Australia’s top creative powerhouses have joined forces with the NGV Women’s Association to create The Art of Dining’s spectacular, 44 high-concept table settings, open for public viewing from today until tomorrow, May 2-3.
On the menu at the biannual fundraiser: a leading collection of Australian artists, designers, florists, stylists and creatives. Starting with interior designer Adelaide Bragg who wowed with a pale Schumacher print within a tented area in striped fabric, skirted slipper chairs, stone fruits, amethyst goblets, and metal wall sconces – singling her out as one of the country’s top designers to patronise right now. Read more, ‘Inside a Gorgeously Restful Victorian Country House.’
Leading Australian interior designer Adelaide Bragg wowed with her table setting at this year’s Art of Dining 2019. Photo by Lisa Cohen
Adelaide Bragg’s Art of Dining 2019 – the details counted at this standout table setting at NGV. Photo by Caitlin Mills.
Thomas Hamel reworked a lavish print from de Gournay in vibrant pinks and palm fronds. Broached Commissions is channeling ancient Egypt with an archeologically inspired, interactive piece, Rigg Prize-winner Hecker Guthrie is drawing upon the Japanese art of Kintsugi.
Thomas Hamel’s Art of Dining 2019 table setting at NGV adorned with De Gournay prints.
Thomas Hamel’s Art of Dining 2019 at NGV, with reworked De Gournay prints in pink.
Coote & Co grabbed attention with a towering centrepiece of maple leaves, hydrangeas, moss and lemons, all from her landmark Mt Macedon garden, surrounded by Gothic-style green chairs.
Charlotte Coote’s Art of Dining 2019 table setting at NVG. Photo by Suzi Appel
Cameron Kimber adhered strictly to the night’s theme – based on Giambattista Tiepolo’s banquet of Cleopatra with Venetian tapestry as a tablecloth, red tulips, and huge lantern. Special mention goes to White Home and Justin Bishop’s tables, too – for their amazing attention to detail.
Cameron Kimber’s table at Art of Dining 2019 Photo by Caitlin Mills.
Cameron Kimber adhered strictly to the night’s theme – with his table based on Giambattista Tiepolo’s banquet of Cleopatra. Photo by Caitlin Mills.
Cameron Kimber’s opted for a sophisticated aesthetic for his table setting. Photo by Caitlin Mills.
Also names such as Flowers Vassette, Royal Copenhagen, Brownlow Interior Design, David Hicks, Martyn Thompson Studio, Fenton & Fenton, and many more.
Adelaide Bragg’s extraordinary attention to detail at her dining area at the NGV’s biannual Art of Dining 2019. Photo by Caitlin Mills.
Close up of Adelaide Bragg’s extraordinary table which raised the bar at NGV’s Art of Dining 2019. Photo by Caitlin Mills.
What’s interesting is this country is in the midst of a table setting revolution.
Over the past several years, table settings and flower arrangements have become bigger, wilder, looser and more fluid, incorporating all manner of seasonal flora plucked from the woods, the garden, and the vegetable patch. Coote & Co’s was a great example of this.
Charlotte Coote’s FOMO-inducing table-setting at the NGV’s Art of Dining, 2019. Photo by Suzi Appel.
You are now more likely to see a table with a bouquet laden with towering branches of foliage, arching vines of clematis, and exploding piles of lemons than just a polite cluster or roses or calla lilies.
From giant Chinoiserie lanterns, to massive branches of maple leaves, massed red tulips, and stone fruit piles into jumbo stands, the NGV has never looked so lush.
Thomas Hamel’s table setting with pink De Gournay print.
On the level of style, these table arrangements highlight the beauty of their individual elements – the crucial difference? Instagram, the Gutenberg of visual imagery – especially FOMO-inducing lifestyle pictures has raised the bar – everything from Thomas Hamel’s peony rose-infused seats to Adelaide Bragg’s hugely desirable pale cream, beige and plum dining scheme tap into our longing for beauty – and are spreading a sophisticated aesthetic in the hearts and minds of a devoted and ever-exploding audience. And can create a frenzy for a palette to a print, especially among meaning-searching millennials who love beauty. If you are in Melbourne, this is a must-visit.
One of the best exhibitions on the annual design scene.
Adelaide Bragg’s table setting wowed everyone at Art of Dining 2019. Photo by Caitlin Mills.
Thomas Hamel’s NVG Dinner Table adorned with DeGourney prints
Last night’s masked ball for 450 people was $750 a head to raise money for the NGV Women’s Association, but the good news is it is open to the public today and tomorrow.
You’d be mad to miss it…go and check it out!
Charlotte Coote and Adelaide Bragg’s Art of Dining 2019 table settings at NVG. Photo by Caitlin Mills.
The event is a great example of the best Australian designers and creatives around.
Tables will be on view in the NGV Great Hall – Thu 2 May and Fri 3 May, 10am-5pm & Thu 2 May 6-9pm, www.ngv.vic.gov.au
NGV’s Art of Dining has established itself as one of the best exhibitions on the annual design scene – open to the public on May 2-3. Photo Amelia Stanwix.
