Exhibition: Saturday 20 August to Sunday 27 November
Events:
- Exhibition Opening: Friday 19 August
- Stained Glass Bus Tour: Friday 30 September
- Hamilton Modernism Public Forum: Sunday 30 October
Entry to this exhibition is free.
John Orval, The Herbert B. Shaw Memorial Window, 1965
Stained glass. Commissioned by Hamilton Gallery 1964
Luminous: John Orval, Stained Glass Artist
Join us for a major retrospective exhibition of the work by Modernist émigré artist John Orval. This exhibition coincides with the 60th anniversary of his first exhibition at the gallery in 1962- believed to be the first solo show of a stained-glass artist ever held in Australasia.
Distinguished stained glass art historian, Dr Bronwyn Hughes OAM, and Dr Alison Inglis AM, Honorary Fellow, Art History Program, University of Melbourne have co-curated this exhibition, working with Orval’s family to recreate his professional achievements and place him within the broader context of Australian Modernism.
The exhibition brings together an exciting array of stained glass windows, cartoons and designs as well as re-discovered footage of Orval in his studio and installing windows in situ, which has been used to create a short documentary.
Hughes and Inglis will also host a bus tour to local Orval windows in conjunction with the release of a new Orval Catalogue & Stained Glass Map, and host a public forum on Hamilton Modernism from the 1960’s.
This exhibition coincides with the United Nations International Year of Glass 2022, an initiative of The International Commission on Glass (ICG), the Community of Glass Associations (CGA) and ICOM-Glass.
Exhibition Opening
Friday 19 August / 6pm
Join us for the official exhibition opening of Luminous: John Orval, Stained Glass Artist. We are excited to be joined by special guest speaker, Jane Clark, Senior Research Curator of MONA for this free public event.
Stained Glass Bus Tour
Friday 30 September / 9:30am – 4:30pm
Hamilton Gallery will host a bus tour to churches featuring Orval’s artworks across the region, which will coincide with the release of a new Orval Catalogue & Stained Glass Map. The tour will be guided by our knowledgeable exhibition co-curators and will visit locations in Hamilton, Nareen, Coleraine and Tahara.
Tickets for the tour cost $40, which will also include a locally catered lunch. Book your bus seat below or contact us for assistance.
Hamilton Modernism Public Forum
Sunday 30 October / 10.00am – 1pm
This fascinating morning of short talks, public discussion and Q&A will feature experts and scholars from across Victoria. See Hamilton in a new light thanks to insights shared on architecture, stained glass and public sculpture associated with the Hamilton Gallery in the 1960s. Topics will include Hamilton Gallery’s modernist building, the Prometheus sculpture at our entrance, local stained glass windows and more.
This event is free and includes a locally catered morning tea, please book your space below or contact the gallery if you need assistance.
We are delighted that this exhibition was Highly Commended at the Victorian Museums and Galleries Awards 2023 in the category of Small Project of the Year (Gallery).
This was announced to raucous applause at ACMI in Melbourne on Tuesday 10 October 2023, with judges commenting, “Hamilton Gallery has accomplished an ambitious project with limited resources, and their scholarly approach to exhibition-making has left an impact on audiences and made a significant contribution to Australian art history.”
We are immensely proud of this exhibition and the ripples it continues to make across the globe.
We would like to thank the Australian Museums and Galleries Association of Victoria (AMaGA) and the Public Galleries Association of Victoria (PGAV) alongside everyone involved in this exhibition. This includes curators, Dr Alison Inglis AM and Dr Bronwyn Hughes OAM, Noel Orval, The University of Melbourne, Southern Grampians Shire Council, and of course, the Gallery team.
It’s not every day National Trust-listed property owners remove an entire window to lend to an art gallery on the opposite side of the state, but the current custodians of Beleura House and Garden on the Morning Peninsula recently did just that.
In preparing to co-curate our current exhibition, ‘Luminous: John Orval Stained Glass Artist’ co-curator, Dr Bronwyn Hughes OAM was able to inform Beleura’s owners of the window’s creator, and the unexpected discovery of a cartoon relating to the work thanks to the keen eye of the artist’s son, Noel Orval.
Notes from the artist preserved on the back of the frame show that the window was commissioned by Allan Eustace, a good friend of composer John Tallis, one of the founding members of the National Trust of Victoria and previous Beleura owner.
You can read the fascinating full story below on page 13, and visit the gallery to see the window in person.
