Love flowers in verdant paradise

January 9 2013 - 3:00am
Sunday Reed in the mid-'70s.
Sunday Reed in the mid-'70s.

FOR almost half a century from the mid-1930s Sunday and John Reed championed the cause of modernity, firm in their belief that they were helping to shape a new tradition, a progressive Australian culture modelled on international exemplars, but one that was fundamentally home-grown. They positioned Heide, their semi-rural property in Melbourne's north-east, as a meeting point, an informal educational institution and creative crucible for artists and intellectuals who rejected the more conventional avenues of living and learning. The Reeds, along with Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker, Joy Hester, Arthur Boyd, John Perceval, Max Harris, Danila Vassilieff and others embraced radical art and politics, and pursued a freshness of vision that saw many of them become key figures in Australia's cultural history. As Sunday and John's close friend, poet Barrett Reid, once remarked, at Heide there was a ''total concentration of life'' that was eminently conducive to remarkable experimentation and achievement.

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