Exhibition Preview: Linda Swinfield

COLLECTION | Early 20^th century and Victorian and French Postcards

Collected  over roughly a decade from the 1980's -1990's, during a financially challenging art student and emerging artist period of the artist's life. The postcards were collected on holidays, in op shops, antique and bric-a-brac shops in and around the Sydney area, rarely costing over a dollar each.

Early feminist humour- date unknown. From the postcard collection of Linda Swinfield.

COLLECTOR | Linda Swinfield

Fine artist (printmaking, contemporary print media) and teacher of Fine Art (art history, professional practice, museum practices).

On the personal & historical significance of the collection, Linda writes: "The images of women in particular and the changing representation of the human form and gender were central to my work during the 1980s and into the late 1990s. The representation of the human body is still present- however more conceptual and abstract. 

 

During the 1980s I was particularly interested in the human form and body gesture, its shape and what happened when men were represented in the same poses as women. I was drawing images of women and men from antiquity- most particularly Greek art."

Linda Swinfield, The Three Graces: Lillian's table, 2011. Lithography on laser cut plywood

You can find more on Linda's work by following the links below:

Linda Swinfield, Contemporary Artist

The Pandora Group - Six women artists

HISTORY |   The official name for postcard collecting is Deltiology and is thought to be one of the three largest collectable hobbies along with Coin and Stamp collecting.

Before 1840 postage was paid by the receiver of mail and quite expensive so deliveries were often refused. The Postmaster General of England proposed reforms to the postal system called The Penny Postage Act.  The first postage stamp Penny Black sold on 1^st May, 1840, and so began plain postcards with the country’s stamp affixed upon them called “postals.” 

Writing was not permitted by law on the address side of any postcards until 1902 in England when they permitted the divided back .until then messages were written across the front over photographs and artwork on the card.

During the golden age (1907 - 1915) postcard communication and collecting became a public addiction - the equivalent of social networking today! However WWI brought a quick decline to the import of cards and the supply of the finest quality postcards from Germany came to an end.

Dating some cards can be difficult as production details were deliberately left off in order to on sell in other countries over a period of years, however the cards year of origin can often be measured  by styles, the material illustrated, and the hand written messages and dates.

To view the full collection, as well as our other fabulous artifacts visit Artifacts Aired at the Front Room Gallery from 6 - 21 June 2012.