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Coordinates: 37°48′49″S 144°58′25″E / 37.81361°S 144.97352°E / -37.81361; 144.97352
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Grosvenor Chambers saw Roberts in his role in developing an [[Heidelberg School|Australian school of art]] when he lived in Grosvenor Chambers while camping over weekends at Heidelberg, and when painting his "[[9 by 5 Impression Exhibition|9 by 5 Impressions]]," and in the studio he painted portraits of Melbourne's leading intellectuals and works presenting its cultural and social life. Two of his major paintings of Australian life, ''[[Shearing the Rams]]'' and ''The Breakaway'' were painted there. On his 'Studio Wednesdays' he and other artists opened their studios to show work-in-progress to the public.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Spate |first=Virginia |date=1 January 1977 |title=Review: Letters: *If No. 5 Collins Street could be saved from the wreckers we would have at least an idea of the scale of this once beautiful street° |pages=12 |work=The Age}}</ref>
Grosvenor Chambers saw Roberts in his role in developing an [[Heidelberg School|Australian school of art]] when he lived in Grosvenor Chambers while camping over weekends at Heidelberg, and when painting his "[[9 by 5 Impression Exhibition|9 by 5 Impressions]]," and in the studio he painted portraits of Melbourne's leading intellectuals and works presenting its cultural and social life. Two of his major paintings of Australian life, ''[[Shearing the Rams]]'' and ''The Breakaway'' were painted there. On his 'Studio Wednesdays' he and other artists opened their studios to show work-in-progress to the public.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Spate |first=Virginia |date=1 January 1977 |title=Review: Letters: *If No. 5 Collins Street could be saved from the wreckers we would have at least an idea of the scale of this once beautiful street° |pages=12 |work=The Age}}</ref>


Many other notable artists rented a studio in the building or exhibited their work there,<ref>Alex Taylor, ''Perils of the Studio: Inside the Artistic Affairs of Bohemian Melbourne'', Australian Scholarly Publishing & State Library of Victoria: North Melbourne, 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-74097-149-2}}</ref> even after its sale in 1939 to investment company A. Gordon Allard and Co.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1939-06-19 |title=City Property Sold |work=Argus |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12140398 |access-date=2023-03-23}}</ref> They included [[Frederick McCubbin]], [[Arthur Streeton]], [[Percival Ball]], [[Charles Francis Summers]], [[Clara Southern]], [[Jane Sutherland]], [[Charles Conder]], [[E. Phillips Fox]], [[John Longstaff]], [[G.P. Nerli|Girolamo Nerli]], [[Louis Abrahams (art patron)|Louis Abrahams]], [[Rose A. Walker|Rose Walker]], [[George Washington Lambert|George Lambert]], [[Ola Cohn]], [[Dora Wilson]], [[Max Meldrum]], [[Mirka Mora]] and [[Albert Tucker (artist)|Albert Tucker]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hetherington |first=John |date=18 November 1961 |title=Australian Artists In Profile (2): Albert Tucker's Fight For Recognition |pages=18 |work=The Age}}</ref>
From the 1880s many other notable artists rented a studio in the building or exhibited their work there,<ref>Alex Taylor, ''Perils of the Studio: Inside the Artistic Affairs of Bohemian Melbourne'', Australian Scholarly Publishing & State Library of Victoria: North Melbourne, 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-74097-149-2}}</ref> even after its auction<ref>{{Cite news |last=Advertisement |date=3 June 1939 |title=Sales By Auction: Wednesday, June 14. At Half-Past 2 O'clock. In The Auction Room, 37 Queen-Street. Valuable City Property, "Grosvenor Chambers, No. 9 Collins-St., Melbourne. Executors' Sale. |pages=2 |work=The Age}}</ref> and sale in 1939 to investment company A. Gordon Allard and Co.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1939-06-19 |title=City Property Sold |work=Argus |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12140398 |access-date=2023-03-23}}</ref> They included [[Frederick McCubbin]], [[Arthur Streeton]], [[Percival Ball]], [[Charles Francis Summers]], [[Clara Southern]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 Feb 1901 |title=The Queen's Statue: An Artist's Suggestion. |pages=5 |work=The Age}}</ref> [[Jane Sutherland]], [[Charles Conder]], [[E. Phillips Fox]], [[John Longstaff]], [[G.P. Nerli|Girolamo Nerli]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 September 1902 |title=About people |pages=4 |work=The Age}}</ref> [[Louis Abrahams (art patron)|Louis Abrahams]], [[Rose A. Walker|Rose Walker]], [[George Washington Lambert|George Lambert]], [[Ola Cohn]], [[Dora Wilson]], [[Max Meldrum]], [[Mirka Mora]] and [[Albert Tucker (artist)|Albert Tucker]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hetherington |first=John |date=18 November 1961 |title=Australian Artists In Profile (2): Albert Tucker's Fight For Recognition |pages=18 |work=The Age}}</ref>


Notable photographers, such as [[Gordon De Lisle]] and [[Wolfgang Sievers]], had rooms in the building in the 1950s.
Notable photographers, such as [[Gordon De Lisle]] and [[Wolfgang Sievers]], had rooms in the building in the 1950s.

