5 minute read
Teaching and Innovation
The Xipell Collection
Our Head of Art, Mr David Williamson, gives us an overview of a beautiful collection of Australian Art, the ‘Xipell Collection’ which has been left to the School by past student Jos Xipell (1949), who passed away earlier this year. The historically significant collection of Australian Art will be housed in ‘Dorset’.
I first had the opportunity to meet Jos in his home about 8 years ago. I was immediately struck by his willingness to share his collection and to talk about his lifetime collecting Australian art. His house was full of art, and his love for his wife, family, and horse racing was evident through the many photographs which filled his home. Art books were prominent on every bookshelf and table, usually open at a page or with a sticky note hanging out to remind him of an artwork or for reading at another time. Every wall was filled salon style with the works he had collected. He talked with great fondness of certain works and recounted stories of conversations he had with particular artists and how he acquired this piece or that. He was passionate, and I was overwhelmed. I remember him saying that some of the works in the collection might not be the artist’s best, but they were ‘what he could afford’.
TJAPALTJARRI, Clifford Possum (1932–2002) Australia (Indigenous), Sugar Ant Dreaming
Jos’ passion for art was ignited by his art teacher, Ian bow, at Camberwell Grammar in the 1940s. Jos said that bow influenced the students to seek out original subjects for themselves regardless of theme, from the local scene to social issues. In December 1960 Jos saw the collection of the late W.R Seddon offered for sale by Joel’s Auction House. Jos later wrote that that experience planted the seed of forming a collection of his own. Jos said that to embark on collecting works of art was like setting out on an adventure, not knowing where it would take you. It was an addiction – pleasurable and full of wayward tracks, frequently frustrating, and sometimes triumphal. The choice of the collector is always affected by what is available and how wide the embrace could be.
NOLAN, Sidney Robert (1917–1992) Australia, Quilting the Armour (Ned Kelly Series), 1970–71
‘The Xipell Collection’ includes works by Indigenous artists such as Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, distinguished female artists such as Grace Cossington Smith, Australian Impressionist works, and serves as a broad survey of Australian painting up to the 1950s. Jos noted ‘the collector is mirrored by the collection which in turn is shaped by opportunity’ and that the collector, unlike a public gallery, can be idiosyncratic – stimulated by curiosity and fuelled by passion.
ANGAS, George French (1822–1886) Britain/Australia, Interior of Mount Gambia, c. 1844
It is hoped that this collection will now stimulate curiosity and fuel passion about art and, in particular, Australian art and collecting in our current students. They will use the collection to identify the influences of time and place and the cultural and political settings in which, and the purpose for which, the artwork was made. The collection is a glimpse into the past, telling stories of life, of Australian identity and belonging. It provides cultural comparisons and, viewed through a contemporary lens, students will be able to see that current themes and ideas evolve, as does culture itself. The collection will inspire students through personal and cultural reflection to generate works that reflect their time and their ideas. The diversity of works, styles and techniques across a broad range of media in the collection will also inspire students in their own art-making and give them the opportunity to use the works as starting points for their own art practice. but the collection will not only be used by art students, as the works themselves reflect history and are a visual snapshot of the past which History and English students will also find fascinating.
ARMSTRONG, Ian Morton (1923–2005) Australia, Barkers Road, 1977
This collection will be a nucleus for student learning in the Arts and gives our students the chance to see the work of well-known artists on the actual canvas – not just in reproductions in books or the internet. There is something to be said about standing in front of an artwork – being able to see the brush strokes, the depth of colour, and all the technical nuances of the work.
We are proud to have been entrusted with this significant collection of work – the result of the passion of many artists, and of one collector.
PAREROULTJA, Otto (1914–1973) Australia (Indigenous), Central Australian Landscape
Mr David Williamson
Head of Art
DE MAISTRE, LeRoy (Roy) Leveson Laurent Joseph, Courtyard by Night, c. 1936
