For this month's Pages and Perspectives: Book Club we are learning about German artist Elise Blumann (1897–1990). Having fled Nazi Germany in 1934 she arrived in Western Australia in 1938. She set up home with her husband and two sons on the banks of the Swan River, and began to paint. Over the next ten years she produced a series of portraits set against the river and the Indian Ocean, and pursued an analysis of plant forms – the zamia palm, xanthorrhoea, banksia and the majestic melaleuca – to brilliant effect.
Sally Quin traces Blumann’s formative student years in Berlin and her first decade in Australia, where the artist reinvented her working method in response to the intense light and colour of the local landscape. The challenges presented by this new physical environment resulted in bold and evocative interpretations of the land. Blumann was a conservative modernist, but the Perth art scene was not prepared for her expressive style, and when she exhibited for the first time in 1944 her art was met with bewilderment.
Please note that members are responsible for sourcing their own books before each session. We have partnered with local bookstore Typeface Books in Applecross, who are generously giving club members 10% off book club purchases. Melville Libraries also have limited copies of each book. This event will take place inside the Wireless Hill Museum with refreshments, small bites and discussion prompts provided by the museum.
To join this meeting please register, purchase and read before joining us on Wednesday, 5 June.
Acclaimed artist and author Dorothy Erickson will be joining us on Wednesday, 19 June for the next installment of Pages and Perspectives: History Speaks. She will speak about highlights from her work Inspired by light and land: Designers and makers in Western Australia 1829-1969 .
