Saturday, August 26, 2017

ART DECO DOWN UNDER

Art  correspondent  Ponsonby  Willis parachutes in another unusual special  , the  1980 catalogue for the  exhibition   at the National Trust's  S.H. Ervin Museum and Art Gallery , the  cover illustration  , entitled Moths around the  Quay , a 1932  linocut  by Ailsa Lee Brown  depicting Tiger Moth aircraft  flying over  the Sydney Harbour  Bridge  and  Circular  Quay .

It  highlighted  the  impact of the  construction of the  Sydney Harbour Bridge  and  use  of    art deco  design  in architecture , cinemas , the Anzac War  Memorial, Luna Park with  its floating  art deco ballroom , incinerators , the Trocadero  Dance  Hall , photography ,  paintings ,  woodcuts , linocuts , pencil  drawings .

Outlined  was   the  art deco vision for  Sydney in  the  1930s , the buildings  emulating  the skyscrapers of  New York , such as the   Empire State  and  the  Chrysler Building.