs. O. McCutcheon, Miss Nellie Neylon, Captain Scott Scott, Mrs. J.M. Baldwin.
Wednesday 9th August 1939 Page 12 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
THE PASSING SHOW
By ORIEL
"BEAUTY IS TRUTH . . ".
What an amazingly cosmopolitan art is the craft of the camera, as exemplified in that wonderful exhibition of the Victorian Salon of Photography, opened with gusto and obvious enjoyment at the Athenaeum yesterday by Harold Herbert.
For example, there is a choice Japanese picture entered wrongly under U.S.S.R., which is enough to provoke a fogged and double-exposed international misunderstanding. It does not matter, however, where the thing is hung. The subject is a very dead octopus, but the Japanese artist with the camera cried, "There is beauty in this malodorous thing!" and we who acclaimed his artistry yesterday saw that beauty of symmetrical design and patterned shadow just as he did.
Similarly, cameras in Australia, China, England, Czechoslovakia, Burma, Canada and Honolulu found a comity of artistic beauty in commonplace objects, such as lemon squashes, anchor chains, pulleys, apple peeling, car wheels, cats and cactus blossom.
GENIUS OF CAMERA
Moving not otherwise than as an amateur prince of photographers among his compeers was Dr. Julian Smith, whose craftsmanship overshadowed the finest portraiture from overseas. Possibly nothing of his there excelled his study of Frank Talbot as "Dick Swiveller", but there were some marvelous pictures.
Such as that of Bill Johnson, the crier of the Supreme Court, posed as Micawber in "I have nothing to bestow but advice" and looking every inch the part.
And Harry Neill, producer for J.C.W., as Uriah Heep and an amazing anonymous study, entitled "Entre Nous", all smug and smutty in its suggestion of betrayed confidence and perhaps the greatest of all the Julian Smiths on show - Danny d'Alma, the circus clown, puffing a cigarette in "Entr'acte", with the sweat on his red nose just as he stepped out of the ring.
"It took me an hour to get that expression and that sweat", said Dr. Julian Smith, who thinks nothing of making 30 exposures to get perfection.
Saturday 7th October 1939 Page 24 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
RED CROSS
The Victorian Salon of Photography donated £5.
Saturday 28th September 1940 Page 26 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS FOR RED CROSS
The Victorian Salon of Photography (1940) intended to disband for the war period, but after further consideration decided to work out plans for an exhibition for the Australian Red Cross funds. All the prints shown will be the gifts of each exhibitor to the Salon for sale outright at reasonable prices. Admission will be by a silver coin. The show will include entries from all Australian workers, all prints being eligible, whether shown previously or not, as long as they pass the Judges approval for quality. The exhibition will be held at the Athenaeum Gallery, in Collins-street, for fourteen days, commencing December 9.
Prints may be forwarded to the Hon.Secretary, Mr. Stuart Tompkins, the Junction, Camberwell, or to any of the photographic stock houses, where entry forms are now available.
1st October 1940 Page 498 - Vol. 47 No. 10 Australasian Photo-Review
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY 1940
It is proposed to hold an Exhibition of Prints of Salon standard from the 9th to 21st December, 1940, inclusive, entries closing on November 9th, the Secretary being Mr. C. Stuart Tompkins, ARPS, 580 Burke Road, Camberwell, Victoria, from whom entry forms may be obtained.
All prints to be approved by the judges, Dr. Julian Smith FRPS, Messrs. John B. Eaton FRPS, and W. Howieson.
Each exhibitor is expected to present outright prints for sale for Red Cross Funds and there will be no entry fees. Any print is eligible, whether shown before or not, and each exhibitor may submit any number of prints not exceeding twenty. A contributor may, in addition, submit a limited number of prints for exhibition only, which will not be sold.
All prints must be mounted in light tones, and to the sizes of 20 x 16 ins. or 16 x 12 ins., as they will be framed and shown under glass. Parcels of prints may be left with local representatives of Messrs. Kodak, Harringtons, or Small’s. Name, address, title and class must appear on back of each print. Name, address and title may appear on face of mount in small lettering.
The Salon Committee sincerely hope to make this forthcoming exhibition the most brilliant ever held in Australia, and considers that it affords an excellent opportunity for Australian Pictoralists to use to the utmost their special gifts for National Service.
Monday 18th November 1940 Page 10 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
PHOTOGRAPHERS ART ON EXHIBITION
OLD BILL
character portrait by Dr. Julian Smith, well-known Melbourne photographer.
Will be shown at the exhibition of the Victorian Salon of Photography at the Athenaeum.
Beginning on December 9, the exhibition is in aid of the Red Cross.
All photographs in the exhibition will be for sale for the Red Cross.
Thursday 21st November 1940 Page 6 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
Monday 25th November 1940 Page 4 - The Newcastle Sun (NSW)
INVIDIOUS DISTINCTIONS
In secret session at the moment is an anonymous committee engaged on making dangerous and invidious distinctions. They are affixing price-tabs to 350 artistic photographs that amateur and professional camera-men have given to the Victorian Salon of Photography to be sold for the Red Cross. This committee insists on anonymity. It says it does not want any irate artist looking for trouble because his beautiful print of sunrise on the Yarra has been valued at 7/6 when he reckons it cheap at five guineas.
Refugees have contributed largely to this collection. I saw their work and it is beautiful. They want their artistry, practically all they have left to give, to be their measure of appreciation of this country. A charming old lady of Brisbane sent the pick of her prints and wants to buy a corresponding number of examples of fellow craftsmen's work in other States.
Dr. Julian Smith's masterpiece, "Dick Swiveller", has been withdrawn owing to the undue modesty of the model, but Uriah Heep, or Micawber may take its place among the finest character portraits in Australia.
Wednesday 4th December 1940 Page 13 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
The Governor, Sir Winston Dugan, will open an exhibition by members of the Victorian Salon of Photography, at the Athenaeum, Collins Street, on December 9, at 3pm. Proceeds will aid Red Cross funds.
MAJOR GENERAL WINSTON JOSEPH DUGAN
Born 3rd September 1876, Birr, County Offaly, Republic of Ireland
Died 17 August 1951, Marylebone, United Kingdom
GOVERNOR OF VICTORIA
1939 to 1949
Friday 6th December 1940 Page 9 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
Members of the Victorian Salon of Photography have issued invitations to the official opening by Sir Winston Dugan of their exhibition of Australian photographs on Monday at 3pm. Proceeds are in aid of the Red Cross
Saturday 7th December 1940 Page 19 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
PHOTOGRAPH EXHIBITION FOR RED CROSS
The biggest exhibition ever staged by the Victorian Salon of Photography will be opened in the Athenaeum Gallery on Monday afternoon by the Governor (Sir Winston Dugan) in aid of the Red Cross.
About 750 pictures will be exhibited and between 600 and 700 will be for sale at prices ranging from £1/1/ to £1/10/. Many recognized photographers are allowing their pictures to be sold for the first time. The pictures, which include some surrealist examples, are being given free by 150 photographers.
The exhibition will be held daily until December 21. It will remain open until 9pm on Tuesday and Thursday next week and on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights of the following week. On other days it will be open from 10am to 5.30pm.
Saturday 7th December 1940 Page 24 - Weekly Times (Melbourne, Victoria)
CAN YOU DO BETTER WITH YOUR CAMERA?
