Betty Churcher (1931–2015)

Australian Notebooks by Betty Churcher is a collection of the author's notes on paintings from several Australian art museums. Churcher was the director of the National Gallery of Australia from 1990 to 1997.

Australian Notebooks is an interesting book especially for the American reader. Although there are several internationally well known artist's covered, there are plenty of Australian artists covered too. I am by no means an art expert but can tell Van Gogh from Monet and Dali form Rivera. This book brings in a wide selection of different artists, many I have not heard of. With each painting is a sketch by the author with her notes and a brief history the artist. I was surprised by some of the Australian works, not because they were good, but because I have never seen them before. Frederick McCubbin's "Down on His Luck" captures the emotion of a man with his bag of possessions sitting at a small camp fire. The dread lingers throughout the entire painting. Emmanuel Phillips Fox's "The Ferry" use of color creates almost motion in the painting. Not all painting are by Australian's, but paintings held in Australia. Perhaps my favorite is the modern landscape by the German, Anselm Kiefer --Twilight of the West (Abendland)

Churcher covers works in the Queensland Art Gallery, Art Gallery of New South Wales, The National Gallery of Australia, The National Gallery of Victoria, The Art Gallery of South Australia, and The Art Gallery of Western Australia. This represents a wide spread of the country's best held art.

Churcher's sketches with notes will give the reader a personal insight to the covered works. The text provides an excellent background into the artist and art. Australian Notebooks offers a great introduction to art for those who may appreciate art, but not know its history and for those a little intimidated by art. A very good read for all.… (mehr)

I’ve written about Betty Churcher (1931-2015) before. She was an arts administrator, well-known and much-admired as the director of the National Gallery of Australia from 1990-1997. People flocked in their thousands to view the blockbuster exhibitions she organised, and she shared her love of art in a wonderful TV series called Hidden Treasures.

And she also published her notebooks, which are a delight for amateur art-lovers like me. As she travelled the world organising loans for her exhibitions, she would sketch aspects of the paintings she admired in her notebooks, usually annotating them as well. In published form, these notebooks contain her sketches and annotations, reproductions of the paintings and her own thoughts about them, written in her trademark unpretentious style. The Forgotten Notebook is her third, and sadly, her last. Using a notebook she’d forgotten about, it was written not long before she died, and published posthumously.

I think it’s the best of them all. That’s partly because it is so beautifully produced – larger than its predecessors so you can see the paintings better, but also because the paintings in it are the paintings I love. Each one is set in context, there is a bit of history about the painting (who it was painted for, who bought it and so on) and then there is discussion about the painting itself. Each one gets about ten pages, which include a full colour page reproduction of the painting, and a full page detail of the painting as well as her sketch.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/09/12/the-forgotten-notebook-by-betty-churcher-boo...… (mehr)

Last week, with Anzac Day approaching, it seemed a good time to browse through Betty Churcher’s magnificent tribute to the artists who depict war. The Art of War was written to coincide with a TV program on SBS, produced by Film Australia, and I had not long ago stumbled on my copy at Bound Words in Hampton St Hampton. But the day after I started drafting this review, my father unexpectedly died, and I forgot about this post until tonight, the eve of Anzac Day 2017. So for now, I’m just going to focus on what I’ve read of the book, just Chapter One.
The Art of War is a paperback, but it is full-sized and printed on quality glossy paper so the reproductions of the paintings are superb.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/04/24/the-art-of-war-by-betty-churcher/… (mehr)

This introduction to art is by one of the doyens of the Australian art establishment and one of its consumate communicators, recently deceased. Churcher's engaging introduction to how art works looks at it through two prisms: how artists and architects use space, and how they use form and structure. "Understanding art" is an ambitious task, and I think that the author is wise to organise her work around these principles. The book is well illustrated and is not technical. The edition I have has exercises at the back intended for secondary school art students. Of course, the major caveat for the book is its age. But there is something engaging about the early 1970s context, and I think that the book speaks equally well to the new century. Many Australian samples are used and there is some special discussion of Australian art, but i did not find it parochial or unsuitable for an international readership. Worth reading if you come across it.… (mehr)