Revision as of 22:31, 23 March 2023

Grosvenor Chambers
Grosvenor Chambers on the right
Grosvenor Chambers is located in Melbourne
Grosvenor Chambers
Grosvenor Chambers
Location within Melbourne
Grosvenor Chambers is located in Australia
Grosvenor Chambers
Grosvenor Chambers
Grosvenor Chambers (Australia)
General information
StatusCompleted
Location9 Collins Street, Melbourne
Coordinates37°48′49″S 144°58′25″E / 37.81361°S 144.97352°E / -37.81361; 144.97352

Grosvenor Chambers, at number 9 Collins Street, Melbourne, contained the first custom-built complex of artists' studios in Australia.

John T. Collins 1977 photograph of 1888 Grosvenor Chambers prior to demolition of its interior. State Library of Victoria
Collins Street, near the corner of Spring Street, showing Grosvenor Chambers at centre soon after construction. Albumen silver photograph 14.0 x 20.0 cm. State Library of Victoria
CB Walker Studio, Grosvenor Chambers, Melbourne, 1888-1899. Saw-tooth skylights visible at roof level. Albumen print 23.9 x 19.7 cm. Art Gallery of New South Wales

Construction

Architects were Oakden, Addison and Kemp and the building contractor W. Davidson who was then mayor of Richmond.[1] Construction costs were almost £6,000. The building, bearing on its parapet the date 1887, officially opened on 21 April 1888 with a 'smoke concert' attended by the Melbourne art world.[2]

The owner was Charles Stewart Paterson (1843-1917). He, in partnership with his brother James, had a high-end decorating business in Melbourne. Another brother was the painter John Ford Paterson who sometimes exhibited with the Heidelberg School artists.

The upper floor consisted of five well-lit artists' studios with ante-rooms all provided with light from skylights with a southern elevation (to provide the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of a 'north light') and tall windows on to Collins Street; natural lighting designed "on principles laid down by Sir Joshua Reynolds" and by consultation with the first artists to occupy them; Tom Roberts, James C. Waite, Louis Abrahams, and George Walton.[3]

The middle floor had space for a costumier, initially a Mrs Eeles,[4] fabric showroom and workshop.

The ground floor housed the showroom for the Paterson’s decorative arts business and doctors consulting rooms at the rear.

The rear basement atelier was occupied initially by sculptor Percival Ball, constructed so that the downhill slope toward Flinders Lane placed his floor above the level of the lane and created a clearance in the room of 7 metres, thus accomodating large works-in-progress. A wide doorway and window had a fanlight over them was removable to provide an entrance to the Lane over 2m wide, and to the height of the room, for passage of large pieces of sculpture, such as the first he produced there, his William Wallace for the Ballarat Gardens.[5] The front of the basement, a spacious cellar, was lighted with Hayward's patent prismatic pavement lights.

Stained-glass windows over the staircase showing figures symbolising Sculpture, Painting, and Heraldic Work were by Brooks, Robinson, and Co.[1] whose work is also found in the Princess Theatre and who from this date employed most of Melbourne's stained-glass artists including William Frater.

Artist occupants

Grosvenor Chambers saw Roberts in his role in developing an Australian school of art when he lived in Grosvenor Chambers while camping over weekends at Heidelberg, and when painting his "9 by 5 Impressions," and in the studio he painted portraits of Melbourne's leading intellectuals and works presenting its cultural and social life. Two of his major paintings of Australian life, Shearing the Rams and The Breakaway were painted there. On his 'Studio Wednesdays' he and other artists opened their studios to show work-in-progress to the public.[6]

From the 1880s many other notable artists rented a studio in the building or exhibited their work there,[7] even after its auction[8] and sale in 1939 to investment company A. Gordon Allard and Co.[9] They included Frederick McCubbin, Arthur Streeton, Percival Ball, Charles Francis Summers, Clara Southern,[10] Jane Sutherland, Charles Conder, E. Phillips Fox, John Longstaff, Girolamo Nerli,[11] Louis Abrahams, Rose Walker, George Lambert, Ola Cohn, Dora Wilson, Max Meldrum, Mirka Mora and Albert Tucker.[12]

Notable photographers, such as Gordon De Lisle and Wolfgang Sievers, had rooms in the building in the 1950s.

