Castaways: Picking up the Pieces of the Plaster Cast Collection of the National Art School, Sydney

Abstract

In the late 19th century the National Art School (NAS)in Sydney, purchased plaster casts from the London firm of D. Brucciani. From the original collection only about thirty casts have survived. In 2020 the original objects were added to by the Alexander Murray collection: modern and Australian in its ethos.

The thesis traces the origins and foundation of the NAS cast collection in the context of its history as an academic and technical institution key to the development of artistic education in NSW. It examines casts purchased and produced from the early 1880s to the late 1930s, spanning the leadership of Lucien Henry (1850–1896) and Rayner Hoff (1894–1937). It looks to the social context and debates of a significant period in Australia as the settler-colonial state was challenged to define its national identity.

The thesis argues for the significance of the casts using object biography to recognise their many lives: as valuable pedagogic and aesthetic objects in an art school. In unpacking the relationship between the Brucciani and Murray casts, it demonstrates the unique position of the NAS cast collection, in establishing the importance of Brucciani’s work in an art school and by considering the importance of the Murray collection, situating it as part of Henry’s ethos on the use of Australiana in the arts. The thesis articulates the legacy of these casts in the casting tradition which continues in the practices of the NAS to the present day.

This thesis establishes the NAS casts as a living collection responsive to fluid notions of reception. It builds a detailed catalogue of the casts contextualised by their social interactions and establishes them as part of the school’s life. Ultimately the thesis argues for the importance of the casts as original objects and identifies their changing significance as tools of education and identity to stress their significance as artefacts in their own right: original, produced by the hand of an artist and marked by time.