Reading the Rooms

 Reading the Rooms

Reviewed By  Grasshopper2       December 5, 2023

 

Author  Edited by Richard Neville and Rachel Franks.

Distributor:      New South
ISBN:                 9781742238012
Publisher:         UNSW Press
Release Date:   December 2023  

Website:    https://unsw.press/books/readingrooms 

FaceBook:   

YouTube:   

Instagram:   

X formally Twitter:   

Behind the paintings of the State Library of NSW

What a truly beautiful coffee table and research book Reading the Rooms which is edited by Richard Neville and Rachel Franks. From the opulent cover and the intriguing title, this book will captivate any reader who picks it up.

Who would have thought that the NSW State Library had such treasured art works, many of which were donated to the library in past times? This is explained in the introduction. “Large libraries are hard to use”, and so new galleries were opened to display art works which have been stored, some for a century.

Conservationists spent nearly a year working on the paintings before the hanging. The “Emphasis was on identification and provenance rather than didactic analysis.” The reasoning being that the artwork supplements our knowledge of history and charters the progress of the Colony.

An early addition to the Library collection is the painting of Sir Charles Fitzroy ca. 1855 and the history behind it is fascinating. It also reveals information about the artist Henry Robinson Smith who is little known. The search for authentication of the art has been extensive but complete.

The sections in this book begin with ‘People and Place’. These are followed by ‘Power and Providers’, then come ‘Pastimes and Prosperity’. The emphasis is strong on early and Prominent Europeans who formed the focus of the Library’s collection.

Country towns and settlements also featured heavily to add to the historical references. In 1898 Mr Mitchell, who valued old pictures and engravings, offered his collection to the public library, and since then, many have followed his lead.

In this beautifully collated book, the reader can slowly work through the pages. In so many pictures and essays, we can learn from the details in the art as well as the background of each piece. This not only enhances understanding of our history but exposes us to the wonderfully talented artists of the times.

History, Non Fiction