| Description |
xi, 182 pages : illustrations (chiefly colour), portraits ; 28 cm |
| Contents |
Preface -- Foreword -- Introduction -- One. In search of self and self-protection -- Recognising a style -- Tick tock the magic clock -- Revolutionary watch -- The long and the short of it -- Reimainging subconcious stories -- To frit or not to frit -- The power of the Orient -- Two. Learning the art of escape -- Horses for courses -- Unglazed reality -- Hard-paste mother -- Soft-paste father -- Pretend parenting : pretend porcelain -- Liberating Nina : liberating ceramics -- Quivering blancmange : steady marble -- Guan Yin -- Three. Painting oneself into a corner -- Dutiful offspring -- A state of freedom -- High anxiety and high ambitions -- Sing 'em muck -- Four. Escape to Poole Island -- Marquetry mind -- Daisy's double take -- Linking dreams -- Inner and outer settings -- Battle of the drought -- A metamorphic mind -- Dancing peacocks -- Five. Escaping Poole Island -- Tough times -- Oyster lifestyle -- Mud slide -- Bare body -- Tension storage -- Bohemian communication -- Sitting uncomfortably -- Six. Strategic management -- Cooling off -- A rich soup -- Making connections -- Swags -- Georgian elegance -- Seven. Escape to Norfolk Island -- Maintaining appearances -- A blasé rat -- Creative marketing -- Limited palettes -- Passport to success -- Themed dinners -- A goat among men -- Norfolk moons : Chelsea moons -- Coming home -- Eight. Arrangements of love -- Rules of love -- Asymmetrical love -- Commodious and complex -- False love -- An affair made to order -- Nine. The Johnston Collection -- Historical twists and unusual angles -- From asymmetrical to straight lines -- A new classical order -- Georgian aesthetics -- Inspiring the designer's imagination -- Ten. The Copland Foundation -- Creating a legacy -- Understanding collecting -- Cultural inheritance -- Camouflaging chaos -- How fragile is truth? -- The art of pretence -- Eleven. The final escape -- Body knops -- A tear before death -- Engraving life's destiny -- Foot in mouth -- Cold air -- New cut at life -- Plain honest friendship -- Breaking the mould |
| Summary |
Inspired by the way Edmund de Waal uses the netsuke in the 'Hare with Amber Eyes' as a vehicle to tell the history of a family, Mary Ryllis Clark uses nearly 100 beautiful objects, chosen by her friend Nina Stanton, not only to make symbolic connections to Nina's own exploration of her life, but also to introduce the reader to the historic, cultural and social context of the world of the fine and decorative arts in Australia. These often acute observations make a fitting legacy for the life and work of Nina Stanton. This book offers autobiographical insights into Nina's life, experiences and deep feelings. Nina was a trail-blazer. She graduated successfully from the inaugural year of the first-ever Museum Studies course in Victoria. Her consulting business was among the first in Australia to offer specialised services for museums and she punctuated her career in Melbourne with employment in Queensland, New South Wales and Norfolk Island. Hers was a life in which a great deal had been accomplished. This book reflects the professional heart and central passion of her life: the care and interpretation of objects in a collection. Nina selected objects that triggered memories of different times in her life, including antique furniture, clocks, paintings, silverware, glass and porcelain. Through them she tells her story which Mary shapes into an introduction to the fine and decorative arts. It is a story about choices and redemption, using the objects as a bridge to self knowledge and general knowledge. This book will introduce the reader to the little-known world of the fine and decorative arts in Australia and will be a valuable contribution to our understanding of the world of the curator and the place of objects in the history of Australia |
| Analysis |
Australian |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Subject |
Stanton, Nina, 1948-2009
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Art museum curators -- Australia -- Biography.
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Art objects -- Australia.
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Decorative arts -- Australia.
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Women museum curators -- Australia -- Biography.
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| Genre/Form |
Biographies.
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| ISBN |
9780648061632 (paperback) |
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