Velasquez Gallery, also known as Velasquez Gallery at Tye's, and later Tye's Art Gallery, was a

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

art gallery that showed contemporary traditional, and later, modernist Australian art, including some sculpture and prints, as well as Australian indigenous art. It operated from 1940 to 1955.Stephanie Taylor, 'Closing of Tye's Gallery' in 'Letters to the editor', ''The Age'' Friday 21 Jan 1955, p.2

History

The Velasquez Gallery, located in the basement at the rear of Tye's Furniture Building, 100 Bourke Street, Melbourne, was one of the few places to exhibit in 1940s Melbourne.Wendy Donald-Bradley (1991) ''Alannah Coleman: The Woman and her Role in Promoting Australian Art and Artists in the United Kingdom 1950–1990'', M.A. thesis, Melbourne: Victoria College, 1991 The gallery opened during

WW2 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising ...

on 4 June 1940 with an exhibition of work by Australian proponent of

Tonalism Tonalism was an artistic style that emerged in the 1880s when Visual art of the United States, American artists began to paint landscape forms with an overall tone of colored atmosphere or mist. Between 1880 and 1915, dark, neutral hues such as g ...

Max Meldrum Duncan Max Meldrum (3 December 1875 – 6 June 1955) was a Scottish-born Australian artist and art teacher, best known as the founder of Australian tonalism, a representational painting style that became popular in Melbourne during the interwa ...

, and "autumn leaves from Mr. Tye's

Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...

garden decorated the gallery".''The Age'', Thursday 13 Jun 1940, p.3''The Age'', Friday 24 May 1940, p.4 When it first opened in June 1940, ''The Age'' described its facilities;

The Velasquez Gallery an interesting development in the progress of art in Melbourne is the establishment of a new gallery — to be known as the Velasquez Gallery— by Tye and Co., at their Bourke-street premises. The gallery, which is 50 feet square, is artificially lighted on a carefully considered plan, which allows for adjustments and modifications, and will ensure a uniform and even glow, such as cannot be got by a daylight arrangement. The general setting of the gallery is adequate, and pictures will be seen under the best possible conditions. The gallery will open with a one-man exhibition by Max Meldrum on June 4.

The business later expanded to 110-116 Bourke Street.

Ethos

The manager was painter/printmaker, critic, broadcaster and lecturer Stephanie Taylor (1899–1974),''The Age'', Thursday 24 Jul 1947, p.2 and director, the art collector and connoisseur George Page-Cooper (c.1895-1967).Lahey, John. "Pleasant surprises in a life full of art", ''The Age'', Tuesday, 21 Nov 1995, p.11 The gallery showed contemporary traditional, and later, Modern Australian art, including some sculpture and prints, as well as indigenous art. In 1948, twenty-seven of

Sidney Nolan Sir Sidney Robert Nolan (22 April 191728 November 1992) was one of the leading Australian artists of the 20th century. Working in a wide variety of media, his oeuvre is among the most diverse and prolific in all of modern art. He is best known ...

's Kelly series paintings were shown at the Velasquez Gallery for the first time. Under the management of Taylor, women artists were given much better exposure than at other galleries, and she organised a number of shows to raise funds for charities. A September 1943 report in ''The Bulletin'' demonstrates its optimistic openness to Modernism;

Closure

Page-Cooper moved on in 1952 with the unrealised intention to set up another gallery in the city before Velasquez Gallery closed early 1955. Taylor wrote to ''The Age'' newspaper: Page-Cooper's collection, which included significant works by

S. T. Gill Samuel Thomas Gill (21 May 1818 – 27 October 1880), also known by his signature S.T.G., was an English-born Australian artist. Early life Gill was born in Periton, Minehead, Somerset, England, in 1818. He was the son of the Reverend Samuel G ...

William Dobell Sir William Dobell (24 September 189913 May 1970) was an Australian portrait and landscape artist of the 20th century. Dobell won the Archibald Prize, Australia's premier award for portrait artists on three occasions. The Dobell Prize is named ...