Australian camera enthusiasts will have a chance to compare their work at an Exhibition to be held this month by the Victorian Salon of Photography at the Athenaeum, Melbourne. Here are some of the studies that have been entered.
THE WHEAT SHIP
by H.S. Jones, captures, the spirit of the sea.
See how the sails are bending to the breeze.
THE CANOE TREE
by L.A. Love, records a phase of native life,
when canoes were cut from the bark of trees.
The unseen side of the ballet is recorded in
BACKSTAGE
by Balcombe Quick.
How often have you paused to admire the patient effort of
this phase of rural life which B.A. Pearl has caught in
HORSE TEAM
The fine lines of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne,
stand out in this picture by W. Howieson.
Monday 9th December 1940 Page 7 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
CAMERA ART AT ITS BEST
By BASIL BURDETT
THE HERALD ART CRITIC
Artists of the camera from five States are exhibiting in the annual show of the Victorian Salon of Photography, which the Governor will open at the Athenaeum today and from which all sales proceeds will go to the Red Cross.
A most attractive show all round, it touches an even higher standard than in previous years and at its best challenges comparison with anything being done by camera-men anywhere. Landscapes, portraits, still-life, press work — all branches show high achievement in camera work.
In a show where the general standard is so high and so well maintained, it is invidious, of course, to select any individual pictures for mention. All the same, one or two insist on this recognition.
STRIKING PORTRAITS
Two portraits insist specially — Eric Merton's "Tobogganist" and Julian Smith's "Sono Osato No. 2". The former is a lovely study of a child in the snow, exquisite in the perfection of its detail of form and texture, the transparent eyes like two pools reflecting the white landscape. The other, which shows the dancer in the costume she wore in "Protee", has a similar perfection of line and texture. In its beauty of pose and placing, it has something of the formal, medal-like grace of an early Renaissance portait.
Another figure study that must be mentioned is Athol Shmith's "South Sea Solitude", also noted for clarity of form and detail. And I cannot omit two studies by A.W. Gale — "Doorways In Rothenburg", a fine study of architecture and a beautiful still-life, "Provencal Pottery" and a very delicate study of clematis by Hilda M.F. Wright.
A feature is the number of excellent studies of the Ballet.
Monday 9th December 1940 Page 7 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
CAMERA SHOW BEGINS TODAY
FINAL TOUCHES by Mr. C. Stuart Tompkins and Mr. George Bell (right) to the display of photographs at the Victorian Salon of Photography, 1940 Exhibition. The show opened this afternoon. Many splendid photographs in the exhibition are for sale in aid of Red Cross funds.
Monday 9th December 1940 Page 11 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
GOVERNOR OPENS EXHIBITION
The Governor (Sir Winston Dugan), accompanied by Lady Dugan, opened the Victorian Salon of Photography exhibition of Australian photographs at the Athenaeum this afternoon.
Sir Winston was introduced by the president of the Red Cross Society (Dr. Newman Morris) and received by the president of the Victorian Salon (Mr Arthur W. Dickinson) and members of the committee (Messrs George Bell, Harold Herbert, Edwin Adamson, O.H. Coulson, John B. Eaton, W. Howieson, Spencer Shier, Dr. Julian Smith and the Hon.Secretaries, Mr L. Baillot and Mr C. Stuart Tompkins).
Voluntary helpers from the Red Cross, which the proceeds will aid, are assisting with the sale of catalogs and acting as guides to visitors and in other capacities.
MAJOR GENERAL WINSTON JOSEPH DUGAN
Born 3rd September 1876, Birr, County Offaly, Republic of Ireland
Died 17 August 1951, Marylebone, United Kingdom
GOVERNOR OF VICTORIA
1939 to 1949
Monday 9th December 1940 Page 8 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS
The largest exhibition ever held by the Victorian Salon of Photography will be opened by the Governor (Sir Winston Dugan) at the Athenaeum Gallery, Collins-street, at 3pm to-day.
Between 700 and 800 photographs will be exhibited and all, with the exception of about 50 in the Salon section, will be on sale at prices ranging from £1 1/ to 35/, to aid Red Cross funds. Exhibits have come from every State in Australia except Tasmania and they represent the work of the best photographers in Australia.
The exhibition will remain open until December 21, from 10am to 5.30pm daily and will be open until 9pm on Tuesday and Thursday nights this week and on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights next week. Admission will be by a silver coin.
Tuesday 10th December 1940 Page 3 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
GOVERNOR OPENS EXHIBITION
The Governor (Sir Winston Dugan), speaking at the opening of the exhibition of photographs at the Athenaeum Gallery yesterday, said that unity was the greatest weapon we could have against the enemy. We could all decide whether our war efforts would be united or disunited by domestic quarrels. Disunity would hand to the enemy a weapon that would prolong the victory that was surely coming to us, thus causing the loss of valuable lives we want brought back to Australia.
Sir Winton Dugan, paying a tribute to the artists who had given their work, in many cases, for the first time, to be sold, said that they were making a contribution to the national effort in giving the proceeds to the Red Cross. Thousands of pounds had been raised for the Red Cross, but he knew as a soldier that this must all be quickly spent when casualties occurred and still more would be needed.
The Governor and Lady Dugan were officially welcomed by the chairman of the Victorian Red Cross Society (Dr. J. Newman Morris). The president of the Victorian Salon of Photography (Mr. A.W. Dickinson) received the guests and Mrs. Dickinson presented a bouquet to Lady Dugan. Members of the Salon include Messrs. G. Bell, Harold B. Herbert, Edwin B. Adamson, O.H. Coulson, John B. Eaton, W. Howieson, Spencer Shier, Dr. Julian Smith; and Messrs. L.A. Baillot and C. Stuart Tompkins, who are the Hon.Secretaries.
Tuesday 10th December 1940 Page 10 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
CAMERA STUDIES
FINE EXHIBITION OF WORK
The exhibition of work by the Victorian Salon of Photography, which was opened yesterday at the Athenaeum gallery by the Governor, Sir Winston Dugan, is probably a record as far as the number of exhibits is concerned and is, artistically speaking, one of the best shows of its kind yet seen in Melbourne. The subject matter ranges broadly over figure and portrait subjects, landscapes, architecture and still life.
A prominent contributor is Dr. Julian Smith, with twenty graphic character studies, which include such notable personalities as Old Bill, Shylock, Uriah, The Mad Hatter and an especially good Micawber.
Among the portraits, one of an airman wearing his head gear and another is Max Meldrum, by Andre Evinson, claim attention. There are numerous ballet pictures, notably Daronova and Petroff, by Balcome Quick; Grisha Goluboff and other vital studies by Spencer Shier, two examples by Mark S. Morris and an Australian ballet picture in the press section. Among the many fine prints too numerous to be mentioned in detail are animal subjects such as the dog group, Scotsmen All, by Russell Grimwade and an arresting picture of racehorses in full gallop. An acceptable feature of the exhibition as a whole is the apparent directness of the photographs and absence in nearly every case of any attempt to imitate the technique of the painter. The camera artist has evidently come to the happy conclusion that his own methods and appliances are all sufficient for the work he undertakes. The landscape and other outdoor studies are an exceptionally good lot and call for careful attention. There are in addition to the Victorian section, pictures from New South Wales, West Australia, South Australia and Queensland. The closing day is December 21 and the proceeds of the exhibition, which is under the management of Edith Smart, will be devoted to Red Cross funds.
