AT THE MUSEUM
KLYTIE PATE CREATED THIS VASE IN 1950 TO CELEBRATE MELBOURNE HOSTING THE UPCOMING OLYMPIC GAMES IN 1956.
KLYTIE PATE’S High Diving vase is a wonderful example of her skill as a potter. Its tall, elegant form seems perfect as the platform from which two female figures are about to dive. The top of the vase is a golden-yellow, while the lower part, a shimmering blue-green, suggests a summer sea. Cream and green was a fashionable colour scheme in the postwar years, but perhaps the colours of this vase are a reference to the green and gold of Australia’s sporting colours.
In the 1970s and ’80s, Klytie had a remarkable spurt of activity. The works she was creating and exhibiting were the largest she had ever made. Vases and covered jars featured various animals, especially cats and kangaroos, carved into the surface of the clay. She favoured boldly coloured glazes: deep turquoise, rich red, and light blue were common. It is possible that the colours of High Diving, made nearly three decades earlier, inspired some of the later, richer hues.
When the National Gallery of Australia purchased High Diving from the artist in 1981, she recalled the date it was made as about 1950. It is tempting to think that she had misremembered the date and that it was made to celebrate the start of the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956. However, by the mid-’50s, Klytie was concentrating on carved abstract decoration, and thicker and more complex glazes.
More probably, High Diving was made in response to the announcement on April 28, 1949 that named Melbourne as the host of the 1956 Games. It’s a stylish response to the excitement which accompanied Melbourne’s winning bid.