The symbolic role of flowers in Western art from the late Renaissance through to contemporary Australian art is both significant and diverse. The Dutch still-life tradition is perhaps best-known, with its association between flowers and the transience of life, but there is much more to discover. Flowers: Passion. Pain. Nation. draws together the big narratives of life"… ".''
Flowers: Passion. Pain. Nation.
Bijou: An installation by Stephen Bowers
Fermoy House | 30 July - 5 October 2019
SALA (South Australian Living Artists) Festival 2019 To distribute works within The David Roche Foundation’s collection at Fermoy House is an opportunity for both revelation and concealment. Like Fermoy itself, discernment and association, as well as surprise, suggestion and curiosity are at play. Disguise and detection are also afoot, for distributed amongst Fermoy’s treasures my"… ".''
Triumph & Tragedy: Catherine, the Romanovs & Fabergé
Galleries 1 - 3 | 12 July - 21 December 2019
David Roche first travelled to Russia in 1994 and was overwhelmed by the opulent art and palaces of St Petersburg. His amazement and joy turned to a passion for collecting Russian art, and in almost 20 years he amassed a singularly unique collection in Australia. Exhibited for the first time in Triumph & Tragedy: Catherine, the"… ".''
Neoclassic: Reimagining Empire
Gallery 2 | 21 January - 29 June 2019
For David Roche the neoclassic covered the best items from George III to William IV in Britain and the reign of Louis XVI to Napoléon’s vision of a new French Empire. Driven by art from Antiquity and recent finds at Pompeii and Herculaneum, architects, artists, designers, collectors and patrons started a new craze for all"… ".''
Régence & Rococo: Portraits and porcelain
Gallery 1 | 21 January - 29 June 2019
The title of the display reflects David Roche’s ideal notion of beauty, whether it be the physical object or attributes of a person. Rococo’s more relaxed and informal style owed a debt to nature which suited David’s desire to bring the garden in doors. Not surprisingly, the rococo style is well-represented in the collection through"… ".''
The Pursuit of Pattern
Gallery 3 | 21 January – 29 June 2019
The sumptuous decoration of architectural interiors and the many varied objects that inhabited them was at the heart of creating lavish 18th and 19th century homes in Europe and Britain. David Roche had a great affinity for this style of decorating and the exhibition The Pursuit of Pattern explores the fashion for inlaid surface patterns on furniture and objets"… ".''
On Reflection: Ceramic art of Geoff Mitchell
Fermoy House | 31 July – 6 October 2018
South Australian Living Artists Festival (SALA) Exhibition 2018 On Reflection: an installation by Geoff Mitchell. Amidst the sumptuous surrounds of The David Roche Collection, the richly detailed ceramics of Geoff Mitchell delight and surprise with their engaging interplay of stage-craft, narrative and story-fragments that mirror and reflect on history, sensibility, melancholy and genius. If"… ".''
Edo Style: Art of Japan (1615–1868)
Galleries 1 - 3 | 5 September – 22 December 2018
Edo was a place, a time period and a state of mind. The relative peace and prosperity of the Edo period (1615–1868) fostered a culture of creativity in urban centres defined by the diversions and pursuits of the style conscious merchant classes which contrasted with the conservative aesthetics of the ruling military elite. From elegant lacquerware"… ".''
Special Exhibit: Portrait of Thomas Dawson by Pompei Batoni
Gallery 2 | Started October 2017
The David Roche Collection is honoured to have a significant portrait by leading Italian Grand Tour artist, Pompeo Batoni, for extended exhibition. On loan from a private collection, Portrait of Thomas Dawson (1725-1813), later First Viscount Cremorne, c.1749-1752 is being exhibited in Australia for the first time and represents the earliest period of Batoni’s portraiture."… ".''
Royal & Imperial Clocks: Romantic & Scientific
Gallery 3 | 27 February - 18 August 2018
Time and money are often the two things that we worry most about in life and this exhibition reflects David Roche’s obsession with time and the stories on trading, upgrading and acquiring his extraordinary clock collection. This is the first ‘time’ his entire collection of timepieces (and what an extraordinary collection it is) have been"… ".''