Saturday 14th December 1940 Page 9 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
£100 RAISED FOR RED CROSS
SALE OF PHOTOGRAPHS
Entire proceeds from the exhibition and sale of photographs held this week by the Victorian Salon of Photography at the Athenaeum gallery are for the Red Cross. More than £100 has been raised from the sale of photographs alone. The display will remain open this afternoon.
Wednesday 18th December 1940 Page 6 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
NOEL COWARD PHOTO TO BE AUCTIONED
An autographed photograph of Mr. Noel Coward by Athol Shmith, which is on display at the Victorian Salon of Photography exhibition at the Athenaeum Gallery, will be auctioned by Miss Marie Ney at the gallery at 1.30pm on Friday, in aid of the Red Cross. The photograph has already been bought by Mr. E. Rouse, of Kodak (A'asia) Pty. Ltd. for £5/5/ and given back to the Red Cross Society for resale.
A number of new exhibits has been added to the exhibition, making what was already a splendid show probably the most comprehensive of its kind ever held in Melbourne. All pictures exhibited are for sale in aid of Red Cross funds. Prices have been fixed not by the Salon but by a committee of experts. The exhibition will close on December 21.
Thursday 19th December 1940 Page 22 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
The Victorian Salon of Photography exhibition at the Athenaeum Gallery, Collins Street, to aid funds of the Red Cross will only remain open for three more days, but for the convenience of those who cannot visit it during the daytime it will remain open until 9pm tonight and tomorrow night and will also be open on Saturday afternoon.
Hundreds of beautiful photographs, taken by the best photographers from all over Australia, are on view and all but 50 of them are for sale to aid the Red Cross. It is the first time that many of the photographers exhibiting have allowed their work to be sold, so the exhibition presents a unique opportunity for lovers of the beautiful, also for shoppers looking for attractive Christmas gifts.
One of the prints for sale was an autographed photograph of Noel Coward, bought by Mr. E. Rouse, which Mr. Rouse has given back to the exhibition to be auctioned by Miss Marie Ney, now appearing in Noel Coward's play, "Private Lives". It will be auctioned at the Athenaeum Gallery tomorrow at 1.30pm to further aid funds of the Red Cross.
January 1941 Page 28 - The Australasian Photographic Review
THE 1940 VICTORIAN SALON
A REVIEW
By JOHN SCOTT SIMMONS ARPS
There was a record entry of over 800 prints, of which 353 were hung in frames. The remainder were pinned on stands. An anonymous group of well-known Melbourne business men fixed the sale price; even Salon members were unaware of their identity.
Amid a blaze of flashbulbs from a battery of Speed Graphics, His Excellency the Governor (Sir Winston Dugan) declared the Salon open, in the presence of a crowd that filled the Athenaeum Gallery to capacity, and invited all present to “do their bit” for the Australian Red Cross.
The show was of a high standard, and included some notable prints. One of the happy features was the widely divergent points of view and originality of thought displayed by the exhibitors. Another feature, not so happy this time, was that some of the attempts to be original resulted in sheer “startlism". The world abounds with lovely things, and subjects are not difficult to find. Why must we resort to stark ghoulishness to attract attention? Admittedly photography has advanced, but over the past years we have been perhaps too amenable to continental influence.
What a change to turn to W. Howieson's charming print, “Melbourne” (142). This is the first real soft focus picture the writer has seen for many years. Taken directly in the camera, the result was first rate.
Another print that catches the eye is J.W. Metcalfe’s “Autumn”. It is a rich-toned, clean landscape that gives one a happy feeling of fresh air. The composition sits well in the space and is not cramped.
“Gables” (171), by D. Rayward, used the triangles formed by the roofs of two old shacks by the roadside as the main motif. The repetition of design is effective.
Dr. Harold Moore threw an old rug over a cockatoo’s cage and pressed the shutter when the rascal within peered through a large rent in the rug. The result is seen in “Naughty Boy”, which, happily catches the characteristic twinkle in the old reprobate's eye.
A worker whose pictures are most appealing is William T. Owen FRPS. In common with a septet of prints round London, “Victoria Tower" has a quiet dignity and unimpeachable technique.
Mrs. Rose Simmonds ARPS, showed eight, of which "Breaking Wave” is typical. The sea is well rendered, and the swell curling over, as the wave is about to break, forms a nice design.
When a print is described as juicy, it means that the subject matter is inviting the beholder to pick it off the paper. It was the glass that saved W. Churchill Fisher’s “Bowl of Roses”. The soft cross lighting gave a wonderful feeling of roundness. The best flower study in the show.
“Snow Country”, by Miss Marion Thomas, was effective, and, besides having rare detail, the snow had a pleasing pearly quality.
Solid technique is apparent in Gervaise Purcell's still life of white china on a white background all nicely and reservedly treated. But he “went to town” properly in “Track Watcher". The drastic composition is more reminiscent of a good advertising illustration. A similar note is evident in J.S. Archer’s “Cameraman", while Harold N. Jones, “On a N.S.W. Farm” is a direct antithesis. This worker’s “The Wheat Ship” is also one of those subjects that always has charm.
A very good bromoil transfer, “A Monody”, by C.J.R. Ansett, shows the process at its best. A feature of this picture is the rolling lines of the foreground, which adds materially to the composition of a good landscape.
“Sunset, 1788” affords a romantic note. The aboriginal stares out over the rolling sand-dunes, perhaps at the invading white man’s “canoe". Keast Burke gives the imagination full scope in this print, which has a fine range of tones in the lower register. Sand-dunes are always good pictorial matter, and J.H. Tindale shows “Shadows on the Sand Dunes”, which is in a higher key than “Sunset, 1788", but has distinctive quality and appeal.
South Australia was represented by two workers Jack Beare and E.R. Stevens. Both names are new to the writer, but their prints show definite ability.
From the Golden West, A. Knapp sends a very characteristic open seascape entitled "Peace". It has pearly grey tones in a high key. Most effective treatment. Harold Cazneaux, Hon.FRPS, hangs eight prints. They are all of the quality we have long expected from him. “Mighty Gum of the Flinders still retains its force, in spite of its relatively small print size. Monte Luke’s prints were also rather small in size, but his portrait of “Captain Frank Hurley has character both in subject and treatment.
In a galaxy of ballet pictures, No. 177, by Spencer Shier, is most interesting. In this print, every photographic rule, including the background, was deliberately broken. The figures in triangular composition, were repeated by the insistent background of scenery, and the whole effect was one of complete unity, and made an arresting picture.
“Arundel”, by K.W. Hill, was a nice, restful river scene, but to the writer’s eye, the sky was a little overpowering.
Two workers, W. Briggs and C. Stuart Tompkins ARPS, used landscapes and sheep to secure their effect. “Mountain Pastures” and “Launching Place respectively showed what correct conditions will do in making a good landscape picture.
“Innsbruch”, by Arthur Dickinson FRPS, showed a wide range of tones, right down to heavy detail-filled shadows. The figure in the street provided a good accent note in the shaft of sunlight. His “Cafe Paris” was also full of atmosphere.
