Heide Museum of Modern Art

Heide Museum of Modern Art

Heide I, a former farm house, now houses some of the museum's works and artefacts from the Heide Circle era
Established	1981
Location	Bulleen, Manningham, Melbourne, Australia
Type	Contemporary art museum, Historic site, Sculpture park
Visitors	70,000
Public transit access	291 & 283 Bus routes, nearest train; Heidelberg Station
Website	www.heide.com.au

Heide Museum of Modern Art, more commonly just Heide, is a contemporary art museum located in Bulleen, east of Melbourne, Australia. Established in 1981, the museum comprises several detached buildings and surrounding gardens & parklands of historical importance that are used as gallery spaces to exhibit works in various mediums by contemporary Australian artists.

The museum occupies the site of a former dairy farm that was purchased by the prominent Melbourne art collectors John and Sunday Reed in 1934 and became home to a collective known as the Heide Circle, which included many of Australia's best-known modernist painters, such as; Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan, Laurence Hope, Joy Hester and others, who lived and worked in the former farm house (Heide I).

Between 1964 and 1967, a new residence was built (Heide II). It is considered to be one of the finest examples of modernist architecture in Victoria. In 1981, the museum was established on the site, incorporating the existing buildings and surrounding gardens & parklands as exhibition and gallery spaces. A dedicated gallery building (Heide III) was constructed in 1993 and the museum continued to broaden its collection of works to include all forms of contemporary Australian art, including some by contemporary Indigenous artists.

The museum underwent major redevelopment in 2005-06 which included the installation of several sculptural and installation art pieces, landscaping & redesign of the gardens, construction of a new education centre & gallery space, extension of the Heide III building and various other works.

In 2009 after 19 months of redevelopment, the cafe reopened in November as Cafe Vue at Heide. This completed building works at Heide.

History

Heide I and front gardens.

See also: Heide Circle

Early history

The museum is situated on a site that was originally occupied by a dairy farm, the farm house was built in the 1880s-1890s. The Yarra River and surrounding hills east of Melbourne provided an ideal setting for many artists, writers, poets, etc., exemplified in the formation of the Heidelberg School at Heidelberg, Montsalvat in Eltham and various artist camps in locations such as Box Hill and Warrandyte. Thus, the area was frequented by artists since the mid-19th century.

In 1934, the farm was purchased by John and Sunday Reed, passionate supporters and collectors of Australian art and culture, and named after the nearby town of Heidelberg. The Reeds established one of the finest private libraries in Melbourne at Heide, containing many of the most important and lavish art magazines and journals from Europe and America. Access was open to all Heide visitors and provided much inspiration for visiting artists, writers, musicians and the Reeds' other creative friends. A loose grouping of Australian artists who became known as the "Heide Circle", began living and working at Heide, counting amongst their number many of Australia's best-known modernist painters.

A number of modernist artists came to live and work at various times through the 1930s, '40s and '50s at Heide, and as such it became the place where many of the most famous works of the period were painted. Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan, Laurence Hope and Joy Hester, amongst others, all worked at Heide. Nolan painting 26 of his original 27 Ned Kelly works in the dining room of Heide I.

The Heide Circle continued in their primary commitment to Figurative Modernism through the 1950s and '60s, with several of the artists forming the Antipodeans Group and taking a stand against the new abstract art. The Heide Circle became well known for the intertwined personal and professional lives of the people involved. Sunday Reed conducted affairs with a number of them, with the knowledge of her husband.

In 1964, the Reeds commissioned Victorian architect David McGlashan to design a new residence, initially intended to be "a gallery to be lived in". It is designed with simple L-shaped walls that interlink to form a sequence of internal and external 'rooms' in Mount Gambier limestone, white terrazzo, treated pine and glass. The Reeds moved into Heide II in 1967 and it served as their residence for some time.

In the mid-1960s Heide's much loved kitchen garden was created by Sunday Reed in a bare cow paddock.

Museum establishment

The Reeds sold Heide II, most of the adjoining land and a body of their art collection (113 works) to the Victorian Government in August 1980. The purchase was agreed to and signed off by the Minister for the Arts at the time, the Hon. Norman Lacy who continued to provide the Government's on-going support for the creation of a public art gallery, to be named 'Heide Park and Art Gallery'. After six months of converting the property into a public space, the modern Heide II was opened in November 1981.

The Reeds returned to live in Heide I. Dr Norman Wettenhall was appointed the first Chairman and the then Premier of Victoria, Sir Rupert Hamer was honoured as the inaugural Patron. Maudie Plamer was appointed the inaugural Director.

Recent history

The museum underwent major redevelopment in 2005-06 which included the installation of several sculptural and installation art pieces, landscaping & redesign of the gardens, construction of a new education centre & gallery space, extension of the Heide III building to incorporate works from the Barbara Tucker Gift and various other works. On 13 July 2006 the museum officially re-opened after its $3 million dollar renovation and extension. The new buildings were designed by O'Connor + Houle Architecture.

Buildings, features, and layout

Heide III, southwestern side and forecourt.

Heide II, viewed from the northeast side.

