Velasquez Gallery, also known as Velasquez Gallery at Tye's, and later Tye's Art Gallery, was a Melbourne art gallery that showed contemporary traditional, and later, modernist Australian art, including some sculpture and prints, as well as Australian indigenous art. It operated from 1940 to 1955.Stephanie Taylor, 'Closing of Tye's Gallery' in 'Letters to the editor', The Age Friday 21 Jan 1955, p.2
History The Velasquez Gallery, located in the basement at the rear of Tye's Furniture Building, 100 Bourke Street, Melbourne, was one of the few places to exhibit in 1940s Melbourne.Wendy Donald-Bradley (1991) Alannah Coleman: The Woman and her Role in Promoting Australian Art and Artists in the United Kingdom 1950–1990, M.A. thesis, Melbourne: Victoria College, 1991 The gallery opened during WW2 on 4 June 1940 with an exhibition of work by Australian proponent of Tonalism, Max Meldrum, and "autumn leaves from Mr. Tye's Macedon garden decorated the gallery".The Age, Thursday 13 Jun 1940, p.3The Age, Friday 24 May 1940, p.4 When it first opened in June 1940, The Age described its facilities;
The Velasquez Gallery an interesting development in the progress of art in Melbourne is the establishment of a new gallery — to be known as the Velasquez Gallery— by Tye and Co., at their Bourke-street premises. The gallery, which is 50 feet square, is artificially lighted on a carefully considered plan, which allows for adjustments and modifications, and will ensure a uniform and even glow, such as cannot be got by a daylight arrangement. The general setting of the gallery is adequate, and pictures will be seen under the best possible conditions. The gallery will open with a one-man exhibition by Max Meldrum on June 4.
The business later expanded to 110-116 Bourke Street.
Ethos The manager was painter/printmaker, critic, broadcaster and lecturer Stephanie Taylor (1899–1974),The Age, Thursday 24 Jul 1947, p.2 and director, the art collector and connoisseurThe Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday 2 Apr 1932, p.9 George Page-Cooper (c.1895-1967).Lahey, John. "Pleasant surprises in a life full of art", The Age, Tuesday, 21 Nov 1995, p.11 The gallery showed contemporary traditional, and later, Modern Australian art, including some sculpture and prints, as well as indigenous art. In 1948, twenty-seven of Sidney Nolan's Kelly series paintings were shown at the Velasquez Gallery for the first time."The Kelly gang in pictures", The Age, Wednesday 27 Jun 1956, p.2 Under the management of Taylor, women artists were given much better exposure than at other galleries,The Age, Wednesday 14 Apr 1937, p.18 and she organised a number of shows to raise funds for charities.The Age, Wednesday 16 Jun 1943, p.3The Age, Saturday 29 May 1943, p.4 A September 1943 report in The Bulletin demonstrates its optimistic openness to Modernism;
Closure Page-Cooper moved on in 1952 with the unrealised intention to set up another gallery in the cityThe Age, Saturday, 29 Nov 1952, p.14 before Velasquez Gallery closed early 1955.The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W.: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, Vol. 76 No. 3910 (19 Jan 1955), p.19 Taylor wrote to The Age newspaper:
Page-Cooper's collection, which included significant works by S. T. Gill, William Dobell, Arthur Streeton, Hans Heysen, Charles Conder and Tom Roberts, was offered for sale by the Leonard Joel auction house after his death in 1967Geoff Maslen, 'Still going, going, gone', The Age, Thursday 24 Mar 1994, p.9Mary Eagle, 'Fancy prices and bargains', The Age Saturday 7 Oct 1978, p.25 with further works disposed by auction in 1995.