Dr. Julian Smith FRPS, showed 20 prints of superb quality, the writer’s favorite being "Vespers". Athol Shmith FRPS, hung a rich warm-toned print of Ivan Menzies as “The Duke of Plaza Toro", also a fine print of Noel Coward (autographed) Mr. Edgar Rouse, of Kodak, purchased this print, and presented it back to the Red Cross to be auctioned. At the subsequent auction, Dr. Julian Smith FRPS, secured the picture. This little stunt added eleven guineas to the Red Cross funds.
E.G. Adamson’s best work has always been done in the snow. This time he exhibits his usual quality, a feature being the fine highlight detail. “Spring-time", by W. Broadhead, depicted white doves fluttering round a picturesque dovecote, against an effective sky.
The Melbourne daily papers were also in a Section. The whole exhibit amply proves that the “boys” can bring their pictures in under all sorts of conditions. One print in the section is both topical and imaginative. A snarling bull dog is straining against a leash, nose to nose with a daschund, which has his tail between his legs. This picture, taken by Bob Buchanan, is entitled “International Situation”.
Other prints, which space does not permit full comment on, were “Nocturne", by Balcome Quick; “Three Men and a Boat", by F.H. Northe; “Plaster Cameo", by W. Shepley; “Wings of War", by Eric W. Bierre; Henri Mallard’s “Corroboree", and “Doorway in Rothenberg", by A.W. Gale.
Other workers who notably contributed their share to what is probably the biggest representative collection yet staged, were Miss D.E. Pardoe, L.A. Baillot, Mrs. H.J. Selby, Mark S. Morris, S.D. Currey, William Barrett, Andre Evinson and Russell Grimwade.
MAJOR GENERAL WINSTON JOSEPH DUGAN
Born 3rd September 1876, Birr, County Offaly, Republic of Ireland
Died 17 August 1951, Marylebone, United Kingdom
GOVERNOR OF VICTORIA
1939 to 1949
Thursday 6th March 1941 Page 14 - The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW)
EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHY
The Victorian Salon of Photography has lent, some of its photographs for an exhibition to be opened at 2.30pm on March 17th, at David Jones's George Street by Lady Wakehurst. All the photographs will be for sale and profits will go to the Red Cross Society. Those arranging the exhibition include Mrs. Ellis Fielding-Jones, a member of the Red Cross executive, Mr. Charles Walton and Mr. F. Manning.
LADY MARGARET WAKEHURST
Tuesday 18th March 1941 Page 4 - The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW)
EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS
Lady Wakehurst opened the exhibition of 300 photographs lent by the Victorian Salon of Photography at David Jones, George Street, yesterday afternoon. The exhibition will be open for two weeks to raise funds for the Red Cross Society. Lady Wakehurst, who was accompanied by Miss Joan Tyler, was welcomed by Mrs. Ellis Fielding Jones, Mrs. Marcel Dekyvere and Mr. F.E. Manning, director of Kodaks, who helped to organize the exhibition and who gave a donation of twenty guineas.
Tuesday 18th March 1941 Page 4 - The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW)
A TRULY WONDERFUL COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS
by the finest Amateur and Professional Pictoralists in Australia
ON VIEW AT DAVID JONES, GEORGE STREET GALLERY
No keen photographer, or lover of good pictures, should miss this exhibition. It provides a wonderful opportunity, too, of securing
artistic photographs for home decoration at a reasonable figure. Most of the pictures are for sale. Entire proceeds to Red Cross funds.
Silver coin entrance.
The Exhibition is sponsored by
KODAK LTD.
and donated by the
VICTORIAN SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Thursday 27th March 1941 Page 18 - The Sun (Sydney, NSW)
LAST DAYS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC SHOW
Portraits, landscapes, animal studies by well-known Australian photographers. Lots of technical interest for amateur negative shooters and plenty of pictorial interest even if you wouldn't know a lens from a shutter. Arranged by the Victorian Salon of Photography on sale for Red Cross Funds. Silver Coin admission. Galleries — George St., Store
Saturday 26th April 1941 Page 9 - The Telegraph (Brisbane, Queensland)
FINE PHOTOGRAPHING IN COMING EXHIBITION
A pre-view of the exhibition of photographic art, which will be shown in Brisbane during Red Cross week, reveals some excellent examples of the best work of many of the outstanding pictorialists of this country.
Organized by the Victorian Salon of Photography, the exhibition should attract considerable public interest, particularly as the photographs are for sale at reasonable prices in aid of the Red Cross.
Remembering the sensation that the work of Dr. Julian Smith caused at the last photographic exhibition held in Brisbane, it is interesting to see some fine examples of this photographer's character studies included in the coming show. "Uriah Heep" is probably one of the best. Charles Dickens classic hypocrite sits with a lock of stringy hair falling over his forehead. His thin lips are twisted into a sardonic smile and the restless hands which were one of the highlights of the character as Dickens drew it, dangle long and thin over bony knees. It is an arresting piece of work.
"My Mummie's Hat", a picture of a round faced little girl with a firm chin and an incredibly smug expression, confidently sporting her mother's best hat, is another beauty; and the picture of a gentle faced nun, her hands fingering a rosary, is one of the most dignified examples of Dr. Smith's work — photography which is acknowledged throughout the world for its distinction and originality.
The exhibition will include 250 pictures so uniformly good, that it is hard to make a selection, when discussing them. Athol Shmith's fine portrait of Ivan Menzies as the Duke of Plaza Toro gains additional interest because of the presence of the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company in Brisbane. John Scott Simmond's unusual study of 40 pieces of silver lying in high relief against the shadow of the Cross; Wolfgang Sievers' startling contrast of a dark castle arch, framed against a Portuguese sky; Monte Luke's picture of pine trees swaying in soft sunlight which he has called "Autumn in Canberra"; are some of the loveliest displayed.
Queensland has a good representation with 17 pictures, 11 of them being the work of Mrs. Rose Simmonds, of Taringa. Mrs. Simmonds twisted tree against a stormy sky is a skillful and imaginative piece of work and she has also, entered a dramatic picture of the gorge at Mount Buffalo. Harold Cazneaux, William Owen and John Eaton are other distinguished names which appear amongst a representative collection drawn from every State in Australia.
The exhibition opens on May 12th at Allan and Stark's.
MY MUMMIE'S HAT
URIAH HEEP
by Dr. JULIAN SMITH
c. 1949
Monday 12th May 1941 Page 5 - The Telegraph (Brisbane, Queensland)
FOR RED CROSS WEEK
The Governor (Sir Leslie Wilson) was accompanied by Lady Wilson when he opened the exhibition at Allan and Stark's this morning of photographs from the Victorian Salon of Photography, which is being held in connection with Red Cross Week.
The Vice-regal visitors were received by Messrs. W.B. Darker (chairman of the Queensland division of the Australian Red Cross) and T.J. Weedman (general manager of Allan and Stark). Lady Wilson wore a navy ensemble, to which she added a wide leafed navy hat. Gold filigree buttons adorned the frock of tea green wool jersette that Miss C.G. Darker wore with a small brown hat adorned with fabric wings.
Others present included Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Boden, Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Skipper (Southport), Mr. and Mrs. Max Way, Mr. and Mrs. Colin Maughan, Mesdames A.E. Moore, J.K. Cannan, G.S. Crouch, L.S. Cox and A.B. Stark, Messrs. J.S. Robertson, E.D. Smout, H. Snape, T.J. Carpenter, G.E. Johnson, J.M. Campbell, Allan Campbell, M. Christopherson and Henry Horstmann.
