Historic Hyde Park Fountain runs anew after restoration works

By ERIN MODARO

The Archibald Memorial Fountain, which stands proudly in Sydney’s Hyde Park, has received new life after restoration works upgraded the 90-year-old artwork. Gifted to the City of Sydney in 1932, the fountain is a tribute to France’s alliance with Australia in WWI.

Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the “nationally significant sculpture” has been upgraded with modern touches, including structural, hydraulic, electrical and mechanical work. Water saving measures have also been added, the Mayor reported.

“Families, friends and visitors enjoy meeting at the Archibald Fountain under the shade of tree canopy in Hyde Park, as a quiet respite from the city,” Moore said.

Links to the past

Standing close to the Art Gallery of NSW which hosts the annual Archibald Portrait Prize, the fountain’s namesake, J.F Archibald, commissioned its construction in his will. Archibald recommended a fountain be built in the Botanic Gardens, and dedicated 7 of the 50 shares from his estate to fund such a creation.

As founder of the bulletin and an enduring figure from Sydney’s past, Archibald’s vision came to light when French artist Francois Sicard was selected to design the fountain in 1926.

Sicard designed the fountain by drawing upon Greek mythology and grand themes of antiquity for its figures.

Although a tribute to the French, the sculptured figures resting among the waters are of the Olympian Apollo, as well as other central figures in Greek mythology; Diana, Pan and the Minotaur. The hexagonal base is ornamented with horses, tortoises, dolphins and artful sprays of water that frame the Greek God’s podium.

Make peace, not war

Officially opened by then Mayor of Sydney Samuel Walder in 1932, the fountain has stood in it’s Hyde Park location until present day. Walder deemed the fountain to be “without equal” in Australia, as he told The Daily Telegraph following its opening.

The lead executor of Archibald’s will, T. H Kelly, commended the artist’s decision to lean away from military themes, saying Sicard was “wise in making it symbolical of the peaceful and enlightened ideals for which the soldiers gave their lives”.

Sydney’s current Mayor mirrored Kelly’s sentiment.

“While the fountain was commissioned to honour an association forged through war, the sculptor made peace the theme of this work, a message that remains as poignant today as it was a century ago,” she said.

The restoration of the fountain comes just weeks after the opening of the nearby Art Gallery of NSW’s new wing, which boasts a brand new building and public gardens. Over 15,000 people registered to attend the grand opening of the expansion to the gallery in early December last year.