Exhibitions As 'Velasquez Gallery': 1940, 4–22 June Max Meldrum retrospective, opened by Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne John Medley 1940, July 2: Children's Exhibition, 130 works from Australia, Britain, United States, Canada, Spain, Poland and other countries, opened by Daryl Lindsay and Lady Brookes, silver coin fundraiser for the Red Cross 1940, 7–21 August: Arnold Shore, landscapes and still life, opened by Russell Grimwade 1940, August: Frank R. Crozier, war paintings and landscapes in aid of A.I.F. 22nd Battalion Comforts Fund. Curated by Cecily Crozier (niece)"Art Exhibit Opened," The Age, Wednesday, 28 Aug 1940, p.5 1940, 13 September: Noel Blaubaum, Melbourne and Hobart landscapes in monotypes and oils 1940, 30 September - October: Paintings by Miss A.M.E. Bale, 1940, 18–30 November: The Bread and Cheese Club's Australian Art & Literature ExhibitionMalloch, H., & Bread Cheese Club. (1940). A brief history of the Bread and Cheese Club, Melbourne / by Harry Malloch. Melbourne: The Club.The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W.: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, Vol. 61 No. 3172 (27 Nov 1940), p.29 1941: Exhibition of paintings sculpture and pottery by Australian artists to aid the Red Cross. 1941: 18 February – 3 March: Exhibition of clay sculptures on Australian Aboriginal folk-lore by William Ricketts: legends collected by Sir Baldwin Spencer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S. and David UniaponRicketts, W., & Waller, O. (1941). Exhibition of clay sculptures on Australian Aboriginal folk-lore by William Ricketts: Legends collected by Sir Baldwin Spencer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S. and David Uniapon. Brighton, Vic.: Middle Brighton Printery. 1941, 9 August – 30 August: Exhibition of paintings by Edith Holmes. 1943, from 16 June: Red Cross fundraising exhibition curated by Stephanie Taylor from works, including her own, by Rupert Bunny, Arthur Streeton, Max Meldrum, James Peter Quinn, Charles Wheeler, Hans Heysen, James R. Jackson, Robert Johnson, Raymond Wallis, Robert Campbell, L. Bernard Hall, William B. McInnes, Albert Ernest Newbury, Isabel May Tweddle, Violet McInnes, Dorothy Moore, and Douglas Thomas 1943, 16 – 27 July: Adrian George Feint 1943, 16 July – 27 July: Exhibition of the Graphic Arts 1943, from 15 August: Exhibition of bookbinding to aid the Red Cross"Hand-bound books displayed", The Age, Tuesday, 17 Aug 1943, p.3 1943, 24 August – 3 September: Contemporary Art Society 1943, from 14 September: Gwen BarringerThe Age, Wednesday, 15 Sep 1943, p.3 1943–5, 16 November 1943 – 27 July 1945: Touring Exhibition of Graphic Arts 1944, from 4 April: paintings by Alannah Coleman and Joan Malcolm, opened by actor Claude Flemming 1944, 10 – 20 May: Stephanie Taylor, 43 watercolours and oilsThe Age, Friday, 05 May 1944, p.5"Art as antidote", The Age Thursday 11 May 1944, p.2The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W.: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, Vol. 65 No. 3352 (10 May 1944), p.24 1945: First annual exhibition, artists E. Alsop, Wallace Anderson, Clothilde Atyeo, A.M.E. Bale, E. Monette Baxter, Tom Bell, Josl Bergner, Arthur Boyd, Ian Bow, Lina Bryans, Nutter Buzacott, Victor E. Cobb, Valerie Cohen, Yvonne F. Cohen, W. Coleman, Elizabeth Colquhoun, F. Lawrence Coles, Noel Counihan, Sybil Craig, Peggy Crombie, Mabel Crump, Aileen Dent, Max Dimmack, Ailsa Donaldson, Ambrose Dyson, Esme Farmer, John Farmer, Alma Figuerola, Burton Fox, Madge Freeman, William Frater, Grace Gardiner, Ina Gregory, Nornie Gude, W.G. Gulliver, Michael