SIR LESLIE ORME WILSON
Born 1st August 1876, London, Middlesex, England
Died 29th September 1955, Chertsey, Surrey, England
15th GOVERNOR OF QUEENSLAND
13th June 1932 – 23rd April 1946
Monday 12th May 1941 Page 6 - The Telegraph (Brisbane, Queensland)
RED CROSS WEEK:
GOVERNOR OPENS PICTORIAL SHOW
The snow-ball that is expected to grow larger and larger as it bowls along through Red Cross Week was set rolling to-day by the Governor (Sir Leslie Wilson) when he opened the amateur photographic exhibition on the second floor of Messrs. Allan and Stark's premises.
Admission to the exhibition is by Silver coin.
"I had doubts about this", Sir Leslie said, "I was more in favor of fixing a sum that would he higher than the little threepenny pieces we see so often, but convincing arguments by the committee won the day. Admission is by silver coin, but I want to tell the hundreds of good people who come along here this week that there are silver coins up to 5/ and there is no reason why more than one silver coin should not he donated".
Sir Leslie said he was getting a bad reputation as a beggar, but it was all for a good cause. "At a recent public meeting I said I could not actually ask for money and someone in the audience called out, "No, but you always expect it".
VALUABLE SHIPMENTS OF GOODS
Money, however, was urgently needed to carry on the important Red Cross work, he said. At the end of March the 26th Red Cross shipment containing 286 cases and valued at £4,612, had been dispatched. Another shipment was being prepared. Already 150 cases of goods valued at £2,641 were ready and it was anticipated the complete consignment would be as large as the last.
We had been told that our losses in the Greek campaign were 10 per cent of the total force engaged. Many of these, he said, would he prisoners. Immediately they were located the Red Cross would begin sending them parcels of essential comforts. The prisoner himself did not have to ask the Red Cross for help. So the work must go on with the assistance of the public in donations.
The exhibition has been made possible by the Commonwealth tour of the Victorian Salon of Photography and the pictures are for sale at prices ranging from 7/6 to £3/3/. It is an excellent chance to secure pictures by Australia's leading amateurs for home decoration and includes work by Dr. Julian Smith, who has a world-wide reputation for character studies, John Scott Simmons, Harold Cazneaux, Mrs. Rose Simmonds and Athol L. Shmith, as well as many others.
Tuesday 13th May 1941 Page 11 - The Telegraph (Brisbane, Queensland)
Honorary workers are taking it in turn to supervise the door at the Victorian Salon of Photography, Exhibition which is being staged at Allan and Stark's on behalf of the Red Cross. At the opening yesterday Mesdames J.M. Campbell and G.E. Johnson were in charge. A still life in oils by F.G. Scott Ross, which is being disposed of by competition, supplies an attractive splash of color at the entrance.
Friday 4th July 1941 Page 12 - The Advertiser (Adelaide, South Australia)
At 8pm on Tuesday in the Society of Arts Gallery, North terrace, an exhibition of photographs will be opened and remain open until Monday week. The photographs have been contributed by well-known Australian pictoralists and will be for sale to benefit the Red Cross. The collection includes photographs from the Victorian Salon of Photography, the Photographic Society of New South Wales, the Australian tour organized by Kodak and the Adelaide Camera Club. Admission by silver coin.
Friday 4th July 1941 Page 10 - The Advertiser (Adelaide, South Australia)
EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS FOR RED CROSS
An exhibition of photographs from the Victorian Salon of Photography will be opened in the Society of Arts Gallery, North terrace, at 8pm on Tuesday by the chairman of the South Australia Red Cross Society (Mr. W.H. Sheppard). His Excellency the Governor (Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey), who was to have opened the exhibition, will be unable to be present.
Nearly three hundred photographs, contributed as outright gifts by well-known Australian pictorialists, have been cataloged and all exhibits will be for sale to benefit Red Cross funds.
An additional feature of the exhibition will be a group of over two hundred photographs from the Photographic Society of New South Wales. This collection comprises a selection from the work of members of the society and represents work from 63 exhibitors. These photographs will not be for sale.
The exhibition will be open until Monday, July 14. A silver coin admission will be charged and proceeds from the exhibition will be devoted wholly to Red Cross funds
Saturday 5th July 1941 Page 6 - News (Adelaide, South Australia)
Tuesday 8th July 1941 Page 4 - News (Adelaide, South Australia)
EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS
The chairman of the Red Cross executive (Mr. W.H. Sheppard) will open the exhibition of photographs in aid of Red Cross funds at the Society of Arts Galleries. North terrace, tonight. The Governor (Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey), who was to have performed the opening ceremony, will be unable to attend.
The exhibition, which consists of high quality pictorial photographs contributed by members of the Victorian Salon of Photography, the Photographic Society of New South Wales and the Adelaide Camera Club, will remain open until next Monday. A silver coin admission fee and the proceeds from sales of the photographs, will benefit the Red Cross.
Tuesday 8th July 1941 Page 9 - The Advertiser (Adelaide, South Australia)
At the Society of Arts gallery, North terrace, at 8pm, today the chairman of the Red Cross Society (Mr. W.H. Sheppard) will open a photographic exhibition arranged by Kodak Ltd.
It will include 300 pictures given by the Victorian Salon of Photography. These are for sale, the proceeds being given to the Red Cross. In the group are works by such artists as Julian and Athol Smith, Dircks, and C.F.R. Ansett.
The loan of another 500 photographs from the Photographic Society of New South Wales will make the exhibition one of the outstanding displays of camera art seen in Adelaide.
Wednesday 9th July 1941 Page 8 - The Advertiser (Adelaide SA)
EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS FOR RED CROSS
An exhibition of about 500 photographs for sale in aid of the Red Cross Society was opened at the Society of Arts Gallery, North terrace, city, last night by the chairman of the Red Cross Society (Mr. W.H. Sheppard). The exhibition has been sponsored by Kodak Pty. Ltd. and includes photographs from the Victorian Salon of Photography, the Photographic Society of New South Wales, the Australian tour organized by Kodak and the Adelaide Camera Club. The pictures have been given for sale for the Red Cross. In opening the exhibition, Mr. Sheppard said that the prisoner of war assistance work of the Red Cross alone made a heavy drain on the society's funds apart from the cost of its other work. The exhibition will be open daily up to 10pm until Monday.
Thursday 19th February 1942 Page 8 and 9 - The Daily News (Perth, Western Australia)
ART FOR RED CROSS
Among pictures exhibited by the Victorian Salon of Photography which was opened by Lady Mitchell at Kodak (Australasia) Pty. Ltd. yesterday for the Red Cross, "The Mad Hatter", study by Dr. Julian Smith, was outstanding.
Dr. Smith's large range of portraits was striking, especially a brilliant piece of work entitled "Harlemania", and also "The Wisdom of Years".
Every State was well represented and Western Australia pictures were few, but very commendable. Mr. Mark S. Morris's "Ice Ballet" and Mr. A. Knapp's study of "H. Van Raalte Esq"., were admired, and Dr. H.S. Lucraft showed a delightful photograph of "The Pool".
One of the loveliest was the "Floodlit Gate", a dramatic glimpse done by a West Australian (Mr. Reg. G.S. Steele).
