THE 1930s was one of the most turbulent decades in Australian history. High-rise buildings, fast trains and engineering feats such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge jostled against the Great Depression, conservatism and a looming world war.
Brave New World: Australia 1930s, which opens at the National Gallery Victoria on July 14, will present a broad-ranging collection of more than 200 works spanning photography, painting, printmaking, sculpture and decorative arts as well as design, architecture, fashion, graphics, film and dance.
The depression, which saw Australia's unemployment rate rise to 32 per cent by 1932, is seen through the eyes of photographer F Oswald Barnett in his powerful images of poverty-stricken inner Melbourne suburbs such as Fitzroy, Collingwood and Carlton, and in the works of Danila Vassilieff, Yosl Bergner, Arthur Boyd and Albert Tucker, who were among the first artists to depict Australia's working class and destitute.
The exhibition continues at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia until October 15, 10am-5pm daily. Tickets are $12 adults and $8 concession.
