— AUCTIONS —
MODERN DESIGN A True Sense of Australian Modernism
“I don’t like to be pigeonholed, but rather find the virtue in a wide range of things”
What has prompted you to sell your collection now?
GEOFFREY HATTY
Generally, it is the most recent purchase, but if I were to
I feel that a real interest, and a desire to understand and acquire historic Australian design has arrived. What is your favourite piece in the collection? choose something that pleases me most, it would be the hand beaten coffee / tea pot. It was purchased alongside
Geoffrey Hatty Applied Arts has been running for
another coffee pot that carried the marks from the
over four decades now, not easy in the fickle world of
Ballarat school of mines, and I believe it is from the same
Melbourne retail. A testament to the power of taste,
workshop. It is truly handmade, basic in its manufacturing;
Hatty’s natural awareness of beauty and design is what
another factor that proves it to be Australian. This would
makes his pieces so great.
never have occurred with a European object of the time.
Layers and layers of different aesthetics have always graced his stores, he moves with his own visual sentiment, rather than what is on trend. Perhaps this is the secret to his quietly confident success, and how he himself makes sense of the world. Anna Grassham, our head of Modern Design sits down with Geoffrey to discuss his thoughts on the Australian design movements, along with his curated collection, to be offered in the upcoming November Modern Design Auction. 20 | leonardjoel.com.au
It is primitive yet expresses a true sense of modernity. What is the most common misconception about Australian modernism? The biggest misconception is that modernism started post war, where in fact it started in the early twentieth century. Perhaps a little later here in Australia.
LEFT: WALTER BURLEY GRIFFIN
NEWMAN COLLEGE DESK CHAIR $3,500-4,500 RIGHT: ARTS AND CRAFTS
TEAPOT $2,500-3,500
