Queen Casimira with Katrina Grant

Wednesday 29 May 2013, 10.15 am to 11.45 am, $30, students $25

Queen Maria Casimira Sobieski, the widowed queen of Poland, moved to Rome in 1699. She was a great patron of opera and a member of the prestigious Arcadian Academy. In 1708 she constructed her own private theatre in the Palazzo Zuccari. However, biographers have typically painted her as opportunistic and scheming and she remains a shadowy figure in early 18th century Rome despite her patronage of such leading artists as Domenico Scarlatti and Filippo Juvarra.

KATRINA GRANT completed her PhD at The University of Melbourne in 2011 on the topic The Theatrical Baroque Garden: Garden and Theatre in Italy 1600-1750. She is a founding editor of the online art history journal emaj and the editor of the Melbourne Art Network.

Jerzy Eleuter Szymonowicz Siemiginowski (circa 1660 – circa 1711), Allegory of Spring with portrait of Queen Maria Casimira (detail), 1680s, Wilanow Palace Museum, Poland

Touch Me Not: Mary Magdalene and the power of gesture in medieval and renaissance art with Felicity Harley-McGowan

Tuesday 4 June 2013, 10.15 am to 11.45 am, $30, students $25

During the Italian Renaissance, the ‘ideal’ image was described as that which ‘captures the eye of whatever learned or unlearned person is looking at and moves his soul’.

This lecture will explore the ways in which artists across the 6th - 16th century achieved this in representations of Mary Magdalene as the first witness of Christ’s resurrection; in particular, it will examine the use of body language as a way of provoking different emotions in the viewer.

FELICITY HARLEY-MCGOWAN is an historian of Late Antique and Medieval art, with particular interests in the art of early medieval Rome. She completed her PhD at The University of Adelaide, and has held research fellowships at the Warburg Institute, University of London, The British School at Rome and The Yale Divinity School.

Titian (circa 1488/1490 –1576), Noli me Tangere, about 1514, The National Gallery, London

‘A Lady Of Singular Ingenuity And Politeness’: The life of Mary Granville, Mrs Delany with Dorothy Morgan

Wednesday 12 June 2013, 10.15 am to 11.45 am, $30, students $25

This illustrated talk will examine the life of Mrs Delany from reluctant young bride to a second widowhood. She was admired and respected by all, from Joseph Banks and Horace Walpole to Fanny Burney and George III and Queen Charlotte. Artist, designer, gardener, embroiderer, correspondent, sometime political activist and ‘amiable’ companion, Mrs Delany trod her own path within the confines of 18th century society with grace, intelligence and a firm step.

DOROTHY MORGAN, honours history graduate of The University of Melbourne, was Guest Curator of the exhibition FLOWERING NEEDLES: embroidery from Elizabeth to Victoria, (2010) and the house tour FAIR HALL TO GLAD PARLOUR: The Flower, Its Beauty & Meaning in Art & Ornament (2011) and lectured on Bess of Hardwick (2010), all for The Johnston Collection

Mrs Delaney (1700-1788), Passion Flower (from the Flora Delanica) (detail), paper mosaic, circa 1771-1781

Seventeenth-Century Sirens: Portraits of Two Italian Musicians with Mark Shepheard

Wednesday 19 June 2013, 10.15 am to 11.45 am, $30, students $25

Life was not easy for the female musician in 17th century Italy. Although musical ability was seen as a desirable accomplishment for the cultivated noblewoman, public performances by women brought associations of immorality; the female singer was often seen as a woman of low social standing, little better than a courtesan.

Two fascinating portraits from the 1640s (those of Barbara Strozzi and Leonora Baroni) present very different images of the female musician, each attempting in its own way to negotiate the equivocal status of woman as professional performer.

MARK SHEPHEARD is completing his PhD in Art History at The University of Melbourne. He is on the editorial board of the journal emaj and is a director of the Melbourne Art Network. He is also a broadcaster for 3MBS FM, for which he produces ‘The Early Music Experience’ and ‘Recent Releases’.

Bernardo Strozzi (circa 1581-1644), Portrait of Barbara Strozzi, circa 1640, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden

The Jane Austen Series: Pride & Prejudice 2013

To help celebrate 200 years since the first publication of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice by Thomas Egerton in 1813, The Johnston Collection is contributing with a year-long programme of activities coinciding with the bicentenary.

As Delightful A Creature As Ever Appeared In Print: Jane Austen writes Elizabeth Bennet with Lise Rodgers

Thursday 21 March 2013, 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm, $30, students $25

A one-act theatrical entertainment based on the letters of Jane Austen and the text of Pride & Prejudice. Beautifully costumed and elegantly staged – what better way to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride & Prejudice than to get to know Miss Elizabeth Bennet!

LISE RODGERS is an accomplished Melbourne actress whose career has spanned stage, screen and radio. An interest in the world and characters of Jane Austen is the inspiration behind her Jane Austen by Lise Rodgers repertoire of performances.

