ToyShop
17 Aug 2013 – 6 Apr 2014
Tom Andersen, Toy train, 1975, Crafts Board Collection donated by the Australia Council 1982
About
Toyshop is an exhibition for the very young gallery visitor. But, equally, it has something for all of us. Toys hold a special place for children as objects of fun and imagination. For an adult, they present a nostalgic link to the past, which is often employed by artists to stir up childhood memories or to capture the innocence or fun we once had as children.
This exhibition includes toys in a wide variety of artistic styles and mediums and from various cultures. Artists have captured our association with these objects of play in prints, photographs and paintings, but some of the toys reflect a nostalgic element that extends well beyond the thematic physical aspect of toys. Iconic works such as the Ginger Meggs doll from around 1960 and the earlier Koala from around 1950 shift the significance from the established realm of art aesthetic to a merger of craftsmanship with a social identity, adding a unique quality to these toys. However, among the familiar toys are those that will surprise such as Jiggle‑Joggle, a frog race game that appears to be, as it states on it box, ‘splendid fun for both big and little people’.
Many of the items in Toyshop are from a unique assortment of toys that comprise a small part of the Gallery’s Julian Robinson Collection, an eclectic and extensive collection of almost 4000 works driven by one man’s passion for all things associated with fashion and its craft. A number of the works from this collection provide rare insight into the toys of bygone eras, including a magic set and puzzles manufactured over a century ago and one of the earliest sets of playing blocks from Germany.
The exhibition also includes entreating sculpture, painting, photography and prints—from Ruth Hollick’s photograph of ‘Miss Beggs’ with her teddy from around 1928 to Charlotte Ardizzone’s oil painting Wrapping up Christmas presents 1969 and Lucy Culliton’s sculptural work Hand knit toy 2007. The items in Toyshop are sure to capture your imagination, whatever your age.
Debbie Ward
Head of Conservation and exhibition curator
Related
FuturePlay
from the house of tomorrow
19 Mar 2005 – 29 May 2005
Seeing Red
The Art and Science of Infra-red Analysis
17 Nov 2001 – 10 Feb 2002
Silently Stirring
21 Mar 2009 – 8 Jun 2009
Diane Arbus
American Portraits
3 Jun 2016 – 30 Oct 2016
Transparent Things
Expressions in Glass
7 Dec 2001 – 10 Nov 2002
In the Spotlight
Anton Bruehl photographs 1920s–1950s
23 Oct 2010 – 6 Feb 2011
///national-gallery-of-australia/media/dd/images/sadan_textile.jpg)
20 Jun 1987 – 20 Nov 1987
9 Apr 1993 – 18 Jul 1993
12 Jan 2015 – 13 Jul 2015
Penguins and Ice
Photographs of Antarctica 1910–2010
23 Dec 2011 – 25 Mar 2012
