‘Mother and Child’ by G. W. Bot
Art, child, Christ, devotional, exhibition, G. W. Bot, icon, infant Jesus, Madonna, Mary, medieval painters, Mother, Mother and Child, religious art, spirituality, Virgin Mary.
<p>This linocut print, <em>Mother and Child</em> (1985), by artist G. W. Bot depicts a Madonna and child scene in which the frame is occupied almost exclusively by a Virgin Mary figure holding a child. Although held by a private collector, the piece was exhibited in a number of regional Australian art galleries between 2010 and 2013 as part of a touring exhibition of G. W. Bot’s work – <em>The Long Paddock: A 30 Year Survey</em> – developed by the Goulburn Regional Art Gallery and curated by Peter Haynes. Bot’s inspiration for this work derives from the status of the Madonna and Child as a powerful Christian icon, especially in medieval religious art. During an interview conducted for the educational resource kit accompanying the exhibition, G. W Bot acknowledged this medieval influence: ‘I’ve also found inspiration in the medieval icon painters – I’ve always been fascinated by the question of how to encode spirituality in the visual arts’ (see: <a href="http://www.grag.com.au/userfiles/file/GW%20BOT%20Education%20Kit.pdf" target="_self">http://www.grag.com.au/userfiles/file/GW%20BOT%20Education%20Kit.pdf</a>).</p>
<p>For more on this artwork and other works featured in the exhibition, see the Exhibition Catalogue at: <a href="http://www.grag.com.au/userfiles/file/4569%20GW%20BOT%20-%20Catalogue_v12.pdf" target="_self">http://www.grag.com.au/userfiles/file/4569%20GW%20BOT%20-%20Catalogue_v12.pdf</a></p>
G. W. Bot (Chrissy Gishkin)
<em>The Long Paddock: A 30 Year Survey</em> Exhibition (<a href="http://www.grag.com.au/site/exhibition.php?id=3" target="_self">http://www.grag.com.au/site/exhibition.php?id=3</a>)
1985
Goulburn Regional Art Gallery
Linocut on BFK Paper, 62cm x 55.5cm
Mothers Day, <em>The Register,</em> 7 May 1915
Adelaide, celebration, Church services, custom, duty, gifts, gratitude, family, festival, homage, Lent, May, medieval custom, mother, mothering, mother’s day, observance, tradition, SA, South Australia, Sunday, white flowers, Young Women’s Christian Association.
This article from <em>The Register</em> in 1915 traces the origins of Mothers’ Day celebrations to the medieval period, when adolescent children would be afforded a holiday from work on the fourth Sunday in Lent to ‘go a-mothering’. On such occasions, the article explains, family members would assemble and pay homage to mothers by presenting gifts, and a general air of festivity ensued with special Church services and prayers containing more than usual reference to family life. While some elements of the festivities were not adopted in Australia, the article continues, the observance of mothers day is regularly marked by the wearing of white flowers, and by annual festivals such as the one conducted at the Young Women’s Christian Association headquarters in Adelaide.
Anon
TROVE: National Library of Australia, <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59602764" target="_self">http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59602764</a>
<em>The Register</em>
7 May 1915, p.6
Copyright Expired
Newspaper Article