OBJECTS OF FAME
OBJECTS OF FAME: NELLIE MELBA AND PERCY GRAINGER Heather Gaunt | Curator, Collections and Exhibitions, Grainger Museum, The University of Melbourne Margaret Marshall | Curator (Theatre), Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne
Dame Nellie Melba and
Percy Grainger, 1904 Painting by Rupert Bunny Paris-based Australian painter Rupert Bunny painted Percy Grainger in his first years in London. Artist Jacques-Emile Blanche, a friend of Bunny who also made a portrait of Grainger in this period, described meeting the young musician in 1902. ‘Stupified’ by the encounter, Blanche characterised Grainger as a ‘steely-eyed archangel with the most admirable profile, a lopsided mouth, red as a cactus, and golden hair’.
Percy Grainger were two of the most famous Australians of their time. Both achieved success on the world stage and became household names in their country of birth. Coupled with extraordinary musical talents, they each had ambition that propelled them into the public spotlight.
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