Who is this delightful child perched atop the head of a delightfully relaxed Walter Burley Griffin in the garden of the architect's home at Castlecrag, Sydney, in the late 1920s?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Marion Mahony Griffin, America's first woman architect, was 40 when the couple wed in 1911 and they never had children
It is understood, however, that both loved children and in her later years Marion devoted much of her time to nurturing the children of her niece, Clarmyra.
Walter, her junior by five years, was destined to die much sooner than his bride. He was taken off by peritonitis while working in India in 1937 after 26 years of marriage. Marion outlived her husband by 24 years, dying in Chicago at the age of 90 in 1961.
Clarmyra organised Marion's funeral, a low-key affair that had her ashes placed in an unmarked plot in Graceland Cemetery. Marion's ashes have since been moved to a memorial space that is marked with a plaque.
That ceremony was reportedly attended by every woman architect in greater Chicago and floral tributes were received from Australia.
Gang Gang's attention has been drawn to the photo of Walter and child, and several others from the National Library of Australia's Nicholls collection that open a window into the private lives of Canberra's designers, by the Canberra International Music Festival team.
The CIMF's Chris Latham said he had stumbled across the pictures while browsing the collection, which was given to the library only four or five years ago.
''The photographs are wonderful,'' he said, ''they capture the essence of the couple.''
This year's music festival, which ends on Sunday, has paid special tribute to Walter and Marion and the remarkable contribution they made to the city's development.
Two of Sunday's events pay specific homage to Marion, her times and her legacy. They include ''Marion's Child'', a 70-minute presentation at Canberra Girls' Grammar featuring music by Sally Greenaway, Frank Ticheli, Stephen Leek and Karl Jenkins, and ''In Praise of Creative Women'' at the Albert Hall. Just 75 minutes, this concert celebrates the talents of neglected women composers who were Marion's contemporaries.
The music festival's grand finale, ''Wispelway: Elgar, Adams'', is to be held in the ANU's Llewellyn Hall from 7.30pm. Walter and Marion are to be channelled at this event, as they have been at many others, by the couple's 21st-century impersonators Maude Davey and James Saunders.
Mr Latham said the couple's previous appearances had been well received and that the suspension of disbelief had been remarkable to behold. ''They have had people come up to them and say things like 'my grandparents knew you,''' he said.
Friday and Saturday are also going to be big days for music festival fans with some great events on the program. Friday's ''Sounding The Lake'' is a three-hour LBG cruise that includes stops at Scrivener Dam, the National Carillon and Commonwealth Place.
At 6pm Paul Dresher presents ''Double Duo'' at the Albert Hall and this is followed at 8.15pm in the same venue by ''The Lark Ascending''. Saturday's program includes ''Jesus' blood'', ''Double Duo'' (again) and, at 8.15pm, ''Wagner and the Grail''.
