To a Good Home- St Vincent's in the Art of Darlinghurst update

A few of the paintings in my exhibition at St Vincent's have found good homes. In fact, the best homes I could have imagined!
A couple of days ago a man walked past the Frances Keevil Gallery and saw the printed article, that I had cut out of the Sydney Morning Herald, on the door. He then went to the hospital to see the exhibition as he recognized the street and houses from the tiny photo of my painting. His parents had apparently lived in one of the houses. 
I'm not sure whether it was 372 Victoria Street, which later housed Diabetes Australia, or 374 Victoria Street, which later became the R.M.O. He then purchased these 2 paintings as treasured memories of his family history.

"Victoria st terraces Nos 372 - 374
- the Diabetes Centre and the RMO"
2009 oil on canvas 51 x 41cm
SOLD Enquiries about similar paintings

"Victoria st terraces - Diabetes Australia"
2009 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
SOLD Enquiries about similar paintings

'Victoria Street mural and the clinic'
2010 oil on canvas 38 x 76cm
SOLD Enquiries about similar paintings
 
Now I have heard that the purchaser of "Victoria Street mural and the clinic" intends to bequeath it to the hospital, where it will stay in the office as "an important reminder of our past".
Often I never get to discover the reasons why someone buys one of my paintings. I love to find their story about the place that has such meaning for them.
When I painted these works, I had received so many lovely comments from the patients and staff of the terraces and clinic, who had loved the World Aids Day mural and the surrounding buildings.
It means a lot to an artist for their artwork to be appreciated by someone with a personal connection to the subject matter. 
What I do really matters to me, rather than being some intellectual painterly exercise.
Often I have been asked "why do I paint the particular subjects that I do?". I struggle to find the exact words to describe the feelings that I have, as I am a much better painter than I am a writer, but the fate of these paintings goes right to the core of my reasons.
The first two paintings have filled in a missing chapter of someone's lost personal history. The painting of the mural and the clinic will now hang forever as a symbol of hope and recovery.

Related posts

St Vincent's- In the Art of Darlinghurst 

Both sides of the street - My new exhibition "St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst"

To see another photo from the opening night by Julie of "Sydney Eye" see "Craggy"(sydney-eye.blogspot.com.au).


Strike while the iron is hot
 
Pyrmont paintings past and present- My Exhibition in the Australian National Maritime Museum
 
'From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo'
 
Storm warning, Goat Island
 
Eveleigh Community Heritage Day
 
Another one bites the dust

St Vincent's- In the Art of Darlinghurst

 

Victoria st 2009 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm

Enquiries

In December 2009 I was asked by some people who worked at St Vincent's if I could create paintings of some terrace houses on a Darlinghurst block adjacent to St Vincent’s Public Hospital. Almost an entire block of Victoria Street between the Garvan Institute and the Green Park Hotel would be replaced by the construction of a new 11-storey medical centre.

'Victoria Street mural and the clinic'

2010 oil on canvas 38 x 76cm

Enquiries

The structures on this side of Victoria Street included the RMO, the Diabetes Centre, the Rankin Court Clinic for Drug and Alcohol treatment and a bright green mural which honoured World Aids Day.

For another view of this now destroyed mural see the post "Monday Mural" on the fascinating blog of Sydney Eye

"Victoria st -The World AIDS Day Mural
between the Green Park Hotel and Rankin Court"
2010 oil on canvas 36 x 46cm
Enquiries

By the time that I started this series of paintings, these services were in the process of being relocated to neighbouring buildings. By mid 2010, the breakthrough new cancer treatment Centre, the Kinghorn Centre, was already under construction.

 

Victoria st terraces-The Mural to honour 'World AIDS Day'

2009-10 Ink, gouache on paper 43 x 61cm

Enquiries 
The Kinghorn Centre, which will be opened in June 2012, is a joint Garvan Institute and St Vincent's Hospital project. It will pioneer a revolutionary method of customizing patient treatment instead of the previous one-drug-fits-all approach.
In early December 2011, cancer survivor Delta Goodrem, who is the patron of the Kinghorn Centre, spoke to assembled staff and construction workers at its launch .
See articles:"Delta Goodrem helps break ground on cancer centre" ; Article in Daily Telegraph

'A Corinthian column, St Vincents' De Lacy wing'

2011 oil on canvas 20 x 20cm

My aim was to paint the exciting transition of the area from past to future. I painted all the works in this exhibition on site, sheltering under the awnings of the local restaurants and coffee shops, whose staff would keep an eye on my easel and belongings.

From the Green park Bandstand, I painted the classical facade of St Vincent’s heritage De Lacey wing framed by ferny canopies of lime green trees.

'An Ionic column, St Vincents' Public Hospital,

De Lacy wing' 2011 oil on canvas 20 x 20cm

Some of these buildings have heritage value, and all of them are regarded with genuine affection by the locals. Most of the architecture of this block has been compromised to a greater or lesser extent by tasteless modern extensions, but taken as a whole, they express the character of a colourful and unique area of Sydney street-life.
 

"Victoria st terraces-The RMO "
2009-10 oil on canvas 46 x 36cm
Enquiries 

The area is colourful and picturesque with a great diversity of buildings: from garish to subdued; from shabby to plush - and the characters who live, work and visit this area, rival the buildings for diversity and raffish charm.

"Victoria st terraces Nos 372-4 -

the Diabetes Centre & the RMO"

2009 oil on canvas 51x41cm.

SOLD
Enquiries

Victoria Street is a peculiar mélange of architecture ranging from the charming, to the quirky, to the downright hideous.

Hole-in-the-wall coffee bars contrast with the sleek corporate steel and glass of the Victor Chang Institute in the background.

In between a few examples of faded glamour it's scruffy and noisy but the place feels busy and vibrant.

An oasis of calm in all this frenetic activity is Green Park.

 

"Victoria st terraces-Diabetes Australia"

2009 oil on canvas 31x31cm.

 SOLD
Enquiries

English colonial grandeur rubs shoulders with crumbling terraces overgrown with vines and painted in brightly sub-tropical hues.

"Victoria st terraces-The RMO"

2009-10 Ink, gouache on paper 63 x 41cm

Enquiries 

My paintings of the buildings of this demolished block of Darlinghurst terraces honour the memories of the past, while celebrating the exciting possibilities of the future.
My exhibition will be held at the Xavier Art Space, Level 3 (which is the ground floor entry level) in the foyer of the St Vincent's Public Hospital. The Exhibition period is from 4 February - 8 March 2012, with the official opening on Tuesday night the 7th of February from 6-8pm. The works will be able to be viewed during the general hospital opening hours.
I am represented by the FRANCES KEEVIL GALLERY mob: 0411 821550

  info@franceskeevilgallery.com.au
The Director, Frances Keevil will be curating and hanging the exhibition.

For more information about my paintings of the Victoria Street Terraces see my Urban Landscape Page