Beautiful gore: grotesque images from the University’s print collection

Werewolves, cursed children and killer bears are among the monstrous creations on display in a debut exhibition for the new Noel Shaw Gallery in the University of Melbourne’s Baillieu Library.

Radicals, Slayers and Villains, curated by Kerrianne Stone, draws on works from the University’s print collection, which, according to Herald Chair of Fine Arts Professor Jaynie Anderson, is one of the largest Old Master print collections in Australia, only somewhat smaller than those at the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria, “but comparable in rarity and quality of impressions to print holdings in these national collections.”

It is, Professor Anderson says, also one of the “few print collections in Australia to be found in a university collection, where it informs the teaching of art history in an ongoing dialogue.”

Although caring for these works is the daily grind for Ms Stone, Curator of Prints at the University, she acknowledges the often “macabre, violent, grotesque, shocking or horrifying” nature of the works she looks after, despite their very great beauty as objects, with warm hues of paper and ink, and complex build up of texture through etching or engraving.

“The flayings, stabbings and beheadings appeal to our fascination with human brutality, but we also experience a sense of wonder at these fabulous works of art that ignite our imagination and stimulate our curiosity,” she says.

Ms Stone says many of the artists featured in the exhibition – Rembrandt, Durer, Hogarth, Goya and de Bruyn among many others – have had a huge influence on the development of western art.

The complete collection comprises over 8000 individual prints plus rare print albums, books, paintings and a small number of drawings, and came into being with a gift of more than 3000 prints from Dr John Orde Poynton in 1959. 

A medical pathologist who joined the British Army and was incarcerated in Changi in 1942, Dr Poynton eventually came to Australia to recover from his war injuries, and brought with him the collection of prints gathered by his father Dr Frederic John Poynton, and his own collection of rare books. All of these items in turn formed a very prestigious and generous gift to the University of Melbourne.

“Both father and son clearly shared a deep interest in the history of printing, and printed materials in general, and John Orde Poynton proceeded to donate more than 15,0000 remarkable volume to the library over a number of years,” Ms Stone says.

Radicals, Slayers and Villains, supported by the Gordon Darling Foundation, the Besen Family Foundation and Museums Australia, is a gorgeous exhibition with which the Baillieu Library has relaunched its exhibition space. 

The much larger, more secure and contemporary gallery space is named for Noel Shaw, a former student who supported the University Library during her lifetime and through a generous bequest.

University Librarian Philip Kent says Mrs Shaw is an inspiration to all. Having enrolled as a postgraduate student at Melbourne during the Second World War and completing a Diploma of Social Studies, Mrs Shaw studied further and qualified with in-depth studies in psychology between 1947 and 1949. She maintained ongoing contact with the University after moving to live in Sydney.

Mr Kent says it was especially pleasing that the University could recognize Mrs Shaw’s generosity in the presence of her sister Dr Margaret Henderson, family members and friends. 

“Dr Henderson is a leader and pioneer in establishing the place of women in medicine and was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Medical Science last year,” Mr Kent says. “Through the gift of Mrs Shaw we now have a purpose-built gallery to showcase the treasures of our very special library. We want to expand this work to create a new home of our special collections.”

The exhibition is on display until 3 August, with a program of public lectures to explore themes presented in the exhibition, after which it will tour regional Victoria to Hamilton, Ballarat and LaTrobe Regional Galleries. A detailed catalogue with short essays by experts in the field is also available for sale in the University’s Co-op Bookshop.