Admittance is a silver coin, and the exhibition will be open for a fortnight. Pictures are for sale, and the Red Cross Society will benefit.
THE WISDOM OF YEARS
Wednesday 17th June 1942 Page 3 - The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania)
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION
Sponsored by
KODAK (Australasia) PTY. LTD.,
The Commonwealth Tour of the
Victorian Salon of Photography
has arrived in Hobart, and will be opened at 3pm, by
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR
SIR ERNEST CLARK
THURSDAY, 18th (Tomorrow)
FITZGERALD'S SHOWROOM,
COLLINS STREET
ADMISSION FREE - CATALOGUES FREE
All Pictures exhibited are for sale. The whole of the proceeds to benefit the Red Cross.
The Exhibition presents a wonderful opportunity of securing prints by Australia's
leading Photographers for Home Decoration or Gifts at a reasonable figure.
OPEN UNTIL JUNE 26
KODAK (Australasia) PTY. LTD.,
SIR ERNEST CLARK
Born: 13th April 1864, Plumstead, Kent, England
Death: 26th August 1951 (aged 87) Seaton, Devon, England
15th Governor of Tasmania
4th August 1933 – 4th August 1945
Friday 19th June 1942 Page 7 - The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania)
EXHIBITION OF PICTURES
RED CROSS FUNDS
"You may sometimes think there are too many calls on your pockets by the Red Cross and other patriotic societies, but that feeling will not last, if you give yourself time to realize the sufferings which the Red Cross endeavors to relieve", said Lady Clark when opening an exhibition of pictures at FitzGerald's store, Hobart, yesterday in aid of the funds of the Red Cross Society. Lady Clark, who is president of the Tasmanian Division of the Red Cross Society, was introduced by Mr. P.S. Shadforth, chairman.
Mr. Shadforth said the photographs comprising the exhibition had been contributed by a large number of amateur and professional photographers throughout Australia. At least half of the artists had exhibited their photographs overseas, and many had won international awards. The exhibition already had been responsible for raising large sums of money for the Red Cross in other Australian cities, and the society was grateful to the organizers and to Kodak Ltd. for their generous gesture.
The exhibition was to have been opened by the Governor (Sir Ernest Clark), who was unable to attend because of a heavy cold, and Lady Clark read the remarks that he intended to make.
After having paid tribute to the organizers of the exhibition (the Victorian Salon of Photography), backed by Kodak Ltd., whose manager in Hobart had done much to promote the success of the exhibition here, and the generosity of G.P. FitzGerald and Co. Pty. Ltd. in lending space in their showroom. Lady Clark said it was to the actual creators of the photographs that greatest thanks were due. They had made wonderful studies that were a revelation to the ordinary amateur of what was possible in the art of photography. She was sure that visitors to the exhibition would be pleased, and photographers among them would be incited to emulate the achievements of those who must truly be described as artists. The final beneficiary of the effort would be the Red Cross Society, which was endeavoring to do so much for the welfare of the men who were fighting.
In declaring the exhibition open, Lady Clark asked those present to admire the pictures, and, if they could afford it, to buy one or more. Whatever money was received would go, without any deduction for expenses, to the Red Cross funds.
Mr. E.R. Long, of Kodak Ltd., was responsible for the organizing of the exhibition in Hobart. It will continue until June 26.
LADY MARY CLARKE (nee Winkfield)
Saturday 2nd September 1950 Page 21 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
The Victorian Salon of Photography has issued invitations to the opening of the Dr. Julian Smith memorial
exhibition of international camera pictures at the Victorian Artists Society Gallery on Monday, September 4.
Tuesday 5th September 1950 Page 7 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
MEMORIAL SHOW
Mrs. R.G. Menzies, wife of the Prime Minister, deputized for her husband yesterday, when she officially opened the Dr. Julian Smith Memorial Exhibition of International Camera Pictures.
The Victorian Salon of Photography decided to dedicate this exhibition to the memory of the late Dr. Julian Smith, a foundation member who died in 1947. Dr. Smith's character studies and portraits earned him world renown, as did also his work in surgery and medical science.
Misses Olive Longmore of Victoria and Jan Kennedy, of Western Australia are among women photographers who are represented.
The exhibition, which is being held in the Victorian Artists Society Gallery, Albert street, East Melbourne, will stay open until Saturday, September 16.
DAME PATTIE MAIE MENZIES
Born 2nd March 1899, Alexandra
Died 30th August 1995, Canberra
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia
19th December 1949 – 26th January 1966
Tuesday 5th September 1950 Page 5 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
PHOTOGRAPHS
An exhibition of photographs arranged by the Victorian Salon of Photography, in memory of the late Dr. Julian Smith, is on view at the Victorian Artists Society Gallery.
Dr. Julian Smith was not only a brilliant technician, but he had the artist's seeing and selective eye, this combination of qualities will be evident to all who visit the display.
Members of the Salon contribute fine work in all branches of photographic art.
Another exhibition of photographs is on view at Tye's Gallery. The subject of the prints is the beauty of British architecture.
Friday 2nd October 1953 Page 23 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
ROYAL TOUR FILLIP FOR 1954 SHOWING
The 11th Victorian International Salon will be held in Melbourne next March to coincide with the Queen's visit to Australia. Interest in it should be so great that we will probably see a higher standard of photography than ever. Entries are expected from all over the world.
Encouraged by the Royal Visit, England alone should produce a flood of entries. The Salon has been specially commended to the Royal Photographic Society of England, which has promised co-operation in bringing the show to the notice of leading English exhibitors.
The 1954 Salon will be accommodated in the Melbourne Town Hall, another boost for prestige.
The Victorian Salon of Photography Committee has the assistance of the newly formed Victorian Association of Photographic Societies in preparing the exhibition.
It will be conducted in Melbourne from 29th March to 7th April, and will show at Geelong on 21st April and Ballarat on 28th April.
Closing date for all entries is 1st February 1954. Selection takes place on 8th February, by Messrs. J.B. Eaton, W. Howieson, A.W. Briggs, W. T. Owen, and Athol Shmith.
Entrants will be notified of the results on February 26.
"The Argus" will present two silver and eight bronze medals for special awards designated by the selectors.
The aim of the Victorian Salon of Photography is to exhibit only that class of work in pictorial photography in which there is distinct evidence of personal artistic feeling and of execution in accordance therewith".
The Salon will be divided into two sections one for pictorial prints (which covers any photographic process including direct color prints) and the other for color transparencies. Work exhibited before in Victoria is not eligible.
Each entrant is limited to four prints and must pay an entry fee of five shillings (or one dollar U.S.A.) His name and address must be marked clearly on the back of each print or mount together with its title and number (to conform with entry form). All Australian prints must be mounted on light-toned mounts, size 20 x 16.
Australian prints only may be offered for sale. Entrants should mark the price on the entry form only. A 20% commission will be charged on all prints sold.
Entry forms must accompany all prints and transparencies. The Kodak Company, Collins-street, Mr. W. Broadhead, York Camera Shop, York House, Little Collins st., and Mr. L. Baillot, Melbourne Technical College, will provide further information regarding these.
The 1954 Salon will be in striking contrast to the first humble Salon held in Queen's Hall, Collins-street, in 1929.
This was organized by six amateur and six professional photographers and only local work was exhibited.
