Journey to Mildura Guest curator: Felicity St John Moore 22 November 2013 - 13 April 2014 Mildura Arts Centre Regional Gallery Education Fact Sheet Danila Vassilieff, Cocky and Darling Scene, 30.1 x 40.3 cm, Gouache on newsprint. Mildura Arts Centre Collection This education resource has been produced by Mildura Arts Centre in partnership with Heide Museum of Modern Art for. Reproduction and communication is permited for educational purposes only. No part of this education resource may be stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmited in any form or by any means. © Mildura Arts Centre Educational use only Page 1 of 6 Education Fact Sheet Introduction The Cossack Australian, Danila Vassilieff was a major artist and vital personality who lived in Mildura and taught art at Mildura High School in the mid fifties. He spent his last few months in a hut on the banks of the Darling, fishing in the rivers for the big cod and painting on newsprint from the Sunraysia Daily. Vassilieff holds the key to the development of figurative expressionism in Melbourne. This retrospective exhibition borrows from public and private collections to follow his career from London to Sydney, Melbourne and Warrandyte and put the Mildura collection of his work in focus. Biography Danila Vassilieff at the Thomas Mitchell quarry at Lilydale, C.1950 The story of how Vassilieff came to make his career in Australia reads like a script for an epic feature film. Set across several continents and featuring a changing cast of colourful characters, it is interwoven with grand themes: war, survival, adventure, love, betrayal, loss and above all, an innate drive to create. The tale begins in Kagalnitskaya, a small village in South Russia, where Vassilieff was born to a Cossack father and Ukrainian mother. He demonstrated enough potential as a young man for his parents to send him to a military academy in St Petersburg, where he trained as an engineer. Caught up in the Russian revolution of 1917 and ensuing civil war, he joined the Cossack cavalry and served on the Eastern Front, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel before being caught by the Reds at Baku, on the Caspian Sea. After a daring escape, he slowly made his way to China, living for a time with Tartar horsemen in Armenia, learning English in the employ of an Anglo-Persian oil company, and travelling by train through India and Burma. Vassilieff spent his last years teaching at high schools in Mildura, Swan Hill and Eltham, and fishing on the Murray River. The disparate and restless imagery of his late work reflects the fragmentation of his semi-itinerant lifestyle and his witty, sometimes scathing, observations of provincial society. He never returned to Russia. In March 1958, on a visit to Heide, he died of heart failure in John Reed’s arms. © Mildura Arts Centre Educational use only Page 2 of 6 Education Fact Sheet What type of gallery or art gallery is Mildura Arts Centre? (Tick the relevant box) Commercial gallery Artist run initiative (ARI) Public gallery Online gallery Alternative art space Art rental space How do you know this? Who curated this exhibition? What are the curatorial objectives or intent for this exhibition? What role has Danila Vassilieff played in the in the exhibition of artworks or catalogue complementing this exhibition? How has this exhibition been advertised and promoted to the general public? © Mildura Arts Centre Educational use only Page 3 of 6 Education Fact Sheet Who is the viewing audience and how have they been considered for example in the marketing of the exhibition or in the viewing space? What methods and considerations regarding conservation and preservation of artworks that have been displayed in this exhibition? (Include information regarding materials, lighting, temperature, storage, handling and presentation of artworks) Describe (at least) four methods that Mildura Arts Centre has utilised to keep these artworks safe from being damaged whilst on display in the galleries. What is likely to happen to the art works after the exhibition? © Mildura Arts Centre Educational use only Page 4 of 6 Education Fact Sheet Further reading about Danila Vassilieff Felicity St John Moore, Vassilieff and his Art, Macmillan Art Publishing, Melbourne, 2012. Haese, Richard, Rebels and Precursors: the revolutionary years of Australian art, Allen Lane, Melbourne, 1981. Harding, Lesley and Kendrah Morgan, Sunday’s Garden: Growing Heide, Heide Museum of Modern Art, State Library of Victoria and the Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 2012. Moore, Felicity St John, Vassilieff and his art, Oxford University Press, London, 1982. Moore, Felicity St John, Vassilieff: A retrospective exhibition of paintings, sculptures and watercolours, exh. cat., Heide Park & Art Gallery, 1985. Moore, Felicity St John, Vassilieff and his art, Macmillan Art Publishing, Melbourne, 2012 Morgan, Kendrah, ‘Danila Vassilieff, A New Art History’, The Melbourne Review, May 2012, http://www.melbournereview.com.au/read/404/ . Palmer, Maudie (ed.), Heide Park and Art Gallery, Heide Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne, 1981. (see Richard Haese’s essay in this publication) Reid, Barrett and Nancy Underhill (eds), Letters of John Reed: Defining Australian Cultural Life 1920–1981, Viking, Melbourne, 2001. © Mildura Arts Centre Educational use only Page 5 of 6 About Mildura Arts Centre Regional Gallery Mildura Rural City Council’s regional gallery and permanent collection is based at the heart of Mildura Arts Centre, and presents an ongoing schedule of exhibitions, public programs, and visual art opportunities for the community. The gallery offers a continuous program of exhibitions by both established and emerging artists from the Murray Darling region. Visitors will also discover one of Victoria’s best regional collections; diverse touring exhibitions of contemporary art, craft and social history, public programs and lectures. The five galleries serve as the central hub of Sunraysia’s creative meeting place and a conduit between Rio Vista Historic House and our modern multi-purpose proscenium theatre. Before your visit Bookings are essential for school visits to Mildura Arts Centre, we prefer at least one weeks notice prior to your visit. Please contact one of the members of our friendly Gallery team to discuss your visit via phone (03) 5018 8330 or email gallery@mildura.vic.gov.au You will also need to complete a Group Visit Booking Form prior to your visit which can be downloaded via our website at http://www.milduraartscentre.com.au/Gallery/School-Groups.aspx Teachers are also encouraged to visit Mildura Arts Centre prior to a booked school visit to familiarise themselves with the exhibitions and facilities. Keep up to date with the latest Mildura Arts Centre news and events by subscribing to the Mildura Arts Centre e-news at http://www.milduraartscentre.com.au Mildura Arts Centre Gallery · Rio Vista Historic House · Theatre · Sculpture park 199 Cureton Avenue MILDURA VIC 3500 T 03 5018 8330 milduraartscentre.com.au Open daily 10am–5pm Closed: Good Friday & Christmas Day Anzac Day: 1pm to 4pm © Mildura Arts Centre Educational use only Page 6 of 6