John Reed (art patron)
Encyclopedia
John Reed was an Australian art editor and patron, notable for supporting and collecting of Australian art and culture with his wife Sunday Reed
.
Reed was born at 'Logan', near Evandale
near Launceston
, Tasmania
, one of seven children. His youngest sister, Cynthia later married Sidney Nolan
. In 1911 the Reeds left Launceston for England
to promote their children's education. When World War I
broke out they returned to Tasmania to settle with John Reed's grandmother at Mount Pleasant, a mansion in Prospect, Tasmania
. He attended Geelong Grammar between 1915-1920, and subsequently studied law at Cambridge University.
After graduating he returned to Australia to practice law in Melbourne
, where he met Sunday Ballieu. They married on 13 January 1932. In 1934 they purchased a former dairy farm on the Yarra River
floodplain at Bulleen, a suburb of Melbourne
, which became known as Heide. A number of modernist artists, known as the Heide Circle
came to live and work at Heide at various times during the 1930s, '40s and '50s, and as such it became the place where many of the most famous works of the period were painted. Albert Tucker
, Sidney Nolan
, and Joy Hester
, among others, all worked at Heide. Nolan painting his famous series of Ned Kelly
works in the living room there.
The Heide Circle is well known for the intertwined personal and professional lives of the people involved. Sunday Reed conducted affairs with a number of them, with the knowledge of her husband.
After reading first issue of the modernist literary magazine, Angry Penguins
, Reed visited its editor, Max Harris, in Adelaide
. Reed subsequently gave up his legal practice and ran Victoria's Contemporary Art Society instead. Reed became the publisher of Angry Penguins, which subsequently became famous for the notorious Ern Malley
hoax. The Reeds worked to establish the Heide Museum of Modern Art
, but they died shortly after its opening.
Sunday Reed
Sunday Reed was notable for supporting and collecting Australian art with her husband John Reed.-Personal history:...
.
Reed was born at 'Logan', near Evandale
Evandale, Tasmania
Evandale is a small town in northern Tasmania, Australia. It sits on the banks of the South Esk River 18 km south of Launceston. A classified historic town, many of its buildings remain largely in original condition...
near Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, one of seven children. His youngest sister, Cynthia later married Sidney Nolan
Sidney Nolan
Sir Sidney Robert Nolan OM, AC was one of Australia's best-known painters and printmakers.-Early life:Nolan was born in Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne, on 22 April 1917. He was the eldest of four children. His family later moved to St Kilda. Nolan attended the Brighton Road State School and...
. In 1911 the Reeds left Launceston for England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to promote their children's education. When World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out they returned to Tasmania to settle with John Reed's grandmother at Mount Pleasant, a mansion in Prospect, Tasmania
Prospect, Tasmania
Prospect is a small suburb of Launceston.The Mount Pleasant Laboratories are Tasmanian government laboratories located in Prospect and include:* Diagnostic Services - Researching the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease* Animal Health Laboratory...
. He attended Geelong Grammar between 1915-1920, and subsequently studied law at Cambridge University.
After graduating he returned to Australia to practice law in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, where he met Sunday Ballieu. They married on 13 January 1932. In 1934 they purchased a former dairy farm on the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
floodplain at Bulleen, a suburb of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, which became known as Heide. A number of modernist artists, known as the Heide Circle
Heide Circle
The Heide Circle was a loose grouping of Australian artists who lived and worked at "Heide", a former dairy farm on the Yarra River floodplain at Bulleen, a suburb of Melbourne, counting amongst their number many of Australia's best-known modernist painters....
came to live and work at Heide at various times during the 1930s, '40s and '50s, and as such it became the place where many of the most famous works of the period were painted. Albert Tucker
Albert Tucker (artist)
Albert Lee Tucker , a pivotal Australian artist, was a member of the Heide Circle, a group of leading modernist artists and writers that centred on the art patrons John and Sunday Reed, whose home, "Heide", located in Bulleen, near Heidelberg , was a haven for the group...
, Sidney Nolan
Sidney Nolan
Sir Sidney Robert Nolan OM, AC was one of Australia's best-known painters and printmakers.-Early life:Nolan was born in Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne, on 22 April 1917. He was the eldest of four children. His family later moved to St Kilda. Nolan attended the Brighton Road State School and...
, and Joy Hester
Joy Hester
Joy St Clair Hester was an Australian artist who played an important, though sometimes underrated, role in the development of Australian modernism, though her works could also be considered Abstract Expressionism....
, among others, all worked at Heide. Nolan painting his famous series of Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly
Edward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded cop killer — others, however, consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class.Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish...
works in the living room there.
The Heide Circle is well known for the intertwined personal and professional lives of the people involved. Sunday Reed conducted affairs with a number of them, with the knowledge of her husband.
After reading first issue of the modernist literary magazine, Angry Penguins
Angry Penguins
Angry Penguins was an Australian literary and artistic avant-garde movement of the 1940s. The movement was stimulated by a modernist magazine of the same name published by the surrealist poet Max Harris, who founded the magazine in 1940, at the age of 18....
, Reed visited its editor, Max Harris, in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
. Reed subsequently gave up his legal practice and ran Victoria's Contemporary Art Society instead. Reed became the publisher of Angry Penguins, which subsequently became famous for the notorious Ern Malley
Ern Malley
Ernest Lalor "Ern" Malley was a fictitious poet and the central figure in Australia's most celebrated literary hoax. The poet, and his entire body of work, were created in one day in 1944 by writers James McAuley and Harold Stewart as a hoax on Max Harris, Angry Penguins, the modernist magazine he...
hoax. The Reeds worked to establish the Heide Museum of Modern Art
Heide Museum of Modern Art
Heide Museum of Modern Art, more commonly just Heide, is a contemporary art museum located in Bulleen, east of Melbourne, Australia. Established in 1981, the museum comprises several detached buildings and surrounding gardens & parklands of historical importance that are used as gallery spaces to...
, but they died shortly after its opening.