George Engleheart (1750 – 1829), Portrait of a Young Lady, 1807,
The Thomson Collection © Art Gallery of Ontario

Thorough Bass And Human Nature: A musical tour through Pride and Prejudice with Gillian Dooley

Saturday 13 April 2013, 10.15 am to 11.45 am, $30, students $25

This programme of scintillating readings from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is studded with music from her personal music collection, including piano pieces and songs by Joseph Haydn, Thomas Arne, Georgiana Cavendish, Christoph Willibald Gluck. Dance music, operatic arias, folk songs and charming ballads illustrate each reading, from the excitement of the Meryton Ball through the times of doubt and despondency to the happy conclusion at Pemberley.

Soprano GILLIAN DOOLEY is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in English at Flinders University, Adelaide. Over the past six years she has devised and presented programmes of Jane Austen’s music in Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney and the United Kingdom

Pianist FIONA MCCAULEY has been playing in Jane Austen’s music programmes since 2009.

This lecture is kindly supported by The Friends of The Johnston Collection.

(artist unknown), Regency young lady playing the pianoforte, early 19th century

Jane's Heroines: young ladies of spirit! with Lise Rodgers

Thursday 23 May 2013, 10.15 am to 11.45 am, $30, students $25

Jane Austen was as fond of her heroines as we are. When creating Emma Woodhouse, Elizabeth Bennet and Anne Elliot; she wrote three young ladies of spirit – and had a different opinion of each. Using excerpts from her letters and passages from Emma, Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion, this is a chance to spend some time with the young ladies in question.

LISE RODGERS is an accomplished Melbourne actress whose career has spanned stage, screen and radio. An interest in the world and characters of Jane Austen is the inspiration behind her Jane Austen by Lise Rodgers repertoire of performances.

John Smart (circa 1740–1811), Portrait of Miss Harriet and Elizabeth Birney (detail), 1806

Theatre Of The City: Urban planning in Rome in the early 18th century with John Weretka

Thursday 30 May 2013, 10.15 am to 11.45 am, $30, students $25

This lecture will examine themes in the urban planning of Rome in the first half of the 18th century through the prism of the topographical engravings of Piranesi and Vasi. Particular attention will be given to the development of intimate teatri in the urban landscape, particularly as reflected in the post-Counterreformation church façade.

JOHN WERETKA holds qualifications in musicology, medieval history, art history and theology and is a candidate for the PhD in The University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. He has published on musical subjects in the paintings of Watteau and Pier Francesco Mola. He has also lectured on the history of music in the Baroque and Renaissance period and on art and architectural history onsite in Rome.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778), ‘Ichnographiam viciniæ reliquarium Teatri Pompejani‘ (detail) from Il Campo Marzio dell’antica Roma (Rome, 1762) Wilton-Ely 578

Caring For Your Collection: a general introduction with Holly Jones-Amin
 
Tuesday 18 June 2013, 10.15 am to 11.45 am, $30, students $25

The correct storing and display of objects is very important for their long-term care and preservation. With the proper care and storage, your art and antiques can last for many more years. Join conservator Holly Jones-Amin to learn about the general care and preservation of objects in your collection. This overview will provide practical and effective ways to maintain your collection and you are invited to bring along your own items for assessment.

HOLLY JONES-AMIN is Senior Objects Conservator at the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, The University of Melbourne; she lectures in the Masters of Cultural Material Conservation programme and manages the objects consultancy laboratory.

Stevenson, Alcock and Williams, plates (set of seven), 1820-26, (A0678-1989)

Study Day 2013

The Fine Art Of Collecting: A matter of taste

Saturday 12 October 2013, 10.00 am – 4.30 pm
$125 (including lunch box), students $100 (including lunch box)

The Study Day will explore notions of collecting, connoisseurship, the role of the gentleman collector as well as public and private collections from the second half of the 17th century to the present day. The Study Day traverses the everchanging passions and the rules of taste, novelty, political patronage and economic environments, as well as the appreciation of artistic talent.

Speakers for the Study Day will include Corbett Lyon, Christopher Marshall, Matthew Martin, Ben Thomas, Bruce Trethowan and Gerard Vaughan.

All bookings made on-line will be FREE until 28 February 2013. 
An online booking fee of $3.50 will apply from 1 March 2013

For all telephone bookings an administration and booking fee of $7.00 per transaction applies (increased to $8.00 from 1 March 2013)
Current members of The Friends of The Johnston Collection can phone and book for FREE.

Telephone bookings 03 9416 2515

Watch this space.  Our 2012 exhibition programme has finished for the year and our curatorial team are busy working on a new exciting exhibition series for 2013. Details of the full programme will be up on our webpage on 18 January 2013.

In the meantime, in The Johnston Collection Gallery our Emporium is open for visitors to browse after their house-museum tour.  The Emporium will operate for the duration of REJOICE! The Christmas At The Johnston Collection 2012 tour, from 8 November 2012 to 27 February 2013.

Our retail team have soured some beautiful gifts and cards from all over the world - perfect to give to discerning family and friends this Christmas.  Our range includes a lovely selection of mugs from both the Kew Garden series and the Victoria & Albert Museum, quality linen tea towels in various designs, quirky Christmas decorations and a variety of striking and useful tin plates featuring porcelain from the collections of international museums - and much, much more. 

image: Tobacco Leaf  tin plate. Copy of late 18th century Chinese vase in the metropolitan Museum of Art, New York