‘The New Renaissance’, Australian Women’s Weekly, 6 April 1955

‘The New Renaissance’, Australian Women’s Weekly, 6 April 1955

Art, art appreciation, Art Prize, Australian Women’s Weekly, canvas, Henri Matisse (1869-1954), leisured, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), magazine, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564), ‘new renaissance’, patronage, populace, privileged, prize, Renaissance, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669), rich.

This article from The Australian Women’s Weekly in 1955 posits contemporary Australian society as being at the precipice of a ‘New Renaissance’ in terms of widening access to and public interest in fine art. Pinpointing Ancient Greece and the Renaissance in Europe as rare periods in history when art was appreciated not only by the rich and privileged but by a large proportion of the population, the article suggests that evidence of a growing and widespread interest in art is noticeable in art school attendance and patronage trends. As a result, ‘Housewives and shop-assistants, politicians and plumbers are now among those able to tell a Matisse from a Michelangelo and to live more fully because of that ability’. The article’s overall purpose is to advertise a £2000 Art Prize offered by The Australian Women’s Weekly, so it is in the magazine’s interest to draw links between the flourishing of art in the Renaissance and the potential for contemporary interest in art to enrich society.

Anon

TROVE: National Library of Australia, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51597233

6 April 1955, p.2

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