A New Exhibition Celebrating A Key Figure Of The Australian Modernist Movement

House of Ideas: Cynthia Reed’s Studio celebrates the younger Reed sibling’s career as a progressive gallerist – accompanied by new works by Tai Snaith.

Writer
Sasha Gattermayr
7th of December 2021

Much of the storytelling around Heide is focused on John and Sunday Reed, but John’s youngest sister Cynthia was a key figure in Melbourne’s artistic community in the early twentieth century.

In 1932, two years before John and Sunday purchased the Heide property, Cynthia opened a progressive, modernist shop on Collins Street in Melbourne. At the gallery-style space she sold fabrics, furniture, paintings, prints and ceramics from around Australia, and it quickly became a hub for local modernist artists seeking inspiration.

A new exhibition at the legendary art estate celebrates Cynthia’s career as a gallerist and champion of local avant-garde art. House of Ideas: Cynthia Reed’s Studio in Heide Cottage holds works by artists from this period including Sam Atyeo, Moya Dyring, Margaret Preston and Frederick Ward.

As a nod to the ongoing legacy of the Australian modernist movement, the exhibition also includes new works by Tai Snaith. Her ceramic sculptures (the most prominent of which are placed in the bathtub at the cottage!) explore the intersection of stories, collections, people and place. (You can see and purchase Tai’s works at the Heide shop as part of Heide Editions – more on that here.)

House of Ideas: Cynthia Reed’s Studio
Heide Cottage
6th November 2021 – 29th May 2022

Heide Museum of Modern Art
7 Templestowe Road
Bulleen, Victoria

Supported by Heide Museum of Modern Art

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