Arthur Streeton Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton (8 April 1867 – 1 September 1943) was an Australian landscape painter and a leading member of the Heidelberg School, also known as Australian Impressionism. Early life Streeton was born in Mount Moriac, Victoria ...

Hans Heysen Sir Hans Heysen (8 October 18772 July 1968) was an Australian artist. One of Australia's best known landscape painters, Heysen became a household name during his lifetime for his watercolours and oil paintings of the Australian bush, in pa ...

Charles Conder Charles Edward Conder (24 October 1868 – 9 February 1909) was an English-born painter, lithographer and designer. He emigrated to Australia and was a key figure in the Heidelberg School, arguably the beginning of a distinctively Australi ...

and

Tom Roberts Thomas William Roberts (8 March 185614 September 1931) was an English-born Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. After studying in Melbourne, he travelled to Europe i ...

, was offered for sale by the Leonard Joel auction house after his death in 1967 with further works disposed by auction in 1995.

Exhibitions

As 'Velasquez Gallery': * 1940, 4–22 June

retrospective, opened by Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne

John Medley John Medley, (19 December 1804 – 9 September 1892), was a Church of England clergyman who became the first bishop of Fredericton in 1845. In 1879 he succeeded Ashton Oxenden as Metropolitan of Canada. Education and family John Medley was ...

* 1940, July 2: Children's Exhibition, 130 works from Australia, Britain, United States, Canada, Spain, Poland and other countries, opened by

Daryl Lindsay Sir Ernest Daryl Lindsay (31 December 1889 – 25 December 1976), known as Dan Lindsay, was an Australian artist. Early life He was the youngest son in a large family born to Anglo-Irish surgeon Robert Charles Alexander and Jane Elizabeth Linds ...

and Lady Brookes, silver coin fundraiser for the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

* 1940, 7–21 August:

Arnold Shore Arnold Joseph Victor Shore (5 May 1897, Windsor, – 22 May 1963, Melbourne) was an Australian painter, teacher and critic. Biography Shore was the youngest of seven children of John Shore, a coachsmith, and his wife Harriett Sarah, née Mc ...

, landscapes and still life, opened by

Russell Grimwade Sir Wilfrid Russell Grimwade (15 October 1879 – 2 November 1955) was an Australian chemist, botanist, industrialist and philanthropist. He was the son of Frederick Sheppard Grimwade and brother of Harold Grimwade. He was educated at Melbour ...

* 1940, August: Frank R. Crozier, war paintings and landscapes in aid of A.I.F. 22nd Battalion Comforts Fund. Curated by

Cecily Crozier Cecily Medland Crozier (21 July 1911, Elsternwick – 2006, Adelaide) was an artist, poet and literary editor who co-founded ''aCOMMENT'', an avant-garde literary magazine in Melbourne. Biography Crozier was born in Elsternwick, on 21 July 19 ...

(niece) * 1940, 13 September: Noel Blaubaum, Melbourne and Hobart landscapes in monotypes and oils * 1940, 30 September - October: Paintings by Miss A.M.E. Bale, * 1940, 18–30 November: The Bread and Cheese Club's Australian Art & Literature Exhibition * 1941: Exhibition of paintings sculpture and pottery by Australian artists to aid the

. * 1941: 18 February – 3 March: Exhibition of clay sculptures on Australian Aboriginal folk-lore by William Ricketts: legends collected by Sir Baldwin Spencer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S. and David Uniapon * 1941, 9 August – 30 August: Exhibition of paintings by Edith Holmes. * 1943, from 16 June: Red Cross fundraising exhibition curated by Stephanie Taylor from works, including her own, by

Rupert Bunny Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny (29 September 186425 May 1947) was an Australian painter. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, he achieved success and critical acclaim as an expatriate in ''fin-de-siècle'' Paris. He gained an honourable mention ...

James Peter Quinn James Peter Quinn (4 December 1869 – 18 February 1951) was an Australian portrait painter born in Melbourne. Biography He studied part-time under Frederick McCubbin 1887–1999, at the Melbourne's National Gallery of Victoria Art School ...

