Our Aussie Adventure is comprised of several parts. Today, the end of Part 3, was the most diverse, exciting, and exhausting of those prior. It also marks our last day in Sydney.

We left our apartment before 11 AM in order to ogle some art. Our destination was the Art Gallery of New South Wales which began without a collection and without a building in 1871. Less than 100 years after the first settlement began, a group of 30 art-loving citizens established a society to support artists and promote knowledge and enjoyment of art in the wider community. In 1874 they secured government support for their project and by 1880 they had their own dedicated building, the first of its kind in Australia.

The collection, as it developed. had several homes but in 1885 it was moved to the present site. The historic sandstone buildings were built between 1896 and 1909, with major new extensions opened in 1972, 1988, and 2003.

Because our time was limited, we had to focus on just a couple areas of the vast museum. Our choices were the Grand Courts 

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It is likely that this sitter was part of the 27 strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander troupe who performed in the 'Wild Australia' show that toured to Sydney in 1893. Like other photographers of the time, Kerry rarely recorded his Indigenous sitter's names. Research efforts continue to try and identify this person and his cultural affiliations. Interesting history!

He portrays the prospector as a hard-working, strong and self-reliant character - virtues which at the time were central to the notion of Australian character and emerging identity. His vision of the heroic prospector feeds into mythologies of the gold rush being dominated by British and Irish men when, in fact, the goldfields were populated by diggers from many countries including China, Germany, Italy and Poland.

So sad was Requiescat (1888) by Briton Rivière. The artist was known for his exquisite portraits of animals. On the write up about this painting, we are pointed to another on the wall, a more cheerier one called Compulsory Education (below).

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Detaille's grandiose painting is a retrospective image that captures the terrifying drama of a charge of the 4th Hussar Regiment during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15). The scene does not represent a specific battle. Painted several decades after the Napoleonic Wars ended, this glorified military depiction focuses on Napoleon's illustrious cavalry, whose feats were greatly embellished during the 19th century. The Art Gallery purchased the painting in 1893 for ⅘ of its entire acquisition budget for that year!

Hanging to its right is Basile Lemeunier's 1891 Portrait of Édouard Detaille. "With immaculate technique and based on an intimate knowledge of the artist's studio and working methods, Lemeunier depicts the celebrated military painter at work on his vast canvas Vive l'Empereur!. Detaille's 'studio-museum' is stacked with military artefacts, uniforms, guns and sabers. Among them, we see paint tubes, palette knives, canvases and drawings in and out of portfolios. Photographs and other sketches are carefully displayed along the wall behind. Lemeunier paints the props that Detaille used for his imagined scene from the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15), as well as evidence of Detaille's industry in creating this epic work. It is rare to find a painting that so intensely evokes what it is like to witness an artist at work."

What's a visit to an art gallery without a bit of Cubism. This art form emerged in France largely from the experimental collaboration of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque between 1908 and 1914. "In cubist paintings, figures and objects are broken down into overlapping planes. Multiple viewpoints are combined into a single image to emphasize the mobility and composite nature of vision. Cubism transformed the way that the modern world was pictured and understood. 'Reality finds itself split apart', Picasso claimed. Based on conditions of fracture, but at times still suggesting an ultimate interconnectedness, the language of cubism has enduring affinities with the global, contemporary age." Hmmm.

How amazing is this stage? It is literally on the harbor!

We took this photo on a previous walk (hence the sunshine). Very interestingly, the orchestra sits in the ONE WAY arrow, above the stage. Wow.

"One of the finest, most awarded Broadway musicals ever written comes to life on Sydney's grand harborside stage! Escape to flashy Manhattan in the 1950s: a larger-than-life world of showgirls and gangsters, set against the backdrop of Sydney’s glittering harbor."

We might have been a little too excited and arrived a little too early. Actually, the shortcut to get to the venue is through the Botanic Gardens. With the gates locking at 6:30 PM, we had to be early. It was fine as the view was exceptional.

"There’s nowhere better to experience a tale of romance and comedic mayhem than Handa Opera on Sydney Harbor. Kick up your heels, raise a glass of something bubbly as the sun sets and grab a bite at one of the pop-up restaurants. Then take your seat for an unforgettable, feel-good night of song and dance, with fireworks at every performance. The stakes are high, don’t miss out!"

Okay, so this was wild for us. Handa Opera on Sydney Harbor is an open-air and all-weather event. The venue, audience seating, and the stage are completely uncovered. The event is an all-weather experience and they go ahead even in doubtful or unfavorable weather conditions. We were told to come prepared so that we were as comfortable as possible, and ready to support the performers who will carry on singing in the rain.

The cast was amazing throughout the entire performance but I was even more impressed when at the final scene a deluge occurred and sure enough "the show must go on!" What an incredible, unique experience... all of it. Oh man, We 💙 Sydney and know we will be back one day.