Monthly Archive for December, 2009

This autographed photograph is of George Tinworth. It accompanies the self-portrait terracotta plaque of the artist which was purchased by the Museum back in 1979.

George Tinworth was born in England in 1843. After enduring years of severe poverty he managed to fulfil his dream of becoming an artist when he entered the Lambeth School of Art in 1861. He then went on to study at the Royal Academy and subsequently found employment at Doulton’s renowned pottery factory in Lambeth, which regularly employed gifted graduates from the Lambeth School. At Doulton, Tinworth quickly became a leading modeller specialising in decorative panels, sculptural vases and animal groupings; his humorous mice sculptures are highly sought after today by Doulton collectors. Powerhouse Museum has a number of Tinworth’s works in its collection, the most important being a large framed panel from 1883 titled `The Meeting of Jacob and Joseph’ .

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Post by Iwona Hetherington, Rights and Permissions Officer

This is another of the playful tableau vivant images from the Phillips collection. It appears to be a gambling scene, with the man on the far left keeping score of the ‘fencing’ match and the man on the far right in charge of the winnings. The lettering on the bag, ‘stakes’ has been inscribed directly onto the negative, with one letter ‘s’ reversed. Many of these less formal images in the Phillips collection contain amusing words or messages like this one, either crudely written on the negatives or on objects placed in the photographs.

Although the circumstances of production are unknown, is likely that the Phillips collection tableaux vivants were produced for the entertainment of the family and their friends rather than for a wider audience. Another photograph taken on the same day shows the same group of men posed outside a tent, suggesting that the creation of this photograph may have been incorporated into their leisure activities.

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Post by Kathy Hackett, Photo Librarian

The Charles Kerry Studio took this panoramic photo of the World heavyweight title fight at Rushcutters Bay, Sydney. Perhaps still the most famous sporting event held in Australia, the fight took place in Sydney because promoters in the USA and Europe had erected a ‘colour bar’, banning black boxers from challenging white champions.

In 1908 the heavyweight title was held by Canada’s Tommy Burns. His main threat came from Jack Johnson, a slave’s son from Texas. Already crowned the ‘coloured’ champion of the world, Johnson challenged Burns for a fight for two years until Sydney promoter Hugh McIntosh lured the contenders here with a promise to break boxing’s racial divide. A timber stadium was hastily constructed at Rushcutter’s Bay; it was later enclosed and became the Sydney Stadium.

Kerry’s photograph depicts Johnson, Burns and entourages in the ring before the fight, surrounded by a crowd of 20,000 men (women were barred from the stadium). A movie camera at right (under a canvas canopy) is about to record the fight for cinemas around the world. The photo has been retouched with advertisements for Monopole cigars.

When the bell rang, Johnson humiliated Burns, punishing him at will until the fight was stopped. Johnson’s triumph was an international sensation. On his return to the US, he dispatched a succession of ‘great white hopes’, provoking hatred from white supremicists but adoration from his supporters. Three marriages and other relationships with white women saw him wrongly convicted in 1913 under a law aimed at the prostitution industry. In 2009 President Obama granted a posthumous presidential pardon.

During a seven-year reign as champion, Jack Johnson was undoubtedly the most famous African-American in the world and one of the leading challengers of institutionalised racism. His life and career has been celebrated in cinema, theatre and music.

Photography by Charles Kerry
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Post by Charles Pickett, Curator

Merry Christmas 1952

This dazzling Christmas hat (worn by model Elaine Johannsen) is one of the thousands created by a brilliant milliner and businessmen from New York known as Mr John (a.k.a. John P. John). We know that this particular photograph was taken in (or before) 1952 as it is accompanied by a typed caption “Merry Christmas 1952”.

Mr John was probably the greatest milliner of his time, famous for his beautiful hats and an extravagant lifestyle. He created hats for stars in movie classics such as Gone With the Wind by Victor Fleming, Shanghai Express by Josef von Sternberg, Death in Venice by Luchino Visconti, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Howard Hawks, also theatre productions, advertisements, magazines and a long list of the rich and famous. During his over fifty year long career, Mr John was widely admired and honoured with the highest prizes – he was the first milliner to receive the prestigious Neiman-Marcus Award. The obituary published on June 29th 1993 by The New York Times described him “as famous in the world of hats as Christian Dior was in the realm of haute couture”. Strangely enough, whilst the Dior’s name became a household word, Mr John, known once an “Emperor of Fashion”, disappeared into obscurity.

Powerhouse Museum has in its collection approximately 200 prints featuring models wearing hats made by Mr John. We are systematically scanning the prints so stay tuned for more great creations by this millinery virtuoso.

References:
Drake Stutesman, Gives Good Face: Mr. John and the Power of Hats in Film. Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media
Gail Stain, Mr. John, “Emperor of Fashion”. Dress: The Journal of The Costume Society of America, vol. 27, 2000.

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Post by Iwona Hetherington, Rights and Permissions Officer

This image was taken during the launch of our new exhibition that celebrates the good and the bad of the 1980s- The 80s are back. This image was taken using an iPhone camera and then put through the Polarize application to give it a more 80s feel. You can see more of the images that we took during the opening night here and we have just added a time-lapse sequence of the construction of this exhibition in the gallery space that can be seen on our Building the exhibition page on the 80s website.

Photography by Paula Bray
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