, Charles Wheeler,

James R. Jackson James Richard "Jim" Jackson (May 16, 1924 – March 20, 2011) was an American mathematician, well known for his contribution to queueing theory. Jackson was born in Denver and raised in Beverly Hills. He served in the United States Air Force duri ...

, Robert Johnson, Raymond Wallis, Robert Campbell, L. Bernard Hall, William B. McInnes,

Albert Ernest Newbury Albert Ernest Newbury (29 January 1891 – 1 April 1941) was an Australian artist who was associated with the Australian tonalism, Australian tonalist movement. Career Newbury was born in Melbourne, one of the five sons of Samuel Newbury (1854 ...

Isabel May Tweddle Isabel May (Diana) Tweddle (1875–1945), was an Australian painter. She was a member of the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors and the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society Inc. A number of her paintings are in the collections of ...

, Violet McInnes, Dorothy Moore, and Douglas Thomas * 1943, 16 – 27 July: Adrian George Feint * 1943, 16 July – 27 July: Exhibition of the Graphic Arts * 1943, from 15 August: Exhibition of bookbinding to aid the Red Cross * 1943, 24 August – 3 September: Contemporary Art Society * 1943, from 14 September: Gwen Barringer * 1943–5, 16 November 1943 – 27 July 1945: Touring Exhibition of Graphic Arts * 1944, from 4 April: paintings by Alannah Coleman and Joan Malcolm, opened by actor

Claude Flemming Claude Flemming (1884–1952) was an Australian actor, writer, producer and director of theatre and film whose varied stage career spanned the first half of the 20th century. He performed in Shakespeare and other drama, as well as opera, and bec ...

* 1944, 10 – 20 May: Stephanie Taylor, 43 watercolours and oils * 1945: First annual exhibition, artists E. Alsop, Wallace Anderson, Clothilde Atyeo, A.M.E. Bale, E. Monette Baxter, Tom Bell, Josl Bergner,

Arthur Boyd Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd (24 July 1920 – 24 April 1999) was a leading Australian painter of the middle to late 20th century. Boyd's work ranges from impressionist renderings of Australian landscape to starkly expressionist figuration, ...

, Ian Bow,

Lina Bryans Lina Bryans (26 August 1909 – 30 September 2000), was an Australian modernist painter. Life Lina Bryans was born in Hamburg, Germany, on 26 August 1909, second daughter of wealthy prosperous Michaelis-Hallenstein family of industrialis ...

, Nutter Buzacott, Victor E. Cobb, Valerie Cohen, Yvonne F. Cohen, W. Coleman, Elizabeth Colquhoun, F. Lawrence Coles,

Noel Counihan Noel Jack Counihan (4 October 19135 July 1986) was an Australian social realist painter, printmaker, cartoonist and illustrator active in the 1940s and 1950s in Melbourne. An atheist, communist, and art activist, Counihan made art in response to ...

, Sybil Craig, Peggy Crombie, Mabel Crump,

Aileen Dent Aileen Rose Dent (1890 – 30 March 1978) was an Australian artist known for her portraits, specifically her portrait of Australian aviator Jean Burns. Biography Dent was born in 1890 in Deniliquin, New South Wales. From 1909 to 1916 she was ...

, Max Dimmack, Ailsa Donaldson,

Ambrose Dyson Ambrose Dyson (1876 – 4 June 1913), often known as Amb Dyson was an Australian illustrator and political cartoonist, born at Alfredton, near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, the son of George Dyson, then a hawker and later a mining engineer, an ...

, Esme Farmer, John Farmer, Alma Figuerola, Burton Fox,

Madge Freeman Frances Margot ('Madge') Freeman (1895–1977) was an Australian painter of landscape and urban scenes working internationally who was known for her watercolour, and for her craft of lacquerwork and enamelware. Early life and education Born in ...

William Frater William Frater (1890–1974) was a Scottish-born Australian stained-glass designer and modernist painter who challenged conservative tastes in Australian art. Early life and education Scotland William Frater was born on 31 January 1890 a ...

