The Athenaeum is a restrainedboom-styleneoclassical three-storey building designed by architectsSmith and Johnson with stuccoed facade withpilasters,label moulds, and bracketedcornice.[1] It was completed in 1886 on the site of the original building of 1842, and is surmounted with a parapet with a niche housing a statue by Richard Kretzschmar[2] ofMinerva (Athena, hence 'Athenaeum'),[3] goddess of reason, wisdom, arts and literature.[4] The building was added to theNational Trust's Register of Historic Buildings in 1981 and is listed on theVictorian Heritage Register.[1]
American & Australasian Photographic Company (Sydney, NSW). Melbourne Athenaeum original building before 1873.
In August 1840, the Melbourne Mechanics Institution acquired land spanning 110 feet along Collins Street and extending to Little Collins Street, for a sum of £285. The initial structure, a two-story brick building known as the Hall of Arts was completed in December 1842.[citation needed]
TheMelbourne City Council met in the ground floor of the building until 1852 when theMelbourne Town Hall was built. The Institute received an annual grant of £150 from the government, and in 1854, an additional £5,000 was granted for construction of a new building, but from 1857, it had to rely on its own funds. By 1851, the membership count reached 488 individuals. Additionally, it served as the headquarters for theFirst Church of Christ, Scientist.[citation needed]
Construction on the new building began in 1855, but only the front portion was finished. The rear hall, intended to be designed byCharles Webb, was deferred until 1871 and ultimately completed in 1872.[4] Alfred Smith served as the architect, while Turnbull and Dick were the builders. The Institution changed its name to the Melbourne Athenaeum in 1872[7][8] During the period when its own church was being reconstructed,Scots Church utilized the premises as its temporary location.[citation needed]
Among the office bearers of the institution in the nineteenth century was the authorMarcus Clarke who was the chairman of the library committee in 1877.[9] As now, a focal point was the library and by 1877, membership was 1,681 and in 1879 there were 30,000 visits to the library. In 1880 it was reported 'that the floor of the large hall was the only one in Melbourne expressly constructed for dancing'. The remodeled facade was finally concluded in 1886. The statue of Minerva, which was modelled by Richard Kretzschmar on that at theVatican, was funded through Alderman Thomas Moubray's gift of 100 guineas.[10][3]
In October 1896, the first movie was shown in the Athenaeum Hall. This may not have been the first in Australia however, as a cinematograph was being demonstrated at theMelbourne Opera House in August.[11] On 26 January 1901Life in Our Navy, a 60,000 foot film of life onHMSJupiter, was shown byG. H. Snazelle, who provided additional entertainment.
The Hall became a regular venue for screening films and the premiere ofThe Story of the Kelly Gang by the Tait brothers, the world's first dramatic feature film, was at the Athenaeum in 1906.
The theatre in its present form, a proscenium arch theatre with 880 seats on three levels, was created in 1924, for its lesseeFrank Talbot by architectHenry Eli White. RenamedAthenaeum Theatre,[12] it was one of the first venues in Australia to screen talking pictures, presentingThe Jazz Singer in February 1929.[1] From the 1920s to the early 1970s, the theatre was mainly used as a cinema. Talbot was lessee and manager from 1922 to 1936.TheMelbourne Theatre Company (MTC) leased the theatre from 1976 to 1985 when the lease was taken over by various entrepreneurs who formed AT Management in 1997.
The upstairs studio theatre ("Ath 2"), created from the former art gallery by the MTC, has been used as a theatre space and the venue for The Last Laugh Comedy Club after it moved fromNorth Melbourne.
Mrs. G.M. Norris, with Mrs K. D. MacDougal, examining an Exhibition of Paintings by the Official War Artist CaptainIvor Hele at the Athenaeum Gallery
ArtistJo Sweatman recalled that it wasFrederick McCubbin's wife Annie who first proposed the Athenaeum as a possible art gallery.[4] In 1910Walter Withers,Bernard Hall, Frederick McCubbin andJohn Mather approached Athenaeum secretary Reginald W.E. Wilmot to discuss its potential as a venue for exhibitions. Consequently the upper hall, previously used as a small museum, was installed with alantern on the roof by architects Sydney Smith and Ogg, in order to light the art gallery. Officially established as The Athenaeum Art Gallery, it hosted the first exhibition ofFrederick McCubbin'sThe Pioneer in 1904.[7]
It was listed in 1948 as one of the key sites for the modernisation of Melbourne.[83] Plans were prepared for a modern building including as new library and gallery,[83] however the development did not proceed.
