Kathe Kollwitz: Death and the Woman (Tod und Frau) 1910.Etching and emery through-press process
By Catherine Watson
WHEN Simon Gregg, director of the Gippsland Art Gallery, first sorted through prints from the Robert Smith Collection for Wonthaggi’s Power to the People exhibition, he admits he found the contents pretty gloomy.
"But as I was reading about missile strikes in Iran and Israel, and the devastation in Gaza and Ukraine, I realised it’s depressingly still relevant," he told guests at the opening of the new exhibition, now on in the foyer of the Wonthaggi Union Theatre.
The exhibition features 40 prints from the 600-strong collection donated by the late Robert Smith to Bass Coast Shire in 2017 – a gift Gregg describes as “an incredible asset, not just to Bass Coast but to the whole community”.
WHEN Simon Gregg, director of the Gippsland Art Gallery, first sorted through prints from the Robert Smith Collection for Wonthaggi’s Power to the People exhibition, he admits he found the contents pretty gloomy.
"But as I was reading about missile strikes in Iran and Israel, and the devastation in Gaza and Ukraine, I realised it’s depressingly still relevant," he told guests at the opening of the new exhibition, now on in the foyer of the Wonthaggi Union Theatre.
The exhibition features 40 prints from the 600-strong collection donated by the late Robert Smith to Bass Coast Shire in 2017 – a gift Gregg describes as “an incredible asset, not just to Bass Coast but to the whole community”.
Curated by Gregg, Power to the People showcases key works by international heavyweights such as Francisco Goya, Kathe Kollwitz, Honore-Victorin Daumier and Noel Counihan, alongside lesser-known yet equally potent prints by 19th century French and 20th century Mexican artists.
Each artwork speaks to a central theme: the human condition under pressure – and the human spirit rising against the odds.
“There are a few timeless elements to this exhibition,” Gregg said. “It’s about suffering and injustice, but it’s also about people rising together and how we are stronger together than we are individually.”
The title Power to the People is not a curatorial flourish but a declaration. These are not polite gallery works made for contemplation and decoration. They were made to protest, to galvanise, to challenge and, ultimately, to change the world.
Gustav Michael Pillig’s 1928 drawing Corruptions of Power, for instance, drew a near-unanimous snort of recognition from everyone who looked at it.
Each artwork speaks to a central theme: the human condition under pressure – and the human spirit rising against the odds.
“There are a few timeless elements to this exhibition,” Gregg said. “It’s about suffering and injustice, but it’s also about people rising together and how we are stronger together than we are individually.”
The title Power to the People is not a curatorial flourish but a declaration. These are not polite gallery works made for contemplation and decoration. They were made to protest, to galvanise, to challenge and, ultimately, to change the world.
Gustav Michael Pillig’s 1928 drawing Corruptions of Power, for instance, drew a near-unanimous snort of recognition from everyone who looked at it.
Gustav Michael Pillig (Australia 1877-1956) Corruptions of Power 1928. Pen and ink
Kollwitz’s Death and Woman (1910), with its raw depiction of maternal grief, remains one of the most affecting pieces in the show. Goya’s Truth Has Died (c.1810–1820), created during the Napoleonic invasion of Spain, feels eerily modern in an era of deep fakes and disinformation.
And then there is Noel Counihan’s Hunger (1959), a stark linocut of a skeletal woman lunging forward, both pleading and defiant.
And then there is Noel Counihan’s Hunger (1959), a stark linocut of a skeletal woman lunging forward, both pleading and defiant.
Noel Counihan: Hunger, 1959 “It is an image marked by its defiance and indefatigable human spirit,” Gregg said. “While coming from a place of suffering, it resonates across generations. It’s emblematic of Counihan’s extraordinary empathy and the ethos of the entire Smith collection.”
Counihan is particularly well represented, with 83 of his works in the Smith collection. Daumier, the prolific 19th-century French satirist, accounts for 216 works. German artist Kathe Kollwitz is represented with 28. Together they create a rich lineage of printmaking as protest – a tradition stretching back centuries.
As Gregg notes, this is no coincidence. Printmaking was the medium of choice for these artists for practical and ideological reasons. It was cheap to produce and distribute. It allowed for bold, uncompromising imagery. And it matched the raw urgency of its subject matter. These prints weren’t made for salons – they were made for the streets, pamphlets, barricades.
“They had something to say and the means to say it,” Gregg said. “Each of the artists had direct experience of war, poverty or revolution. These were not detached observers. Kollwitz lost her eldest son in the First World War. Goya lived through the French occupation of Spain. Charlet fought in the defence of Paris. Even Counihan, who didn’t serve in a war, was profoundly affected by the Second World War and devoted his art to the working class.”
Counihan is particularly well represented, with 83 of his works in the Smith collection. Daumier, the prolific 19th-century French satirist, accounts for 216 works. German artist Kathe Kollwitz is represented with 28. Together they create a rich lineage of printmaking as protest – a tradition stretching back centuries.
As Gregg notes, this is no coincidence. Printmaking was the medium of choice for these artists for practical and ideological reasons. It was cheap to produce and distribute. It allowed for bold, uncompromising imagery. And it matched the raw urgency of its subject matter. These prints weren’t made for salons – they were made for the streets, pamphlets, barricades.
“They had something to say and the means to say it,” Gregg said. “Each of the artists had direct experience of war, poverty or revolution. These were not detached observers. Kollwitz lost her eldest son in the First World War. Goya lived through the French occupation of Spain. Charlet fought in the defence of Paris. Even Counihan, who didn’t serve in a war, was profoundly affected by the Second World War and devoted his art to the working class.”
Arturo Garcia Bustos: Prisoners (Carceles), Linocut
What emerges from the exhibition is a powerful timeline of human endurance. From 18th-century Spain to post-war Australia, the works chronicle moments of upheaval and oppression but also the resilience and solidarity of ordinary people. Gregg calls it “a testament to the indefatigable resilience of humankind in the face of insurmountable odds”.
This is the second exhibition from the Robert Smith collection, and only a glimpse of what’s still to come. Smith’s full collection spans five centuries and multiple continents. “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Gregg said. “There are nearly 600 artworks in the collection, and we’ll see more of them in years to come.”
Power to the People is open now in the foyer of the Wonthaggi Union Theatre and runs until August 2. Entry is free. Come prepared to look hard – and to feel.
This is the second exhibition from the Robert Smith collection, and only a glimpse of what’s still to come. Smith’s full collection spans five centuries and multiple continents. “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Gregg said. “There are nearly 600 artworks in the collection, and we’ll see more of them in years to come.”
Power to the People is open now in the foyer of the Wonthaggi Union Theatre and runs until August 2. Entry is free. Come prepared to look hard – and to feel.