, Grace Gardiner, Ina Gregory,

Nornie Gude Eleanor Constance "Nornie" Gude (Dec 8 1915 – Jan 24 2002) was an Australian artist. Early life Gude was born in 1915 in Ballarat, Victoria to Stella Rehfisch and Walter Gude, musician and violin teacher, and conductor of the St Patrick's C ...

, W.G. Gulliver, Michael Hall, John Heath, Edward Heffernan, Roy Opie, Betty Paterson,

Esther Paterson Esther Paterson Gill (5 February 1892 8 August 1971) was an Australian artist, book-illustrator and cartoonist. Early years Paterson was born in Carlton, Victoria, the second child born to Scottish emigrants Hugh and Elizabeth Leslie (''née' ...

John Perceval John de Burgh Perceval AO (1 February 1923 – 15 October 2000) was a well-known Australian artist. Perceval was the last surviving member of a group known as the Angry Penguins who redefined Australian art in the 1940s. Other members includ ...

, A. Plante, Muriel Pornett, James Quinn, M. Rankin, Jack Sampson, Dora Serle, Bruno Simon, David Sing, Colvin L. Smith, J.T. Smith, W. Spence, N.F. Suhr, Jean P. Sutherland,

Jo Sweatman Estelle Mary (Jo) Sweatman (1872-1956), was an Australian painter. She was a founding member of the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society. Early life and training Sweatman was born in South Yarra 1872. She took drawing classes at a suburban ladi ...

, E.W. Syme, Arnold Shore, Stephanie Taylor, George H. Tichauer, Louise Thomas,

Violet Teague Violet Helen Evangeline Teague (21 February 1872 – 30 September 1951) was an Australian artist, noted for her painting, printmaking and her critical writings on art. Early life and training The only daughter of Melbourne homeopath James Te ...

Francis Roy Thompson Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie29 ...

, Rollo Thomson, Albert Tucker, Kit Turner,

Danila Vassilieff Danila Vassilieff (22 March 1958) was a Russian-born Australian painter and sculptor. He has been called the "father of Australian modernism". Life Danila Ivanovich Vassilieff (Данила Иванович Васильев) was born in 1897 ...

, J. Wentcher, Tina Wentcher,

James V. Wigley James Vandeleur Wigley (1917–1999) is an Australian painter known for his sensitive depictions of aboriginal camp scenes and desert landscapes. Wigley studied at the School of Fine Arts in North Adelaide with F. Millward Grey. During 1939 he ...

, Nora Wilkie, Dora L. Wilson, Noel Wood, Marjorie Woolcock, Joan Yonge, Marguerite Mahood. * 1945, 24 April to 5 May: Exhibition of Aboriginal arts & crafts *1945, 5–16 June:

Roger Kemp Roger Kemp AO OBE (3 July 1908 – 14 November 1987) was an Australian modernist painter, and printmaker, recognized as one of the leading figures in Australian abstraction. He pioneered transcendental abstraction, developing a personal symbo ...

- first solo exhibition, 37 works * 1945, 2–13 July: Contemporary Child Art to Aid Red Cross Funds, Arranged by Woman"s World, Exhibition opened by Lady Brookes at Velasquez Gallery, Tye's Building * 1945, 1 March – 1 April: Exhibition of paintings by Ivan Yakovlev * 1945, 3 – 13 April: Australian C.E.M.A. Victorian Division, Autumn Arts Festival. First Annual Exhibition. * 1945, 16 – 23 May: Exhibition of works of art by well known Australian artists for the benefit of The Lord Mayor's Appeal (The Rt. Hon. Cr. Sir Thomas S. Nettlefold, K.B., O.B.E.,) for totally and permanently disabled service men and service women. * 1945, 16 – 27 July: Exhibition of the Graphic Arts; Bread and Cheese Club, Australian Bookplate Club. * 1946, 8 – 19 January: Three Tasmanian artists; Winifred Biggins, Eileen Brooker, Dorothy Stoner * 1946, 12 – 23 March: Exhibition by Water Colour Group * 1947, from 24 July: Sculpture by

Arthur Fleischmann Arthur Fleischmann (1896, Bratislava2 March 1990, Tenerife) was a Slovak-born, London-based sculptor, who pioneered the use of perspex in sculpture. He spent time in Bali, and in Australia, where he was at the centre of the Merioola Group, before ...

and Lyndon Dadswell, opened by

Frank Thring Francis William Thring IV (11 May 1926 – 29 December 1994) was an Australian character actor in radio, stage, television and film; as well as a theatre director. His early career started in London in theatre productions, before he starred i ...

