As is true for many characters in timeless fables, the beautiful name Clytie belies a tragic back-story. In a tale from Greek mythology, the water nymph Clytie’s obsessive and unrequited love for the sun god Helios sees her turned into a sunflower, fated to forever follow the sun’s chariot across the sky. Named by her eccentric aunt and guardian, the Castlemaine-born artist Christian Waller (1894–1954), the ceramic artist Klytie Pate (1912–2010) was anything but a tragic figure.

Thomas Sheard (1866–1921)
The Arab Blacksmith c.1900
oil on canvas
115 x 163cm
Bendigo Art Gallery collection 
Purchased 1903
1903.1
 

The Paul Guest Prize is an award and exhibition held every two years that highlights contemporary drawing practice in Australia. The Prize was initiated by former Family Court Judge and Olympic rower, The Honourable Paul Guest OAM QC and encourages artists from across Australia to engage with the important medium of drawing in contemporary art practice.  The Prize is a non-acquisitive cash award of $15,000.

Hear from our curator, Emma Busowsky Cox, as she deliberates on the Bendigo Art Gallery historic courts. Emma discusses the history of the courts, its architecture, the choice of the wall colour as well as our historic collection and how it is displayed.

Art historian Claire Bishop observed that museums and galleries are an expression of what we consider culturally important, and that they also offer a space to reflect upon these values. A collection of works of art that has been built over time offers fascinating insights into what society has valued at particular points in history, as well as an opportunity to (re)consider the ways these works resonate today. 

Bendigo Art Gallery has made the most of the lockdown period and taken the opportunity to conduct some vital maintenance work behind the scenes. We are delighted to reveal a dramatic refresh of our historic courts. Introducing Teal Tree!

As part of an extraordinary recent gift of the Honourable Paul Guest OAM QC, Bendigo Art Gallery has acquired a major work by Niuean-born New Zealand Aotearoa poet, painter and writer, John Puhiatau Pule. You Promised Me You Would Never Perish on Earth 2007 is the first work by Pule, who is one of the Asia Pacific region’s most acclaimed artists, to enter the Gallery’s collection.

The hardworking staff of Bendigo Art Gallery are putting the final touches on the major exhibition Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits ahead of its unveiling next week. An accompanying exhibition at Post Office Gallery will showcase the eventful visits of the British Royal family to Bendigo.

A new exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery tells the story of Christian Waller, celebrated Australian printmaker of the Art Deco era, and her niece, the pioneering ceramic artist, Klytie Pate. 

The new exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery, Gothic Beauty: Victorian notions of love, loss and spirituality traces the Victorian gothic into contemporary art, and brings together the work of a variety of artists who explore these ideas.