Heide Museum of Modern Art was originally the home of art patrons John and Sunday Reed. Purchased by the Reeds in 1934, the former dairy farm outside Melbourne became a mecca for young modernist artists in the 1930s and 1940s. The group included Sidney Nolan, Joy Hester and Albert Tucker. It was here that Nolan fell in love with Sunday Reed and it was at the dining room table that Nolan painted his iconic Ned Kelly series.
In November 1981, Heide Museum of Modern Art opened as a public art gallery and sculpture park and this year will celebrate its 40th anniversary with an exhibition called, Sidney Nolan: Search for Paradise. Using the framework of this exhibition, the film will explore the story of Heide. For Nolan, the paradise he found at Heide became a “season in hell”. Nolan’s departure from Heide was final but his legacy and that of the Reeds endures as one of the great moments in Australian art history.
Catherine Hunter was the Arts producer on the Nine Network’s Sunday program from 1985 to 2006. Since then, she has worked as a freelance director and producer for ABC Arts, Australian Story, Landline and many regional and state art galleries.
Her arts documentaries include: “Bronwyn Oliver: The Shadows Within” (ABC 2021); “Quilty: Painting the Shadows“(ABC 2019); Australia’s Lost Impressionist: John Russell”(ABC, 2018) “Glenn Murcutt – Spirit of Place” (ABC 2016); “Trent Parke – The Black Rose” (ABC 2015) ; “Jeffrey Smart: Master of Stillness “ (ABC, 2012); “A Law Unto Himself: Roger Law” (ABC, 2012); “Jenny Sages: Paths to Portraiture” (ABC, 2012); “Inland Heart: The Photography of Jeff Carter” (ABC, 2012); “Margaret Olley: A Life in Paint” (ABC, 2012), Sidney Nolan – Mask and Memory” (ABC 2009) and China Avant Garde: From Bicycles to BMWs (ABC 2008).
