Savage Luxury

Arthur Thomas Challen Portrait of Moira Madden 1937oil on canvas76.1 x 63.3 cmLa Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, Gift of Mrs SM Challen 1966© Estate of the artist

Savage Luxury

Modernist Design in Melbourne 1930–1939
14 July - 4 November 2007
Venue: Heide III: Central Galleries
Curator: Nanette Carter

Savage Luxury: Modernist Design in Melbourne 1930–1939, presented by Connex, is a lavish insight into early modernist interior design originating in Melbourne during the 1930s. The exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of modern interiors and furnishings designed and commissioned in Australia prior to World War II, positioning Melbourne at the forefront of interior design at this time.

Modernist design emerged in Australia during the 'thrifty thirties’ — a decade of economic hardship and social unrest — yet in terms of technology, style and culture, the period inspired rigorous change and innovation. Savage Luxury introduces Melbourne’s key design proponents: the furniture and textile designers, architects and patrons, and artists and their work, as well as the range of designer shops, department stores and small manufacturers that promoted and supported the modern style.

Focusing on revolutionary approaches to design that reflected and facilitated social change, the exhibition reveals how furniture and interiors came to express a modern way of life and a new sense of Australian cultural identity, one favouring European and American ideals in place of the predominant British trends. Furnishings, textiles and fine and decorative arts by leading artists and designers such as Fred Ward, Michael O’Connell, Frances Burke and Sam Atyeo — in recreated room settings that include a woman’s apartment and a modern milk bar — evoke the design and décor of 1930s interiors.

Savage Luxury is exclusive to Heide Museum of Modern Art.