* 1947, September: John Middleton * 1948, 1 May – 8 June: Edith Holmes * 1948, April: The Kelly paintings of

1946-47 * 1948? 7–19 June:

Elizabeth Durack Elizabeth Durack Clancy CMG, OBE (6 July 1915 – 25 May 2000) was a Western Australian artist and writer. Early life Born in the Perth suburb of Claremont on 6 July 1915, she was a daughter of Kimberley pioneer, Michael Patrick Durack ...

paintings By the late 1940s in publicity and in general references to it, the gallery is usually just 'Tye's Gallery’: * 1948: Loan collection of paintings from Dr. and Mrs. T.J. Kiernan, Irish Legation, Canberra, A.C.T. * 1948, October: Stephanie Taylor, 64 watercolours * 1948, 26 October – 5 November: Loan exhibition of paintings of horses...to benefit

Ada Mary A'Beckett Ada may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle'', a novel by Vladimir Nabokov Film and television * Ada, a character in 1991 movie '' Armour of God II: Operation Condor'' * '' Ada... A Way of Life'', a 2008 Bollywo ...

Free Kindergarten, Fisherman's Bend. * 1949, June: Dutch paintings * 1949, from 13 September: paintings by official R.A.A.F. and War Memorial artists Eric Thake, Harold Freedman and Max Newton to mark Air Force week, opened by Air Marshal G. Jones * 1949, September: Stephanie Taylor, watercolours and oils * 1949, from 1 October:

Leonard French Leonard William French OBE (8 October 1928 – 10 January 2017) was an Australian artist, known principally for major stained glass works. French was born in Brunswick, Victoria to a family of Cornish origin. His stained glass creations inc ...

* 1950, from 1 February: British Council exhibition of prints and photographs * 1950, from 7 February: Swiss poster design * 1950, 23 May – 2 June Tenth anniversary 1940 - 1950. * 1952, 11 March: Spencer Jackson Historical Australasian Art Collection, opened by

''The Age'', Tuesday 11 Mar 1952, p.3 * 1952 Photographs of Yugoslavia * 1952, October: Children's Art Exhibition at Tye's Gallery, opened by

Archbishop Mannix Daniel Patrick Mannix (4 March 1864 – 6 November 1963) was an Irish-born Australian Catholic bishop. Mannix was the Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years and one of the most influential public figures in 20th-century Australia. Early lif ...

, included work by

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and feminist, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminism movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literature, she ...

in the Under-14 section * 1954, 6 April – 23 April: Contemporary Art Society commemorative exhibition; 86 painters and sculptors including women artists

Mirka Mora Mirka Madeleine Mora (née Zelik; 18 March 1928 – 27 August 2018) was a French-born Australian visual artist and cultural figure who contributed significantly to the development of Australian contemporary art. Her media included drawing, pai ...

Erica McGilchrist Erica McGilchrist (10 February 1926 – 9 May 2014) was an Australian artist and co-founder of the Women's Art Register. She participated in more than 40 solo exhibitions and many group exhibitions. She is represented in institutional and pub ...

, Ethel Barnes and Elizabeth Vassilief''The Age'', Tuesday 6 Apr 1954, p.7 * 1954, 14 September – 25 September: Artists for Peace. * 1954, 6–23 April: Contemporary Art Society Commemorative Exhibition

Footnotes

References

{{coord, -37.812177, 144.970209, display=title 1940 establishments in Australia Art museums and galleries established in 1940 Art museums and galleries in Melbourne Art museums and galleries disestablished in 1955 1955 disestablishments in Australia