But it proved such a great success that it was decided to form a Victorian Salon of Photography for the purpose of conducting regular salons.
Through the agency of the late Harold Herbert, well known artist, the Salon branched out into the now non-existent Fine Arts Gallery in Russell-street, for its second exhibition the following year.
For the next show the Salon gained still greater prominence and distinction through being conducted in the Athenaeum Gallery. For the first time international entries were solicited.
The Salon was then held every 13 months, until the outbreak of war in 1939 produced a change in its identity which put it into the category of "war work". For this purpose Australian exhibitors were asked to donate prints, which were used in the form of a traveling exhibition to aid the Red Cross.
It traveled throughout Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland during 1940 and 1941, and when the last print had finally been sold it was shown that the Salon had raised £400 for the Red Cross.
Shortage of photographic supplies during the war years caused the temporary abandonment of the Salon. But when pictorial photography came into its own again at the end of the war, the Salon resumed and enlarged its membership by admitting representatives of camera societies.
The enlarged scope of the 1954 Salon is evidence of the vastly increased interest in photography being displayed, in Australia.
Monday 7th December 1953 Page 15 - Daily Mercury (Mackay, Queensland)
CAMERA ART EVENT
The 11th Victorian International Salon will be held in Melbourne next March to coincide with the Queen's visit to Australia.
Encouraged by the Royal visit, England alone should produce a flood of entries. The Salon has been specially commended to the Royal Photographic Society of England, which has promised co-operation in bringing the show to the notice of leading English exhibitors.
The 1954 Salon will be accommodated in the Melbourne Town Hall, another boost for prestige.
ARTISTIC AIM
The Victorian Salon of Photography Committee has the assistance of the newly formed Victorian Association of Photographic Societies in preparing the exhibition.
It will be conducted in Melbourne from 29th March to 7th April, and will show at Geelong on 21st April, and Ballarat on 28th April.
Closing date for all entries is 1st February 1954. Selection takes place on 8th February, by Messrs. J.B. Eaton, W. Howieson, A.W. Briggs, W.T. Owen, and Athol Shmith.
Entrants will be notified of the results on 26th February.
The aim of the Victorian Salon of Photography is to exhibit only, that class of work in pictorial photography, in which there is distinct evidence of personal artistic feeling and of execution in accordance therewith.
The Salon will be divided into two sections: one for pictorial prints (which covers any photographic process, including direct color prints), and the other for color transparencies. Work exhibited before in Victoria is not eligible.
Each entrant is limited to four prints and must pay an entry fee of five shillings (or one dollar U.S.A.). His name and address must be marked clearly on the back of each print or mount, together with its title and number (to conform with entry form). All Australian prints must be mounted on light-toned mounts, size 20 x 16.
Australian prints only may be offered for sale. Entrants should mark the price on the entry form only. Commission will be charged on all prints sold.
Friday 22nd January 1954 Page 23 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
Tuesday 26th January 1954 Page 5 - Queensland Times (Ipswich, Queensland)
ROYAL TOUR PHOTO SALON
PHOTOGRAPHY - a perfect ambassador is a truly international pastime.
It joins philately in promoting international good will and understanding more completely than any other occupation or interest.
A good picture speaks the same language in every country. It is a common, interest for people, of all nationalities.
This is obvious from the remarkable response to the "Royal Tour" International Salon of Photography in the Melbourne Town Hall at the end of March, and at Ballarat and Geelong during April.
Photographs have already been received from U.S.A., New Zealand, England, Scotland, Germany, Malaya, Hong Kong, Brazil, Pakistan, South Africa, Hungary, India, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, France, Canada, Argentina, Portugal, and Norway.
One entrant from Belgium submitted three prints each one titled in a different language - English, Dutch, and French. That's being REALLY international.
But entries continue to roll in as the closing date draws near.
In fact, all serious photographers who intend to submit prints are urged to get a "hustle on". Entries close on February 1.
Photographs should be despatched to Mr. Wilfred Broadhead, 16 Maysia-street, Canterbury, by that date. Entry forms are obtainable at York Camera Shop, Kodak Pty. Ltd., Herbert Small Pty. Ltd.
The Salon is being conducted by the Victorian Salon of Photography in conjunction with the Victorian Association of Photographic Societies.
In addition to presenting a selection of outstanding pictures from different parts of the world and by leading Australian photographers, a topical flavor is being introduced through co-operation with Australian newspapers.
Press photographers will supply some of their best news shots for exhibition and also a pictorial coverage of the Royal Tour.
As the Salon will be held within a few weeks of the Queen's visit to Melbourne, the Royal Tour-pictures will appeal as "hot news" as well as for their photographic quality.
Saturday 20th March 1954 Page 14 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
Whether you're taking a close-up or a long shot there's
NO EXCUSE FOR FUZZ
Most modern cameras have a little gadget attached for estimating the depth of focus for all combinations of lens aperture and distance (in feet) from the subject.
Depth of field means that there is a certain margin of error when we focus our camera upon a subject.
The extent to which this tolerance extends is dependent upon the lens aperture, distance of subject from camera, and the focal length of the camera lens.
If a small lens aperture is used (say f.16) and the subject focused upon is some distance from the camera (30ft. or 40ft.), then the photographer has a very great depth of field at his disposal.
The lens of a folding camera which I use quite a lot has a focal length of 8.5 cm. The depth of focus scale which is provided on the body of the camera (and operated by means of a revolving disc) tells me that if I stop down my lens to f.16 and focus my camera at 30 feet, everything beyond 10 feet in my picture is sharply rendered.
If I use the same aperture and focus on an object which is 10ft. away from the camera, every object in my picture which lies between 6ft. and 30ft. is in focus.
If I stop down still further to f.22 and remain focused on 10ft., my depth of field will be extended from 5 1/2 ft, to about 40ft.
But if I open up my lens to f.4.5 the object 10ft. from the camera will be the center of a greatly reduced area of sharpness.
The focus will extend only 1 1/2 ft, in front of the subject and 2 1/2 ft. to the rear of it meaning that the depth of field extends from 8 1/2 ft, to 12 1/2 ft. (or a total depth of 4ft.).
In all cases, the tolerance in focus extends very much farther beyond the subject than it does in front of it.
Mostly we can render foreground objects and distant objects sharply by stopping down our camera lens and using a reduced shutter speed.
But sometimes our foreground object is a little too close to our lens, or lighting conditions are too dull to permit our using a very small stop.
Then we may try to effect a compromise by focusing on some object between our foreground item and the distant feature we wish to render sharply.
Only when you are taking a portrait, and the background, items are fussy and distracting, should you attempt to concentrate your focus on the principal subject and throw the rest of the picture out of focus. (By means of a wide stop).
Depth of field is a great boon when speed in operation is essential in getting your picture. Then careful focusing is out of the question.
But if you want some practical ideas on how depth of field and selective focusing may be used to greatest advantage, I would suggest you attend the Eleventh International Exhibition of the Victorian Salon of Photography, which commences in the lower Melbourne Town Hall on Monday, March 29, and continues until April 7.
Friday 26th March 1954 Page 5 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
WORLD PICTURES ON SHOW
The Victorian International Salon of Photography will open its exhibition of International Pictorial Photography and Australian Press Photography on Monday in the Lower Town Hall. It will be open until April 7.
MODERN DANCE
One of the exhibition entries sent from America by Wellington Lee.