Membership of the Athenaeum's subscription library peaked at 7,579 in 1950, after theState Library of Victoria ceased lending of its books in 1939.[84] Membership reduced over the subsequent decades to 1,600 by the mid-1980s,[85] and 750 by the late 2000s. Membership is now increasing.[86]
^abcZiegler, Edith Miriam (2022).The worlds and work of Clarice Beckett. Arcadia. p. 83.ISBN978-1-922669-33-9.
^Clancy, Frances M; Victoria. Department of Infrastructure (2000),The libraries of the Mechanics' Institutes of Victoria : report prepared for Department of Infrastructure, Victoria – Department of Infrastructure,ISBN978-0-7311-0937-1
^Baragwanath, Pam (2000),If the walls could speak : a social history of the Mechanics' Institutes of Victoria, Mechanics Institute Inc,ISBN978-1-876677-32-9
^Rainer, Anthony R.,"Moubray, Thomas (1825–1891)",Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved8 July 2023
^"Advertising".The Herald (Melbourne). No. 5028. Victoria, Australia. 25 August 1896. p. 2. Retrieved25 April 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Athenaeum Theatre".The Age. No. 21, 739. Victoria, Australia. 4 December 1924. p. 10. Retrieved21 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^Summers, Anne (29 March 2014). "Portrait of a mystery".The Canberra Times. p. 20.
^"Art Exhibition".The Argus (Melbourne). No. 23, 971. Victoria, Australia. 5 June 1923. p. 4. Retrieved28 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Art Notes".The Age. No. 21, 271. Victoria, Australia. 5 June 1923. p. 5. Retrieved28 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Art Notes".Age. 23 August 1923. Retrieved13 November 2022.
^"The Studio".Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946). 4 August 1923. p. 31. Retrieved8 October 2020.
^"Woman's Work In Oils".The Herald. No. 15, 711. Victoria, Australia. 26 September 1927. p. 15. Retrieved27 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Women's World".Advocate. Vol. LX, no. 3868. Victoria, Australia. 6 October 1927. p. 38. Retrieved27 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"TWENTY MELBOURNE PAINTERS".Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 6 September 1927. p. 13. Retrieved8 October 2020.
^"Miss Beckett's Art".The Age. No. 22870. Victoria, Australia. 25 July 1928. p. 13. Retrieved28 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Current Art Shows".Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939). 25 July 1929. p. 18. Retrieved8 October 2020.
^"ART EXHIBITIONS".Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 24 September 1929. p. 9. Retrieved8 October 2020.
^"Current Art Shows".Table Talk. No. 3212. Victoria, Australia. 28 November 1929. p. 15. Retrieved28 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^ab"ART".Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946). 20 September 1930. p. 17. Retrieved8 October 2020.
^"Miss Beckett's Art Exhibition".The Age. No. 23, 570. Victoria, Australia. 24 October 1930. p. 8. Retrieved28 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Art Exhibition".The Argus (Melbourne). No. 26, 264. Victoria, Australia. 17 October 1930. p. 13. Retrieved28 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"SOCIAL NOTES".Australasian. 20 September 1930. p. 10. Retrieved8 March 2023.
^"Miss Clarice Beckett".The Age. No. 23, 871. Victoria, Australia. 13 October 1931. p. 5. Retrieved27 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Current Art Shows".Table Talk. No. 3310. Victoria, Australia. 15 October 1931. p. 15. Retrieved27 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"A Woman's Letter".Cairns Post. No. 9286. Queensland, Australia. 3 November 1931. p. 8. Retrieved28 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^"ART NOTES".Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). 26 July 1932. p. 9. Retrieved8 October 2020.
^"Art Notes".The Age. No. 24187. Victoria, Australia. 18 October 1932. p. 5. Retrieved27 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