Partial preservation

The building was auctioned on November 18, 1970,[13] though artists continued to rent studios there until the mid-1970s, before a plan for an office tower replacing 5-9 Collins Street was proposed. The National Trust, which regarded the historic Treasury precinct as key parts of Melbourne's Victorian architecture, protested along with Dr. Virginia Spate and other stakeholders.[6] The CMI group failed to agree with the preservation council on a plan for development.[14]

Singaporean developer Jack Chia purchased the site in March 1980 for about A$2 million,[14] or A$215 per square metre,[15] and proposed a compromise development retaining Campbell House and a 9m (or one room) depth of the terraces at 5-9 Collins Street including Grosvenor Chambers at 9 Collins in which the studios in the front, and their skylit saw-tooth roof were preserved, with a tower rising behind. It was approved 'in principal' by the National Trust,[16] and the State Government, to assist and encourage the preservation waived land tax for ten years,[17] saving the Chia Group A$100,000 p.a.[14]

Architectural historian, Allan Willingham, who questioned "the architectural fad of facade retention in urban redevelopment" considered Chia's development "one of the few examples in the central business district where an old building has been successfully retained and substantially enhanced."[18]

The tower, known now as 1 Collins Street, was completed in 1984 and in 1985 it won the Victorian Architecture Merit Award for new commercial buildings, the inaugural William Wilkinson Wardell Medal for the best building of the last three years in 1986, and in 2011, the Enduring Architecture Award from the Australian Institute of Architects (Victorian Chapter).[19]

References

  1. ^ a b "The Grosvenor Chambers Buildings in Collins-street". The Argus. 26 April 1888. p. 8. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  2. ^ "An Artist's Celebration". Daily Telegraph. 21 April 1888. p. 5. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  3. ^ Edquist, Harriet; Grierson, Elizabeth (2008). A Skilled Hand and a Cultivated Mind: A Guide to the Architecture and Art of RMIT University. Melbourne: RMIT Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 9781921166914. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Advertising: Mrs Eeles". The Argus. 4 April 1888. p. 4. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Notes And Comments". Argus. 16 April 1888. p. 8. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  6. ^ a b Spate, Virginia (1 January 1977). "Review: Letters: *If No. 5 Collins Street could be saved from the wreckers we would have at least an idea of the scale of this once beautiful street°". The Age. p. 12.
  7. ^ Alex Taylor, Perils of the Studio: Inside the Artistic Affairs of Bohemian Melbourne, Australian Scholarly Publishing & State Library of Victoria: North Melbourne, 2007, ISBN 978-1-74097-149-2
  8. ^ Advertisement (3 June 1939). "Sales By Auction: Wednesday, June 14. At Half-Past 2 O'clock. In The Auction Room, 37 Queen-Street. Valuable City Property, "Grosvenor Chambers, No. 9 Collins-St., Melbourne. Executors' Sale". The Age. p. 2.
  9. ^ "City Property Sold". Argus. 19 June 1939. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  10. ^ "The Queen's Statue: An Artist's Suggestion". The Age. 13 February 1901. p. 5.
  11. ^ "About people". The Age. 16 September 1902. p. 4.
  12. ^ Hetherington, John (18 November 1961). "Australian Artists In Profile (2): Albert Tucker's Fight For Recognition". The Age. p. 18.
  13. ^ "Auction: Grosvenor Chambers (advertisement)". The Age. 17 November 1970. p. 18.
  14. ^ a b c Ellingsen, Peter (6 February 1981). "Land tax to be waived on historic buildings". The Age. p. 3.
  15. ^ Richardson, Michael; Elias, David (24 June 1981). "S-E Asia Chinese invest millions in Australia". The Age. pp. 1, 15.
  16. ^ Ellingsen, Peter (29 January 1981). "New plan retains old facade in Collins Street". The Age. p. 4.
  17. ^ Robinson, Paul; Fih, Barbara (14 September 1981). "State might lease part of Rialto tower block". The Age. p. 5.
  18. ^ Balendra, Jaya (4 June 1986). "Facadism: a front to hide the hole in our ideas?". The Age. p. 32.
  19. ^ "1 Collins Street". Heritage Victoria database. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
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