IT'S SPOOKY ENOUGH to make his hair stand on end.
An entry by Tan Seng-Huat, of Malaya, entitled
TWO HAIRY ARMS STRETCHED OUT
ELIETTE MOURET
Portrait study by Baron of London.
FROM ONE CAT TO ANOTHER it's "Fishful Thinking"
by Grant M. Haist, of U.S.A.
SPLENDOR OF THE MORNING
by NSW photographer N. Ozolin.
IT WAS THE DEVIL
by Iu Cho-Yao, of Hong Kong.
Saturday 27th March 1954 Page 9 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
PRINTS FOR DISPLAY next week at the Victorian Salon of Photography were being arranged yesterday at the Lower Town Hall. Here the president of the Salon (Mr. A. Dickinson) is looking over some exhibits with Miss Jeanette Elphick, model and 3AW teenage quest entrant.
Saturday 27th March 1954 Page 13 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
WORLD IN FOCUS
CHIEF virtue of an international Salon of photography is its ability to break through international boundaries. It promotes good will and understanding between countries which are remote from each other in thought, language and tradition.
This pictorial Esperanto is strikingly demonstrated in the Victorian Salon of Photography 11th International Exhibition, which commences in the lower Melbourne Town Hall on Monday and continues until April 7, from 10am till 10pm.
Sir Reginald Alexander Dallas Brooks, Governor, will perform the official opening at 8pm.
Of the 338 prints accepted for the exhibition, 244 are from 29 foreign countries. Hong Kong has had 44 prints accepted from the 81 submitted. U.S.A. comes next with 30 prints, then Malaya with 19, Brazil 13, Portugal 12, India 10, North Borneo 8, and Ceylon 4. The Iron Curtain was pierced to produce six exhibits from Czechoslovakia and nine from Hungary. Germany sent 13.
Exhibitors are not seeking a "riband to stick in their coat", but the Royal visit has lent special significance to this 1954 Salon.
The Argus and Australasian Limited has placed two silver and eight bronze medals at the Judges disposal for exhibitors whose work warrants special recognition. The silver medals have gone to Brazil and U.S.A. Germany, Canada, and U.S.A. have collected two bronze medals apiece. The two bronze medals for color transparencies have both gone to Australian exhibitors.
A New South Wales woman has scored with her color picture of an unlikely subject, the rooftops of Sydney.
Well-known Melbourne Camera Club exhibitor Mr. E.L. Rotherham, of Bealiba Road, Caulfield, has won the other medal for his atmospheric impression of Mount Bishop, Wilson's Promontory. Although the pictorialism is of high quality, there is nothing highbrow about it.
Still life, landscapes, seascapes, and portraiture are presented with technical skill and pictorial imagination.
There is humor as well as drama and beauty. The hair of a small Chinese boy stands on end as he reads a ghost story in pop-eyed wonder.
A magnificent study of oxen rushing towards the camera won a silver medal for a Brazilian exhibitor. It was titled "Bois", and the judges, mistaking the language for French, could not make out why they couldn't see the wood for the beasts. They found out later that "bois" was Brazilian for oxen.
In dealing with the great weight of entries, the judges endeavored to work to the standard of the London Salon of Photography, which has been a leader In this type of exhibition for the past 35 years.
Because of currency restrictions, the organizers have had to make a small charge for admission - for the first time in its history - because most foreigners could not send entry fees or money for return postage.
"PORTRAIT OF LIANE"
this sympathetic, brooding portrait from Germany
is one of the most arresting in the international display.
It won an Argus Bronze Medal for Friedrich Herwicker.
SIR REGINALD ALEXANDER DALLAS BROOKS
Born 22nd August 1896, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
Died 22nd March 1966, Frankston, Melbourne, Victoria
19TH GOVERNOR OF VICTORIA
18th October 1949 – 7th May 1963
Tuesday 30th March 1954 Page 3 - The Age (Melbourne, Victoria)
PRAISE FOR TOUR PICTURES
The Governor (Sir Dallas Brooks) last night gave high praise to the work of Victorian newspaper photographers during the visit of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The Governor paid this tribute when he opened an exhibition of international camera pictures and color slides. This was the 11th Victorian Salon of Photography.
Sir Dallas Brooks said that in youth 99.9 per cent, had failed utterly in ability to draw or do other creative work. He was one of them.
"But, then", he said, "along came the science of photography — which depends for success on the art and the operation of man".
Nearly 340 photographs from many countries are shown in the exhibition. In addition, there is an interesting display of newspaper photographs with emphasis on the Royal Tour.
The exhibition will remain open daily from 10am to 10pm until April 7.
Friday 2nd April 1954 Page 7 - The Herald (Melbourne, Victoria)
LITTLE DOG LOST
This attractive study is by Sydney photographer
LAURENCE LE GUAY
in the
Victorian International Salon of Photography Exhibition
in the Lower Town Hall.
Saturday 3rd April 1954 Page 12 - The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria)
LOOK FOR THE PATTERNS
Abstract, or impressionistic, studies may be just as much part of the photographer's art as that of the painter.
And it is a field which can be exploited just as readily by the amateur with the inexpensive camera as the professional man with his comprehensive equipment.
Imagination and a keen eye for lighting, form and composition are the chief requisites, coupled, of course, with a sound technical knowledge.
A stroll around the Victorian Salon of Photography, International Exhibition in the Lower Melbourne Town Hall will give you an excellent insight into the possibilities of impressionist pictorialism.
Here, you won't miss an entry by Yu Chiu-cheung, of Hong Kong, titled "Whirl".
Double exposure has produced a striking picture which symbolizes the high speed pirouetting of a ballet dancer by framing her figure in a swirling network of lines of light.
Careful planning of the design and a precise processing technique were necessary to produce this vital effect of motion.
Another example of effective double exposure is exhibited by Boris Dobro, of U.S.A., in his "Design of Tomorrow".
This is fairly simple, both in design and in method, but the impression of a streamlined, restless and high speed "tomorrow" is achieved by cutting through two upright architectural figures (uncompromisingly severe) by the geometric lines of a modern office building.
But some delightful pictorial design can be captured without resort to double exposure or abstract impressionism.
Play of light and shade and the natural lines, curves, and spirals of everyday objects can be used for this purpose.
See this in an entry from Rene Jentgen, of Luxembourg, in which the shadows cast by sunlit window shutters have produced a strong composition and a vivid impression of a lazy summer day.
Spiral staircases are ready made subjects for pictorial composition.
Ho Chung-hei, of Hong Kong, has strengthened his staircase subject on exhibition at the International Salon by the figure of a woman, so placed that it breaks the circular monotony.
The amateur photographer can find many such subjects for pictorial design which need not test his equipment or technical ability too severely.
First step towards creating such pictures is to make a practice of studying the fall of light.
The long shadows which are cast by the sun early in the day and late in the afternoon offer limitless opportunities.
Trees, posts, wrought iron gates, picket fences and human figures can produce fascinating shadow effects.
Make sure your camera is provided with a deep lens hood for these pictures, as very often you have to shoot into the light.
And excellent studies in design can be readily produced indoors with artificial, low-level lighting, placed so that it emphasizes the texture of your subjects.
The pattern of this picture repeats, monotonously, the lazy spell of a warm day.
It was sent to the International Exhibition by RENE JENTGEN, of Luxembourg.