THE fascinating story of a Melbourne family, notable for its influence in the art sphere, especially, is told in a recently released book titled Driftwood – escape and survival through art.
Its author, 80-year-old Eva de Jong-Duldig, escaped from Vienna as a baby with her parents Karl and Slawa just after Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938.
Arriving in Australia in 1940, the family was interned at Tatura before moving to Melbourne after Karl joined the Australian Army in 1942.
In Vienna, Karl had been a respected sculptor and Slawa an artist and designer. More than a decade before the couple left their homeland, Slawa had also invented the world’s first modern foldable umbrella.
“When we fled Austria we left behind all our possessions, including some stunning works by my father and paintings and furniture designed by my mother,” Eva said.
After years of hearing nothing of the family in Europe, Slawa was finally able to contact her sister Rella in 1944 – and was stunned to learn that Rella and her French husband Marcel had all their precious possessions from Vienna hidden in their cellar in Paris. Rella promised to send them over.
“Our family’s dramatic escape from Europe is just one of many dramatic escapes,” Eva said.
“What makes our story unique is that we were able to recover all our possessions – including pure silk curtains, lamps, chairs designed by my mother, her own paintings and drawings, and my father’s beautiful sculptures.
“Mum and Dad had been students of the very best artists in Europe and our family home in Glen Iris wasn’t just a home, it was a wonderful repository for their precious items.”
Eva graduated from Melbourne University as a PE teacher. She had considerable sporting talent, and became a top tennis player in the early 1960s, playing in the doubles quarter-finals at Wimbledon three years running.
Her parents re-established their artistic careers and were highly respected in the Melbourne art world. Slawa died in 1975, and Karl 11 years later. At that point, Eva became custodian of her parents’ significant personal collection.
She restored the family home in East Malvern and in 2002 applied to establish a not-for-profit museum and art gallery – the Duldig Studio. Today it’s a captivating collection open to the public and comprising furniture, decorative arts, paintings and sculpture. It also includes Karl’s studio in an outbuilding, and a charming sculpture garden.
“Dad loved outdoor sculpture and always thought Australian gardens needed much more of it,” Eva said.
“I’ve got his studio arranged as he had it. He lived his art and was very inspired by the Australian environment.
“It’s been enormously satisfying to do all this, to tell the story – I feel very lucky to have been involved.”
The Duldig Studio, museum and sculpture garden at 92 Burke Rd, East Malvern, opens Tuesday and Thursday 1-3pm and on the second Saturday of each month 1- 3pm. An exhibit presenting Slawa’s early graphic work, sculptures, fashion and furniture design is currently under way. Slawa – Modernist Art and Design, also includes original drawings and the prototypes for her invention of the folding umbrella.
- For information or to buy a copy of Driftwood, www.duldig.org.au or Australian Scholarly Publishing, www.scholarly.info