As the Buckley & Nunn evening gown was in storage for many years before and after it was acquired by the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) it needed significant restoration. Mary-Anne Gooden, Textile Conservation Officer at Artlab Australia, outlined the process used by the restoration team at the NGV.The first step in the restoration process was to identify the materials used in the gown. This has a double purpose: firstly, to add to curatorial, production and dating information and secondly, to determine the appropriate course of treatment for the gown. Visual examination of the gown, and extensive condition reports followed. Mary-Anne Gooden used several different machines and techniques during this process, including photomicrography images of the fabric surfaces and cross sections. These machines help to identify how the fabrics were made. The bobbinet for example was machine made of a single layer with only one seam. The sequins were made from gelatine, which dates the garment between the 1890s and 1930s. In addition to gelatine the sequins also included foil, cellulose acetate, plasticisers and a layer of silver on the surface. This particular chemical makeup also explains why many gowns did not survive, and given the unpredictability of Melbourne weather it’s surprising this gown has survived at all. A single moist hand or humid day would dissolve the gelatine sequins instantly.
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Originally published this time last year, this post covers the conservation processes used for restoring the exsqusite Buckley & Nunn Ltd evening gown, which was in the National Gallery of Victoria’s Australian Made exhibition. This is a double post (part 2 tomorrow) which will be of interest to textile enthusiasts and anyone interested in Melbourne’s fashion history.
This edition of An Artwork A Week features my expanded notes from the lecture: Conserving Couture – Beneath the Seams of Edwardian Extravagance (November 2010). Below are images from the exhibition, courtesy of the National Gallery of Victoria, as well as images (previously unavailable) of the gown which formed the subject of the Conserving Couture lecture. It is not a stretch to suggest that this is one AMAZING example of textile extravagance.
The Buckley & Nunn gown from c.1907 is a detailed collection of textures and subtle colours. Composed of bodice and a two layered skirt it exemplifies the Belle Époque style (meaning simply ‘beautiful era’). Perhaps the first details to attract the viewer are the multitude of sequins on the skirt of the dress. Varying sizes and shades of maroon and bronze sequins form a pomegranate pattern around the bottom of the skirt, and the branches weave from the centre front to either side. Circular sequin sections then give way to smaller individual sequins which cover the entirety of the sheer skirt fabric, known as bobbinet or tulle. The hem has a gathering of rich brown silk georgette.
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Continuing with the past posts here is my response to the Critical Failure: Visual Art event (the video for which was blogged yesterday).
Critical failure was chaired by Peter Mares and the guests were John McDonald (art critic Sydney Morning Herald), Naomi Cass (Director of the Centre for Contemporary Photography), Phip Murray (Editorial member of un Magazine), and Patrick McCaughey (former Director of the NGV). The discussion was lively and with considered input from each of the panellists. Below is a summary from my notes on the night.
Peter Mares began by presenting a case for the need, now more than ever, for visual art critics. The visual arts provoke aesthetic condemnation most commonly; we only hear the scandal in mainstream press. Mares cited the Bill Henson scandal.
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The 21st Century: Art in the First Decade exhibition fills three levels of the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), South Bank, with all the unexpected installations and materials we have come to love. The product of ten years collecting contemporary art, 21 Centuryfeatures old favourites as well as a few specific commissions. At the entrance visitors will see two silver spiral slippery slides, which you are encouraged to slide down. Carsten Höller’s Left/Right Slide (2010) begins on level three and sends visitors flying to level one. The spirals are perfectly placed, like so much in this exhibition, for the viewer to see it from the best vantage point. In other words, it looks stunning from all angles from below to above as well as inside. From GoMA’s website:
[Carsten Höller] has stated that experience is the ‘material’ that he uses to create works that alter the viewer’s sensory perception, behaviour and sense of order or logic.
From the slide visitors walk right in to the Kunst Hall space of the gallery which divides the two large ground floor spaces. A hive of activity and a loud hum of voices will take you by surprise if they haven’t already as you approach Olafur Eliasson’s The cubic structural evolution project (2004). The artwork is compiled of a seemingly endless supply of white Lego pieces awaiting construction into a crumbling and desolate city. First featured in ‘Made for this World’ (2005 – 2006) his artwork is a favourite among visitors and like many in 21st Century visitors can see it in a new configuration. So many of the artworks felt like old friends as I saw them for the second or third time, and so many felt like instant friends, the kind I’d hope to visit again. These include Tobias Putrih’s Connection (2004) cardboard box arch which recalls the magnificence of industrial buildings using ephemeral materials and Bharti Kher’s The Skin Speaks a Language Not its Own (2006) an elephant sculpture many visitors will remember from previous Asia Pacific Triennials.
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