Hilda Rix Nicholas: Paris to Monaro

Paris to Monaro: Pleasures from the studio of Hilda Rix Nicholas

National Portrait Gallery (May - August 2013)

Pied Piper (1911)

Hilda Rix Nicholas is known for many things in the world of art, not least her war paintings. These are deliberately excluded from this exhibition which focuses on her standing as a ‘female’ artist. It highlights her imagination linked with a practical mind, resulting in intricate costume designs, images of her son in every possible guise, and a love of colour and clothing.

Born in Ballarat in 1884, Emily Hilda Rix left Australia in 1907 and travelled with her mother and sister to London. She studied at the New Art School and then the Académie Delecluse in Paris. With her sister, Elsie, she spent time in Tangier, Morocco, where she made many striking portraits and sketches, reflecting her love of light and vibrancy. One of these paintings, Grand Marché, Tanger, was bought by the French government after an exhibition.

Marchands du charbons de bois (Charcoal sellers) (1912)

The Well in the Blue, Arab Quarters (1914)

In 1916 she met and married Australian soldier, Major George Matson Nicholas DSO. He died within weeks leading a battalion in France. She drew charcoal and pastel on paper portraits of George and his two brothers, Frank and Athol; the one of her husband is particularly remarkable and the catalogue notes that the brothers evoke the Australian soldier of legend; “raffish, iconoclastic, and proud all at once”.

George Nicholas (1916)

Also during the First World War, she lost her sister and mother to typhoid fever. With amazing positivity, she continued to design and draw costumes for a matinee fundraiser for the Anzac Club and Buffet in 1917 – the exhibition includes her designs for magpie, wool, cheese, gold, gum blossom and warratah.

Hilda Rix Nicholas (as she now signed her paintings) returned to Australia in 1918 and settled in Mosman by Sydney Harbour, where she lived among ‘arty-party-loving people’. She made costumes for parties and illustrations for fairytales – Mary Mary; Simple Simon; Jack and Jill; Little Miss Muffet; Mother Hubbard; Pied Piper etc.

In 1928 she married Edgar Wright, grandson of James Wright – first magistrate of Queanbeyan and pioneer white settler of Lanyon, Cuppacumbalong and Booroomba in the Canberra region. Edgar was severely injured at Passchendaele (buried in the earth by one blast and regurgitated by another explosion). He was repatriated and took over the family farm. The Fleece is a fabulous study of her husband Edgar as he goes about his business.

The Fleece (1944)

On her travels to Europe, Hilda Rix Nicholas was determined to show viewers the virtues of the bush and pioneer life, following in the tradition of the Heidelberg School and writers such as Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson. Her portraits of men and women of the land capture an earnest respect for hard work and rugged beauty.

The Shearers (1922-23)

At Knockalong, Hilda Rix Nicholas had a studio built to her specifications, which was completed in 1930. It was French provincial in style with a broad mediaeval-style fireplace, huge windows, soaring ceiling, a loft and a stage. It is recreated in this exhibition and furnished with mementoes from foreign lands: robes, clogs, vests, bags, belts, rugs, slippers, pots and plates, and paintings.  

It is a treat to see these artefacts collected here, along with the pictorial representations of them. Among the clothes which she loved and collected in a trunk, are a Chinese robe and Spanish shawl that she painted with a meticulous eye to the expansive colours and design. 

When she was 46, Hilda had a son, Rix, who became the focus of her life. She loved to tell him stories and play games with him, making wire and wadding minikins for their entertainment. She made portraits of Rix in every aspect of life: as a soldier, scout and shepherd among other things.

Some of the minikins Hilda made for her son, Rix

The Shepherd of Knockalong (1933)

She loved her garden and the natural surrounds, painting them with bright blue skies and Pissaro/ Cezanne-like colours. The style may evoke French Impressionism, but the eucalypts are pure Australia.

