The Art of Being Melbourne

This is an exploration of Melbourne’s history told through a study of paintings of the CBD. Almost every single Australian artist of any note has painted Melbourne scenes. Maree will take you on a journey through their work from the dawn of the European settlement at Port Phillip to today, via the paintings made through the decades.

• A history lesson AND an art lesson
• A unique portrait of the city

I have written many books about Melbourne, and this one is the most unusual and yet the most revealing of the city’s true heart and personality. It explains origins and development in a way that is human and emotional, because art captures the emotional dimension of Melbourne’s history.

Topics covered:

• Melbourne’s key role in Australian Art
• The 19th Century - Early settlers & colonial art/Buiding a narrative in art
• Impressionists and the Australian narrative into the turn of the the 20th century
• Women’s art on the rise between the wars
• The shock of the new Modernism/ Heide and Contemporary art into the 21st century and today.