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Update: Rayner Hoff Restoration – Save Art I Save History

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The National Art School is very fortunate to have an extraordinary sculpture in our collection created by Rayner Hoff in 1920. Hercules, Achelous and Deianeira is a rare and significant work made by Hoff in London when he was a student at the Royal College of Art. Based on the Greek myth of the mortal Hercules fighting the river God Achelous for the hand of the king’s daughter Deianeira, the relief is a beautiful example of Hoff’s talent. Unfortunately over the years the work has been badly damaged and has been left with 18 cracks and crumbling plaster.

Our artwork is so damaged it cannot be displayed

We are going to restore Hercules, Achelous and Deianeira to its former glory, which requires careful, expert restoration. To restore the artwork is a specialist and complex undertaking. If fact there are only two people in Australia who can restore the work. Our specialist restorer’s process is much like putting a jigsaw puzzle back together. Once restored we will be able to proudly display this highlight of the NAS Collection.

How you can help

Contribute to our crowd funding campaign in which we need to raise $25 000, and help the National Art School Save Art, and Save History.

Update

Thanks to your generosity, we have raised over $10 000 which will enable us to start the restoration process!

Save Art I Save History Champions

Thank you to the generous supporters who are helping us put the Rayner Hoff artwork, Hercules, Achelous and Deianeira back together again. Your support is greatly appreciated.

  • Alan & Sheila James
  • Alexandra Leafe
  • Amanda Morgan
  • Andrew Pethebridge
  • Anthony Kennedy
  • Angela Shacklady
  • Anthony Broadcroft
  • Anita Duffy
  • Anna Dudek
  • Anna Waldmann
  • Annette & Bill Blinco
  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous
  • Banzinger Hulme
  • Bronwyn Hogan
  • Bruce Donnelly
  • Chantal Abouchar
  • Christine Myerscough
  • Colleen McGuigan
  • Danielle Neely
  • David & Linda Neely
  • Diana Lee-Gobbitt
  • Don Williams
  • Elizabeth Evatt
  • Emma Rennie
  • Eugenie Williams
  • Frances Sebesta
  • Geraldine Paton
  • Geoffrey Moore
  • Gillian Hughes
  • Graham Macdonald
  • James Hill
  • Jane Giblin
  • Janet Clayton
  • Jean-Pierre Halpern
  • Jill Sykes
  • Jisuk Han
  • Joyce Lubotzky
  • Judith Campbell
  • Katy Tyrrell
  • Lawrence Sayer
  • Liz Blaxland
  • Lyndal Coote
  • Lyuda Nikolenko
  • Meg Stewart
  • Michael Henstock
  • Noel Tait
  • Penelope Seidler AM
  • Phillip Black
  • Ronan Sulich
  • Sally Brady
  • Saxon Buckley
  • Skye McLachlan
  • Stephen Henstock
  • Stephen Thompson
  • Sue Dale
  • Susan Jones
  • Susan Roberts
  • Vera Vargassoff
  • William MacMahon
  • Zoe Wilesmith

Rayner Hoff: life and art exhibition

9—22 March 2017
Monday—Saturday 9am—5pm
Rayner Hoff Project Space, Building 11

Rayner Hoff was a talented and charismatic sculptor who established the School of Sculpture at the National Art School in 1922. An influential teacher and artist, he went on to become Head of School until 1937. He is best known for his major sculptures adorning the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, but he also designed the original Holden lion logo, won the Wynne Prize in 1927, and was considered the most gifted – and controversial – public sculptor in Australia at the time. This exhibition presents a selection of his work alongside those of his colleagues and students. The project, presented in the artist’s former studio, the Rayner Hoff Project Space, accompanies the launch of a major new biography, Rayner Hoff: the life of a sculptor, by NAS lecturer and historian, Deborah Beck.

Rayner Hoff: The life of a sculptor book

This biography tells the story of Hoff’s life and work for the first time, and how he spearheaded an Australian sculpture renaissance and left a mark that is still keenly felt today.

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Art Club is our high school student program for 15-17 year olds, designed to enhance and extend students’ technical, conceptual, and intellectual skills, through intensive practical study in the disciplines offered at NAS as well as engaging in an experience of our studios and campus, under the expert direction of experienced artists.

