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lagerlout's review
4.0
A wonderful dual biography jammed full of names, dates and places that would become so iconic to the Australian art world.
The story of John and Sunday is at times hard to believe due to their incredibly progressive views for 1930s-1960s Australia, but it's all real. They lived such a full life it makes you want to go out and grab the most interesting person you know and delve into their inner workings. It is also a tough read considering their often tragic circumstances.
Lost friends, lost family and loss of direction plagues them in every decade, but somehow they are still inspirational and downright riveting. An amazing book, especially if you live in Melbourne, you'll get a little thrill every time a familiar place is mentioned. An amazing pair, I can't image their biographies being presented in any other way.
The story of John and Sunday is at times hard to believe due to their incredibly progressive views for 1930s-1960s Australia, but it's all real. They lived such a full life it makes you want to go out and grab the most interesting person you know and delve into their inner workings. It is also a tough read considering their often tragic circumstances.
Lost friends, lost family and loss of direction plagues them in every decade, but somehow they are still inspirational and downright riveting. An amazing book, especially if you live in Melbourne, you'll get a little thrill every time a familiar place is mentioned. An amazing pair, I can't image their biographies being presented in any other way.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review
4.0
‘John and Sunday’s first encounter was casual—at a tennis party at Vailima in mid-1930.’
Lesley Harding and Kendrah Morgan, curators at the Heide Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne, have co-authored a fascinating double biography about John and Sunday Reed and the establishment of Heide. In their research for this book, Ms Harding and Ms Morgan have also spoken with the Reed’s remaining friends, and drawn on taped interviews. Reading the book, it becomes clear that they had access to a wealth of material.
A lot has been written about Heide, and it has also been drawn on in fictional settings. Who were John and Sunday Reed, where did they come from and what did they set out to achieve?
John and Sunday first met in 1930 and married on 13 January 1932. John (born John Harford Reed on 10 December 1901 at ‘Logan’, Evandale Tasmania) was a member of an affluent family of Tasmanian pastoralists, read law at Cambridge and had travelled before settling in Melbourne to work as a solicitor. Sunday, (born Lelda Sunday Baillieu 15 October 1905 in Camberwell) into the Baillieu dynasty in Victoria, was an heiress. Her first marriage was unsuccessful. John and Sunday shared a passion for art, literature and nature. In 1934, they purchased Heide (then a run-down 15 acre dairy farm) an established a self-sufficient and alternative lifestyle. The Reeds opened their home to like-minded individuals including artists as artists Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker, Joy Hester, John Perceval and Danila Vassilieff. Heide became a place for the avant-garde: Sam Atyeo, Moya Dyring, Max Harris, Arthur Boyd, Charles Blackman, Mirka Mora and Mike Brown also gathered there. With so much talent, a willingness to explore and innovate it’s hardly surprising that the existence of Heide resulted in changing and new creative landscapes.
This book explores the complex lives of those at the heart of Heide, their art and their complicated personal relationships. Romance, tragedy and achievement are each part of the story. Between 1934 and their deaths just ten days apart in 1981, John and Sunday Reed made an extraordinary contribution to the development of modern art in Australia. The book also includes a wealth of photos, as well as colour illustrations of many of the works mentioned.
If you are interested in modernist Australian Art, in the lives of John and Sunday Reed, in the establishment and development of Heide Museum of Modern Art, this is a book well worth reading. It is a detailed and beautifully presented account of the remarkable partnership between John and Sunday Reed and their impact on modern Australian art.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Melbourne University Publishing for the opportunity to read an copy of this book.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Lesley Harding and Kendrah Morgan, curators at the Heide Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne, have co-authored a fascinating double biography about John and Sunday Reed and the establishment of Heide. In their research for this book, Ms Harding and Ms Morgan have also spoken with the Reed’s remaining friends, and drawn on taped interviews. Reading the book, it becomes clear that they had access to a wealth of material.
A lot has been written about Heide, and it has also been drawn on in fictional settings. Who were John and Sunday Reed, where did they come from and what did they set out to achieve?
John and Sunday first met in 1930 and married on 13 January 1932. John (born John Harford Reed on 10 December 1901 at ‘Logan’, Evandale Tasmania) was a member of an affluent family of Tasmanian pastoralists, read law at Cambridge and had travelled before settling in Melbourne to work as a solicitor. Sunday, (born Lelda Sunday Baillieu 15 October 1905 in Camberwell) into the Baillieu dynasty in Victoria, was an heiress. Her first marriage was unsuccessful. John and Sunday shared a passion for art, literature and nature. In 1934, they purchased Heide (then a run-down 15 acre dairy farm) an established a self-sufficient and alternative lifestyle. The Reeds opened their home to like-minded individuals including artists as artists Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker, Joy Hester, John Perceval and Danila Vassilieff. Heide became a place for the avant-garde: Sam Atyeo, Moya Dyring, Max Harris, Arthur Boyd, Charles Blackman, Mirka Mora and Mike Brown also gathered there. With so much talent, a willingness to explore and innovate it’s hardly surprising that the existence of Heide resulted in changing and new creative landscapes.
This book explores the complex lives of those at the heart of Heide, their art and their complicated personal relationships. Romance, tragedy and achievement are each part of the story. Between 1934 and their deaths just ten days apart in 1981, John and Sunday Reed made an extraordinary contribution to the development of modern art in Australia. The book also includes a wealth of photos, as well as colour illustrations of many of the works mentioned.
If you are interested in modernist Australian Art, in the lives of John and Sunday Reed, in the establishment and development of Heide Museum of Modern Art, this is a book well worth reading. It is a detailed and beautifully presented account of the remarkable partnership between John and Sunday Reed and their impact on modern Australian art.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Melbourne University Publishing for the opportunity to read an copy of this book.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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