Spring in my garden, Knockalong (1940)

Country Garden, Knockalong (1945)

Hilda always loved horses and riding, and many of her paintings feature Rix’s governess and jillaroos as models.

Bringing in the Sheep (1936)

The Fair Musterer (1935)

A neighbour described Autumn evening’s golden glow as combining Hilda’s favourite subjects: humans, horses, flower garden and the Monaro landscape brought together on one large, joyously vivid canvas.

Autumn evening's golden glow (1935)

Friday Five: Songs about Stealing

This is a week late, so I apologise for that, but I wasn't aware that last Friday (8th August) was the 34th anniversary of the release of Bankrobber by The Clash. Having discovered that, I felt I had to dedicate a post to that marvelous song, and others of its ilk.

5 Best Songs about Theft:

1. Bankrobber - The Clash
   
   
2. Thick as Thieves - The Jam
   
   
3. Stand and Deliver - Adam and the Ants
   
   
   
   
4. Shoplifters of the World, Unite - The Smiths
   
   
   
   
5. Been Caught Stealing - Jane's Addiction

Presto Photos: Just get in the damn hat!

Massive thanks to my fabulous cast and also to photographer, Kelly McGannon, for capturing the moment(s), and Mike McRae for writing the excellent script. I love your work, all of you!

"You just need to hide there until you get pulled out." - Magician's Assistant (Sarah McCarthy)

"Why can't he just, well, trans-com-mod-u-fy me?" - Rabbit (Michelle Cooper)

"Can I really what?" - Magician (Tony Cheshire)

"I am a real magician."

"People love to be fooled."

"A good magic trick leaves you with a sense of hope, miracles, and infinite possibility."

"Are you going to climb in there, or am I going to have to snap off your four good look charms and cram you in there?"

"Hey, Chimp, you know there's no such thing as magic?"

"Humour is about breaking conventions and pushing taboos." - Monkey (Paul Jackson)

"Pulling a monkey from a hat just ain't funny."

 

"Everyone's busting a gut, I'm busting my butt."

"Tears of the clown? Try tears of the f*%!ing dancing ape."

"For every joke reinforcing that ape-ist hegemony, I die a little inside."

"All I care about is that somebody's getting in that hat tonight!"

Friday Five: Presto!

As part of the Short and Sweet Play Festival in Canberra, I am directing a play by Mike McRae called Presto. It concerns the nature of magic and comedy; theatre and deception, with some intense arguments and witty dialogue. It features a magician (Tony Cheshire) and his assistant (Sarah McCarthy), along with a rabbit (Michelle Cooper), a monkey (Paul Jackson) and a voice (Liz McRae).

If you are in the neighbourhood of the Courtyard Theatre (12-15 August), come and see it. Meanwhile, here are some of the great lines from the play. There are more, but I don't want to give too much away...

5 Lines from Presto:

1. "Magic is all an act, you realise? It's storytelling? It's art?" - Assistant
2. "I've been in the magic business since I was old enough to push coins up my nose, and I tell you, people love to be fooled." - Magician
3. "Let me get this straight; several thousand years of scientific and philosophical inquiry has busted its balls to explain how the universe works, and people are paying you to hide that fact from them?" - Rabbit
4. "Professor Chuckles is having an existential crisis. Thinks he's not funny. He's probably right, of course. Hobo clowns are so 1930s." - Monkey
5. "It's time, Mr Amazing. Places everyone!" - Voice

Friday Five: Stouts at the Wig and Pen

The Wig and Pen have got some lovely rich dark stouts on to help us through the winter months. That's very considerate of them, so we went along and tried them when they kicked off 'Stout Fest' last month. They were very good, so we have been back several times just to check that they are all still there. They are. 

