Emu Plains

The Lewers Cafe and Art Gallery

We have had family from interstate visiting us and, on Tuesday, we all had lunch at the Lewers Cafe at 86 River Road, Emu Plains.  This cafe is now part of the Penrith Regional Art Gallery which is set in the former home of Australian Artists Gerald and Margo Lewers.  These leading artists were part of the development of modernism in Australian art.  After Gerald and Margo died, their home was gifted by the Lewers family to the people of Penrith as the Lewers Bequest, with the vision to create a centre of excellence for the presentation and appreciation of art for the community.  The Gallery regularly presents exhibitions, workshops and special events, both inside and outside in the beautiful gardens surrounding the home.  The gardens are maintained by heritage gardeners with seasonal vegetables grown and used in meals served in the cafe.  The Gallery is in a picturesque location along the Great River Walk facing the Nepean River on the Emu Plains side.

We had lunch first, before exploring the Galleries and garden.  We started with drinks and I had a Miss Ginny cocktail, followed by a lunch of Roast lamb with crispy polenta and vegetables which was delicious.

There are three galleries to explore.  One is in the original homestead of the artists and this is called Lewers House.  The second one is Ancher House built as a granny flat for Margo Lewers' mother and the other is a purpose built gallery, with a gallery shop, at the end of the cafe.

This picture was taken looking through the windows at the back of the Gallery at the end of the cafe and looking into the heritage garden.  The garden has many exotic species of plants and succulents.  The original house was built in 1905 and was bought by the Lewers in 1942.  Several of Gerald's sculptures are placed in the garden.

These paintings are hanging on the walls in Ancher House. This house was  designed by architect Sydney Ancher for Margo Lewers' mother, who died as the house was being completed.  Margo won recognition as a leading postwar Abstract expressionist.

This beautiful stained glass window is a fanlight above the front door of the house and a similar window is also above the door at the end of the hallway.  The sidelight windows beside the doors had similar designs and were also stained glass windows.

A French Window inside the house.  This window is actually a door and is opened by sliding it upwards.  You can then step outside on to the verandah and out into the garden. 

This artwork is in the present exhibition being shown in the Gallery.  It is by Ada Bird Petyarre, an indigenous artist who lived in a community 230km North East of Alice Springs.  Ada worked in both painting and batik.  Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and collected by major galleries around the world.  She was part of an early indigenous art movement.

There was also artwork by another exhibitor, Dr David Middlebrook.  David is a landscape artist who works in pen and ink, sepia and large oil paintings.  His work revolves around the horizon  which he views as a drive to strive for the unobtainable.  He likes to explore the impact of the horizon in different media.

For the last three years of Ada's life, Ada and David Middlebrook were friends and their friendship changed David's concept of landscape.  Ada liked to look at David's drawings  and if she recognised the landscape she would sing it.  For David, this brought his drawings to life.  David collaborated with Ada while he was undertaking research for his PhD degree and his thesis was on exploring the horizon.

The current exhibition is called Bird Petyarre & Middlebrook and opened on 15 May and will conclude on 22 August.  It is well worth a visit.

After our walk around the Galleries we stepped out into the garden, admiring the many different species of plants.  We enjoyed our visit to the Penrith Regional Gallery and the historic Lewers home, very much.  

Acknowledgments

1.  Art Atrium website

2.  Penrith Regional Gallery website

3.  Wikipedia.

4.  "Looking at or being landscape" by Dr. David Middlebrook