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Leamington Letters #61: Oz

4/12/2013

10 Comments

 
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Like most cricket-loving Englishmen, I have an ambivalent relationship with Australia and Australians, especially at a time like this, when there is a Test series going on.

Back in the 60s, we had an invasion of Australian intellect and intellectuals. Richard Neville, editor of Oz, Clive James and the incomparable Germaine Greer, were crucial to the movement at the time, and their energy, smartness and engagement, were important - at least to me - in facing up to one or two bourgeois tendencies that I had inherited from my public school.

These days, I love the Australian earthiness, their drinking, their love of sport and what Dame Edna famously referred to as their “total lack of cultural distractions”.

So, on our recent visit to London for Bob's return to the Royal Albert Hall, Jill and I found a couple of hours to see the Australia show at the Royal Academy.

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It was a revelation.

Not, of course, for the colonial, imperialist, landscapes of the English painters, although some of the painting is more than competent and the subject matter fascinating.

The wondrousness of the show was all about the exquisite, obsessive, detailed and scale of the work of the native Australians.

Aboriginal art is both style and substance.

The style is decorative, reminding me of Arabian, Iranian, Turkish carpets, in which religious icons are combined with images of heritage, to create something which is greater and more universal than either.

Some contemporary Australians, of European heritage, have attempted to continue this tradition, and they have failed quite spectacularly.

Others, notably Sidney Nolan, have drawn on the landscape to create something as modern and as distinctively Australian as Wolf Blass Shiraz. Some are particularly successful in capturing the banality of Australia in the 50s, against which the three mentioned above rebelled and from which they escaped: Jeffery Smart, in particular, completely new to me, deserves a wider audience.

But, for the Europeans, the native technique is merely and only that, a technique. They seem to me to fail to understand that the medium is as much the message as ... well, the message. This is also the case in the work of the so-called Australian impressionists. It's ok, but it’s not quite there, is it? It may be Australian, but it's not impressionist. And when it is impressionist, it's not Australian.

There is no doubt, however, that it was an afternoon exceptionally well-spent, and well worth the annual cost of our Friends of the RA cards. 

With the exception of a load of where-the=hell-do-we-put-this? stuff in the final couple of rooms, it was moving, engaging, challenging and stimulating. We loved it.

And we also loved the new Keeper's House bar and restaurant. Under the aegis of Oliver Peyton and, during the day, open exclusively to Academicians and Friends, it is our very own club in Piccadilly. The Wolseley is just across the road, but, for once, we didn't visit. No need. The Keeper's House will do me very well indeed when I revisit the RA to see the Daumier on Paris exhibition in the new year.

So that's what we did before the Bob concert. Read the preceding blog for a review of the concert itself. My judgement may not be what you expect.

Meanwhile, because this was all happening the day before Thanksgiving, and I needed to be back in Leamington for Michelle's celebrations, I mused on the train about all the things for which I can give thanks this year.

For me, that means a second grandson, a first step-grandson, and the marriage of my second daughter Cassidy to a man I admire and respect and who is good for her.

And then, there was the World Series.

That's a good year by any standards.

Today from the everysmith vault: Wooden Ships from October 1991. Paul Kantner returns to his folk roots in the back room of McCabe's guitar shop in Santa Monica.It was just after the death of Bill Graham, and Paul recounts a conversation he had had earlier with Jerry. Very moving

10 Comments
Dave
4/12/2013 08:08:49

Interesting triumvirate. And I thought, who else? And could think of no-one. But they were enough. As you say, stimulating, challenging, fun, passionate, witty. Good times.

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CJ
4/12/2013 08:30:35

Ah, Paul Kantner going acoustic. Of course, they (the greats from that time and that place) were all ex-folkies and bluegrass guys before they dropped the acid. Which is one of the reasons why I listen to the JGB and Garcia and Grissman more than the Dead these days. And why, pace your last blog, Bob isn't really doing it for me these days. Nor you by the sound of it.

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Bruce
4/12/2013 08:35:53

Come on, mate. What were these bourgeois tendencies then?!

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Amanda
4/12/2013 08:48:52

You are tempting fate with this blog, Max. You will get a load of facetious stuff about sport and the odd one about Aussie misogyny - of which there is a hell of a lot. But we are a great country with a great culture, much of which derives from the native Australians. And we are winning the Ashes!

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Thom
4/12/2013 11:44:38

Congratulations on grandchildren and Cassidy's wedding. Agree that sounds like a good year. Xx

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Charlotte Ford
5/12/2013 06:22:19

Thank-you for writing about the Australia exhibition, Max. As always, thoughtful ,insightful and informative. xx

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Ellen
5/12/2013 08:51:27

The Aussie diaspora in the late 60s was not solely a gain for the UK (particularly London) but also a significant loss for Australia. It took them a long time to catch up. And to add to your trio, there is of course Dame Edna (whom you mention) but also the immortal Sir Les Patterson, the cultural attaché!

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Rick Hough
6/12/2013 00:03:03

Another enjoyable and informative read. More and more I find myself showing up for the nutrition - so thanks for that. Congratulations on 2013's wonderful familial bounty!

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Mark
6/12/2013 03:41:29

Reading this the day after Mandela died. And it seems to me that his life is another thing that we can give thanks for. Also seems to me that the casual racism of Australia has parallels with that other colony: South Africa. We are talking about a difference in degree but white Australia also has much to answer for.

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Paper Ellephant
8/12/2013 10:16:25

I have always admired Art from down under the mainstream take on conceptual representation of a nation's wealth of history and landscape.

They do however adhere to some rules... Notably "There is no... Rule Six"

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    Max Smith

    European writer, radical, restaurateur and Red Sox fan. 70-something husband, father, step-father, grandfather and son. Resident in Warwick, England.

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