Monday, October 24, 2011

Documenting the changes in inner Melbourne

In the late '80s and early '90s, Brian Cleveland drew buildings and structures that were being demolished. He brought his prolific collection of drawings into the Historical Society. Drawings spilled from his prolific portfolio of scenes familiar from photographs but now gone - such as Centenary Bridge, the sub-station between Station and Princes Pier [pictured here] and the Sandridge railway bridge. Each meticulously detailed drawing was done on site and reflected the particular light conditions. His Port Melbourne work is only one small part of his prolific output.

4 comments:

David Thompson said...

As you know Janet, it was amazing to stand around the table in the Historical Society room while Brian produced yet another beautifully detailed drawing of a familiar (but no longer existing) Port Melbourne scene.

Port Places said...

What I found especially interesting was that we have photographs of many of the scenes he drew - there is a great complementarity to the collections. It makes me think that the Society's collection from this era is very strong.

Anonymous said...

are you able to show more of this series of drawings?

Port Places said...

The drawings are on loan to the Historical Society. Currently they are being catalogued as they are in no order whatsoever. Given the level of interest, I hope there will be an opportunity to show more of them. I suggest you contact the Historical Society directly and make your interest known. Their web address is in the right hand menu of Port Focus and they are at work on Tuesday mornings upstairs in the Port Town Hall