Cellist by Walter Bowring

In this episode of Object Matters Dr Craig Barker is joined by Chris Jones the Chau Chak Wing Museum’s Collection Manager, Documentation.

 

An oil painting by Walter Armiger Bowring (1887-1971) in the museum’s art collection titled Cellist of c. 1927 has long intrigued Chris. A musician in an artists studio looks not a musical score but rather an abstract painting. Chris ponders if Bowring is gently mocking the 1920s modernist concepts popularised by Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo, Roy De Maistre and others about the relationship between art and music and questions who the cellist in the painting may have been. Chris also explores the role of data management and digitisation in a museum.

 

Artwork: Walter Bowring, 'Cellist', c.1927, oil on canvas, University Art Collection, UA1968.3

Guest: Chris Jones is responsible for the administration of the Sydney University Museum's collections database Axiell Emu and associated digitisation projects. He has previously worked in museums and archives in New Zealand, and the National Gallery of Victoria before joining the University in 2012.

Host: Dr Craig Barker, Head, Public Engagement, Chau Chak Wing Museumand Director, Paphos Theatre Archaeological Excavations. Follow @DrCraig_B on Twitter and Instagram.

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