Hall, John Heath, Edward Heffernan, Roy Opie, Betty Paterson, Esther Paterson, John Perceval, A. Plante, Muriel Pornett, James Quinn, M. Rankin, Jack Sampson, Dora Serle, Bruno Simon, David Sing, Colvin L. Smith, J.T. Smith, W. Spence, N.F. Suhr, Jean P. Sutherland, Jo Sweatman, E.W. Syme, Arnold Shore, Stephanie Taylor, George H. Tichauer, Louise Thomas, Violet Teague, Francis Roy Thompson, Rollo Thomson, Albert Tucker, Kit Turner, Danila Vassilieff, J. Wentcher, Tina Wentcher, James V. Wigley, Nora Wilkie, Dora L. Wilson, Noel Wood, Marjorie Woolcock, Joan Yonge, Marguerite Mahood. 1945, 24 April to 5 May: Exhibition of Aboriginal arts & crafts 1945, 5–16 June: Roger Kemp - first solo exhibition, 37 works 1945, 2–13 July: Contemporary Child Art to Aid Red Cross Funds, Arranged by Woman"s World, Exhibition opened by Lady Brookes at Velasquez Gallery, Tye's Building 1945, 1 March – 1 April: Exhibition of paintings by Ivan Yakovlev 1945, 3 – 13 April: Australian C.E.M.A. Victorian Division, Autumn Arts Festival. First Annual Exhibition. 1945, 16 – 23 May: Exhibition of works of art by well known Australian artists for the benefit of The Lord Mayor's Appeal (The Rt. Hon. Cr. Sir Thomas S. Nettlefold, K.B., O.B.E.,) for totally and permanently disabled service men and service women. 1945, 16 – 27 July: Exhibition of the Graphic Arts; Bread and Cheese Club, Australian Bookplate Club. 1946, 8 – 19 January: Three Tasmanian artists; Winifred Biggins, Eileen Brooker, Dorothy Stoner 1946, 12 – 23 March: Exhibition by Water Colour Group 1947, from 24 July: Sculpture by Arthur Fleischmann and Lyndon Dadswell, opened by Frank Thring 1947, September: John MiddletonThe Age, Tuesday 23 Sep 1947, p.14 1948, 1 May – 8 June: Edith Holmes 1948, April: The Kelly paintings of Sidney Nolan 1946-47 1948? 7–19 June: Elizabeth Durack paintings By the late 1940s in publicity and in general references to it, the gallery is usually just 'Tye's Gallery’: 1948: Loan collection of paintings from Dr. and Mrs. T.J. Kiernan, Irish Legation, Canberra, A.C.T. 1948, October: Stephanie Taylor, 64 watercoloursThe Age, Tuesday 12 Oct 1948, p.2 1948, 26 October – 5 November: Loan exhibition of paintings of horses...to benefit Ada Mary A'Beckett Free Kindergarten, Fisherman's Bend. 1949, June: Dutch paintingsThe Age, Thursday 23 Jun 1949, p.5 1949, from 13 September: paintings by official R.A.A.F. and War Memorial artists Eric Thake, Harold Freedman and Max Newton to mark Air Force week, opened by Air Marshal G. Jones 1949, September: Stephanie Taylor, watercolours and oilsThe Age, Saturday, 24 Sep 1949, p. 6"Colorful work", The Age Tuesday 27 Sep 1949, p.2 1949, from 1 October: Leonard French 1950, from 1 February: British Council exhibition of prints and photographs 1950, from 7 February: Swiss poster designThe Age, Wednesday 8 Feb 1950, p.5 1950, 23 May – 2 June Tenth anniversary 1940 - 1950. 1952, 11 March: Spencer Jackson Historical Australasian Art Collection, opened by Daryl LindsayThe Age, Tuesday 11 Mar 1952, p.3 1952 Photographs of YugoslaviaThe Age, Tuesday 1 Apr 1952, p.2 1952, October: Children's Art Exhibition at Tye's Gallery, opened by Archbishop Mannix, included work by Germaine Greer in the Under-14 section 1954, 6 April – 23 April: Contemporary Art Society commemorative exhibition; 86 painters and sculptors including women artists Mirka Mora, Erica McGilchrist, Ethel Barnes and Elizabeth VassiliefThe Age, Tuesday 6 Apr 1954, p.7 1954, 14 September – 25 September: Artists for Peace. 1954, 6–23 April: Contemporary Art Society Commemorative Exhibition
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