5 Stouts at the Wig & Pen:

1. Velvet cream - rich and strong, dark fruit, hints of chocolate, creamy texture: Black Forest Gateau.
2. Papa Tom's Double Chocolate Stout (6.7%) - tasting notes say this is a traditional sweet stout with lashings of German chocolate malts and Dutch cacao, but it wasn't as chocolatey as I had expected.
3. Sailor Dick's - a spiced rum stout flavoured with Queensland molasses and infused with a selection of spices including local black truffles. Again, it didn't taste spicy enough, but the obvious Freudian slip in the name developed before too long.
4. Russian Imperial Stout (8.2%) - my favourite! Tasting notes refer to "a good bite from freshly roasted barley and hints of dried fruit esters from the traditional English Ale yeast". Perhaps that's why it's my favourite.
5. Machu Picchocolate - apparently exactly the same recipe as 2 but with chilli; it gets hotter as the night goes on.

Some of the stouts on tap at the Wig & Pen

Friday Five: Rules of Civility

Thanks to my friend, The Green Goddess, who recommended that I read The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. I've yet to consolidate my opinions on the novel beyond a glaring neon of Great Gatsby and 'written with both eyes firmly on the film rights', so this isn't a review. 

The title relates to the Young George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation. Aged sixteen, the future President of America copied out these rules as a writing exercise from a translation of a French etiquette manual first published in 1640. The original French manual has been traced back to a manuscript written by the Jesuits in 1595. 

Many of the 'rules' relate to table manners, when to doff one's hat, where to position oneself when walking along a corridor or through a door with another, and how one should never fidget, sigh, yawn, hum, bite one's nails or appear in a state of undress in the presence of others. Speaking with one's mouth full, scuffing ones feet, wearing dirty clothes, raising one eyebrow, or spreading gossip are all equally frowned upon.

What strikes me is that following most of these edicts would still serve us well over four hundred years later. Unfortunately, as most of them refer to deference, putting others before oneself, and not assuming one is the centre of attention, they are increasingly dropping out of fashion. 

It is also interesting to note that the young George did not think these behaviours were necessarily innate (otherwise, there would be no need to list them), but that, if learned, they would make shared society all the more pleasant. I still hold these truths to be self-evident. These are my favourite of the 110 rules:

5 Favourite Rules of Civility:

1. 1st - Every Action done in Company, ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present.
2. 18th - Read no Letters, Books, or Papers in Company but when there is a Necessity for the doing of it you must ask leave: come not near the Books or Writings of Another so as to read them unless desired or give your opinion of them unask'd also look not nigh when another is writing a Letter. (Poor George would have conniptions over mobile-phone usage!)
3. 41st - Undertake not to Teach your equal in the art himself Professes; it Savours of arrogancy. (Critics; take note!)
4. 53rd - Run not in the Streets, neither go too slowly nor with Mouth open go not Shaking yr Arms kick not the earth with yr feet, go not upon the toes, nor in a Dancing fashion.
5. 89th - Speak not evil of the absent for it is unjust.

Friday Five: Time for Tea

There's so much guff talked about coffee these days - people who pour the stuff are called by special names as though they have qualifications rather than being a jumped-up kettle. And although I do  like a good caffeine hit, I could do without the side-serving of pretentiousness and baseless disdain. So it's back to the basics of a good cuppa for me.

5 Favourite Teas:

1. Ceylon black tea (of the P.G. Tips/ Tetley variety) - there are few problems in England that aren't ameliorated with a good brew
2. Darjeeling - a delicate floral aroma and light muscat grapes notes, known as 'the champagne of teas'.
3. Earl Grey - supposedly named after the Charles Grey, the second Earl Grey, and British Prime Minister between 1830 and 1834. The tea is flavoured with the oil from the bergamot orange rind.
4. Lapsang Souchong - known in China as 'tea for Westerners'. The word 'souchong' refers to the fourth and fifth leaves of the tea plant, further from the prized bud (pekoe) and coarser than the more desirable leaves, so they are smoke-dried over pinewood fires to make them palatable.
5. Chai - a warming, soothing style thanks to the addition of Indian spices including cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and pepper.