Although research always takes time, it was never hard to find the material to
challenge the conventional perception of Bernard Hall; at least
as far as this concerned his private life, his record as administrator of
the National Gallery of Victoria, and his influence as a teacher. An archive of
mammoth proportion holds more than enough material to counter the mythology
that saw him condemned as aloof, arrogant, overly conservative or insensitive.
More problematic was the reception of his art. In 1978, Daniel Thomas first observed that Hall’s work
was ‘conspicuously absent from previous accounts of Australian art’.
Thomas attributed this neglect, at least in part, to the artist’s ‘complete lack
of interest in nationalist art'. Even so, he expressed his astonishment that
the demand for a recognisably Australian art should have had ‘prevented such
excellent and interesting paintings . . . from being recognised’. (Daniel Thomas, Outlines
of Australian Art: The Joseph Brown Collection, Macmillan, South Melbourne
1980, pp. 34-35)
There is little question that Hall was, as Thomas also said,
a superb technician whose work was not only structurally superior to that of
his better known colleague, Norman Lindsay, but always ‘far more intense and
concrete than Lindsay’s fantasies’.
Be that as it may, the response to any art is personal and while I love Hall’s paintings (well, most of them) I can’t expect the rest of the world to do so unquestioningly – particularly sight unseen. What I can do, however, is to urge all sceptics to take the time to find and see as many of his pictures as possible before forming – or accepting – any hard and fast opinion. Reproductions, even those of excellent quality (as they are in my biography) are only a start. Standing in front of the 'real thing' enables a more personal encounter.
Be that as it may, the response to any art is personal and while I love Hall’s paintings (well, most of them) I can’t expect the rest of the world to do so unquestioningly – particularly sight unseen. What I can do, however, is to urge all sceptics to take the time to find and see as many of his pictures as possible before forming – or accepting – any hard and fast opinion. Reproductions, even those of excellent quality (as they are in my biography) are only a start. Standing in front of the 'real thing' enables a more personal encounter.
 |
| Bernard Hall, The Model and the Picture, c. 1924, private collection |
Melbourne gallery-goers are in a better position than most
to do this. At the National Gallery of
Victoria Hall’s neo-classical Sleep
and his later and arguably greater Studio
Party are often on the walls, along with a selection of lesser-known
paintings. At the University of
Melbourne’s Ian Potter Museum the dramatically confronting nude, Despair (originally titled Suicide) exemplifies the artist’s consummate
draughtsmanship and his breathtaking ability to exploit light and colour for
the greatest expressive effect.
And there is, at least until February 2014, a chance to see
several paintings only rarely available to the public (including The Model and the Picture). At the State Library of
Victoria, in the Keith Murdoch Gallery, an exhibition entitled ‘Free, secular & democratic:
building the Public Library 1853–1913’ includes four of these pictures, each
one revealing something of the artist’s love for the building in which he spent
his working life. Very well worth a visit!
For those in other states, keep watching this space!
For those in other states, keep watching this space!
To find a bookseller stocking L. Bernard Hall:The man the art world forgot go to http://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/l-bernard-hall/
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