‘Untitled (Cockatoo)’ 1915 - Ian Potter Museum of Art

‘Untitled (Cockatoo)’ 1915

 

Robert Prenzel (1866–1941) was a brilliant Prussian carver who settled in Melbourne in 1888. In the early twentieth century he began to incorporate Australian flora and fauna into his furniture and decorative wall reliefs. This uniquely Antipodean take on the internationally popular Art Nouveau style became known colloquially as ‘Gumnut Nouveau’.

 

 

Robert Prenzel 1866–1941

Untitled (Cockatoo) 1915
Australian blackwood and other timbers
The University of Melbourne Art Collection. Gift of the Russell and Mab Grimwade Bequest 1973

The Potter acknowledges the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional owners of the land on which we work and create. We recognise that sovereignty was never ceded and pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.