GRPS Art Show

The 2016 Glenmore Road Public School Art Show was held earlier in the year and I think you'll agree one of the classes had some great inspiration this year!

The students from 1D took their inspiration from Cambridge Street.  Now this was "inspiration" so it is very hard to pick individual houses, especially seeing the teacher requested no house numbers!  That said I think it is a great project to connect the kids to the local environment and added to that it was a great installation.

Looking forward to seeing this project kept going in future years.

Gil Docking

I had the pleasure of knowing Gil Docking in his later years.  He was a fixture on Cambridge Street, owning number 69 Cambridge from 1972 until he passed away in 2015 at the age of 96.  We recently profiled 69 Cambridge in the Open House section on the blog, here's the link.

Gil was known primarily for his work in arts administration.  Indeed, in 2014 he was to be awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the Arts.  He was the inaugural Director of the Newcastle Art Gallery, which was established in 1957.  The above photo dates from his period at Newcastle (he is pictured with William Dobell).  One of his claims to fame is that he identified Brett Whitely, with the Newcastle Gallery being the first to purchase his work at the age of 19.  From Newcastle he moved to run the Auckland Art Gallery from 1965.  Whilst in New Zealand Gil wrote the definitive book on New Zealand art, Two Hundred Years of New Zealand Painting.  In 1972, Gil moved to Sydney to take up a position at the Art Gallery of NSW where he served as the Deputy Director and a period as Acting Director.

As well as a distinguished art career.  Gil also served in the air force during WWII.  Flying in a squadron of Bristol Beaufighters Gil's plane was shot down over the North Sea.  He served as a prisoner of war on the German / Polish border (Stalag Luft 3A, pictured below) until being liberated by the advancing Russian army in 1945.  For more about Gil's wartime's exploits, including some more of his wartime diary, follow this link.

Gil's obituary was published in the SMH in January 2016.

Gil was married to Shay Docking.  Her profile on the blog is here.

69 Cambridge Street ...

Well, there's been a fair bit of time elapsed since my last post on the Cambridge Street blog but I've been inspired to start posting again after visiting this open house at 69 Cambridge Street.  Marketed by Bresic Whitney who labelled this as a "Unique corner terrace for renovators ... few are this thought-provoking.  All the bones are here for a creative of cosmetic touchup.  Terrace renovators will be eyeing off these in/outdoor spaces with anticipation."  Sounds good.

I've been in this terrace before, having afternoon tea with the amazing former owner, the late Gil Docking.  He is such a distinguished character he will get his own post on this site shortly.  However, avid readers of the Cambridge Street blog would've come across 69 Cambridge a few times already ...

- We have covered this houses name in a post here.  The group of terraces from 61 to 69 Cambridge Street were built c. 1887 and originally named "Aberdeen Villas".

- We have also covered a notable resident in a short piece on Gil's wife, Shay Docking, here.  Shay was an important female artist and resident on Cambridge Street from 1972 until her death in 1998.

More importantly for the house is the fact that what would be the main bedroom was the artist's studio (pictured above).  The studio has a trap door floor which exposes a long 3m by 10cm slit in the ceiling of the entrance corridor (photos below).  Gil Docking cut this slit so that larger artworks could be merely dropped through the floor and carried out the door rather than being carried down the stairs.  I do hope that the new owners maintain at list this slit in the entrance corridor as a physical reminder of the terrace's former function.

For the rest of the terrace, I agree with the agents assessment.  This will be a renovators delight.  It is an end terrace that gets glorious northerly views over the City and Paddington / Rushcutters Bay.  The roof terrace is something special (picture below).  I will be interested to see what this sells at auction for, although probably not as interested as the Art Gallery of NSW.  Gil generously bequeathed his estate to the Art Gallery and I understand the proceeds are going to fund a program named for Shay.  Fantastic.