Heide is situated on a former floodplain of the Yarra River in Bulleen. It is bordered to the north-east and east by the Yarra Valley Country Club, to the west and south by Banksia Park, and to the south-east by Templestowe Road. The site borders the Yarra River, at Fannings Bend, in its north-west corner. The museum itself comprises several detached buildings and surrounding gardens and parklands on the site, described in further detail below, all of which are used in various capacities as exhibition spaces.

Buildings and facilities

• Heide I - built 1880s

A former dairy farm house, purchased by the Reeds in 1934 and became home to members of the Heide Circle who also completed various in the building. Restored at various times in the late 20th century, it currently houses various works and artifacts from its Heide Circle residents and is used as an exhibition space.

• Heide II - built 1963

Designed by Victorian architect David McGlashan, who was commissioned by the Reeds, it was initially intended to be "a gallery to be lived in" and served as their residence for some time. The building is considered one of the best examples of modernist architecture in Victoria and is currently used as an exhibition space.

• Heide III - built 1993, extended 2005

Originally designed by Andrew Andersens of Peddle Thorp Architects and later extended to create additional exhibition spaces, both indoors and outdoors, and to extend the existing visitor amenities. It houses the largest gallery spaces of the museum including: the Central Galleries; the Albert & Barbara Tucker Gallery, Tucker Study Centre; Kerry Gardner & Andrew Myer Project Gallery; and the Heide Store.

• Sidney Myer Education Centre - built 2005

Designed by O’Connor and Houle Architecture, its purpose is expressed as "a dynamic learning and thinking space for teachers, students, and community groups." The centre offers innovative and diverse education and public programs based on Heide’s changing exhibitions, architecture, landscape and collection.

• Heide Cafe - completed in November 2009

After a 19 month redevelopment program Cafe Vue at Heide opened to the public on 24 November 2009. The $1.5 million redevelopment was designed by Chris Connell Design (CCD). Inspired by the award winning architecture of Heide and its beautiful gardens, Café Vue at Heide is a sleek and elegant addition to this iconic site. The café’s glass pavilion seats 55 patrons inside and an outdoor area seats an additional 55 patrons.

The building has recycled existing granite and limestone and incorporates new materials including - anodised lso aluminium, glass, steel and additional timber sourced from sustainable forests. Sustainable elements have been incorporated in the design.

Gardens and parklands

The gardens at Heide cover sixteen acres surrounding the buildings and host a diverse environment of trees, shrubs, flowering plants and paddocks that extend down over the river flats to the banks of the Yarra River. On purchasing the Heide property in 1934, John and Sunday Reed commenced the planting of hundreds of European and exotic trees. Friend and artist, Neil Douglas, among other friends, was instrumental in helping the Reeds establish Heide’s early gardens. The gardens surrounding Heide I were restored in 2001 as the first part of Heide’s current Redevelopment Program and the gardens surrounding Heide II were restored in 2006.

Major gardens include; the Sir Rupert Hamer Garden, constructed as a sculptural park and to reduce noise from nearby Manningham Road; Kitchen Garden, established by the Heide Circle to provide vegetables, herbs and fruit for its residents; and Karakarook's Garden, a sculptural garden bed with edible native vegetation. The surrounding parklands also include formal perennial walks, parterre gardens, woodlands and parkland dotted with contemporary sculptural installations dotted throughout. The gardens utilise extensive water management systems.

Some of the more notable works in the gardens and parklands include:

• Helmet, Tanya Court and Cassandra Chilton, 2008 (painted white by street artists in late 2008)
• Rings of Saturn, Inge King, 2005–06
• Karakarook’s Garden, Lauren Berkowitz, 2005–06
• Cows, Jeff Thomson, 1987

Access

File:Thomson Cows J.Gollings 2004.jpg

The installation on the lawns to the north of the museum, entitled Cows, by Jeff Thomson, 1987

• Heide I - Normally closed to the general public with guided tours run from 2pm, but open until 1 May 2011 because of the Mirka Mora exhibition.
• Heide II - Various rooms open during exhibitions.
• Heide III - Various spaces open during exhibitions.

Heide Shop (In Heide III) - Open to general public, free.

• Gardens & Sculpture Park - Open to the general public, free.

Collection

The museum's collection includes works in various mediums by many contemporary Australian artists conducted since the 1930s. These include works by artists such as; Moya Dyring, Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker, Joy Hester, John Perceval, Arthur Boyd, Howard Arkley, Charles Blackman, Peter Booth, Mike Brown, Richard Larter, Wolfgang Sievers, Sweeney Reed, Sam Atyeo and Jenny Watson.

In Media

The museum, its works and the surrounding gardens and parklands has served as subject matter for various photographers and have also featured in many Australian television programs:

• The courtyard of Heide III was the setting for an art school graduation in Very Small Business, ABC TV series, 2008
• The museum's gardens were featured in an episode of Gardening Australia in 2007.

Gallery

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  Rings of Saturn - Inge King
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  The Running Man
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See also

• Art of Australia
• Associated Galleries:
• National Gallery of Victoria
• National Gallery of Australia
• Related Topics:
• Heidelberg School
• Montsalvat
• Box Hill artists' camp
• Heide Circle

External links

• Heide Museum of Modern Art Website
• Heide Museum of Modern Art Artabase page
• Peddle Thorp Melbourne