Set your child on a creative path with Art Club.

Learn more at the link in bio.

View

Apr 15

Open
Art Club is our high school student program for 15-17 year olds, designed to enhance and extend students’ technical, conceptual, and intellectual skills, through intensive practical study in the disciplines offered at NAS as well as engaging in an experience of our studios and campus, under the expert direction of experienced artists. Set your child on a creative path with Art Club. Learn more at the link in bio.

Thank you to everyone who attended the opening night of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize and congratulations again to the prize winner NAS alumna Rosemary Lee.

The 24th Dobell Drawing Prize is now open until Saturday 21 June 2025
11am – 5pm Monday to Saturday
NAS Gallery
Free admission, all welcome

Learn more about the exhibition at the link in bio.

View

Apr 11

Open
Thank you to everyone who attended the opening night of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize and congratulations again to the prize winner NAS alumna Rosemary Lee. The 24th Dobell Drawing Prize is now open until Saturday 21 June 2025 11am – 5pm Monday to Saturday NAS Gallery Free admission, all welcome Learn more about the exhibition at the link in bio.

We are delighted to announce NAS alumna Rosemary Lee as the winner of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, Australia’s leading prize for drawing, worth $30,000.

Selected from 56 nationwide finalists, and 965 entries, Rosemary’s work will become part of the National Art School’s significant collection, built over the past 120 years. Rosemary, in her winning work 24-1 (2024), observes tonal and compositional profundity in everyday life.

The judging panel comprising acclaimed First Nations artist Vernon Ah Kee, Paula Latos-Valier AM, Trustee and Art Director of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, and Dr Yolunda Hickman, Head of Postgraduate Studies, National Art School, commented of Rosemary’s work: “The decision to award the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize to Rosemary Lee for the work ‘24-1’ was unanimous. We were most impressed by the level of visual intensity the artist has achieved in this work both through its vibrant colour and in the extraordinary detail of the composition. The artwork’s exploration of the urban landscape and gentrification of the Sydney suburbs of Ashfield and Summer Hill, has produced an image capturing a broader sense of transience and the omnipresence of construction sites in our cities today. It questions the cultural and historical value of place, through the lens of the artist’s personal connection.”

See Lee’s work alongside the work of the other finalists in the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, 11 April – 21 June 2025, NAS Gallery
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Left to right: NAS Director and CEO, Dr Kristen Sharp with artist Rosemary Lee, featuring winning artwork 24–1, 2024, pencil on paper, image courtesy the artist and National Art School Gallery © the artist, photograph: Peter Morgan

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Apr 10

Open
We are delighted to announce NAS alumna Rosemary Lee as the winner of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, Australia’s leading prize for drawing, worth $30,000. Selected from 56 nationwide finalists, and 965 entries, Rosemary’s work will become part of the National Art School’s significant collection, built over the past 120 years. Rosemary, in her winning work 24-1 (2024), observes tonal and compositional profundity in everyday life. The judging panel comprising acclaimed First Nations artist Vernon Ah Kee, Paula Latos-Valier AM, Trustee and Art Director of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, and Dr Yolunda Hickman, Head of Postgraduate Studies, National Art School, commented of Rosemary’s work: “The decision to award the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize to Rosemary Lee for the work ‘24-1’ was unanimous. We were most impressed by the level of visual intensity the artist has achieved in this work both through its vibrant colour and in the extraordinary detail of the composition. The artwork’s exploration of the urban landscape and gentrification of the Sydney suburbs of Ashfield and Summer Hill, has produced an image capturing a broader sense of transience and the omnipresence of construction sites in our cities today. It questions the cultural and historical value of place, through the lens of the artist’s personal connection.” See Lee’s work alongside the work of the other finalists in the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, 11 April – 21 June 2025, NAS Gallery — Left to right: NAS Director and CEO, Dr Kristen Sharp with artist Rosemary Lee, featuring winning artwork 24–1, 2024, pencil on paper, image courtesy the artist and National Art School Gallery © the artist, photograph: Peter Morgan
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