Throughout history, artists have received commissions that have led to some of the world’s most influential works. In 2019 to promote the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, the University of Melbourne gave 30 students their first commission.
These commissions were inspired by themes found in works by the likes of Michelangelo, Frida Kahlo and Bob Dylan. Perfection, racism, social justice, mortality, sex, power and human perfection.
At the time of receiving the commission, the student-emerging artists had no knowledge of their origin.
The commissions were unveiled in a public art exhibition in Florence at the feet Michelangelo’s David. The Campaign launch was supported by PR, online content and an online gallery that housed all of the students’ work.
Below is a selection from the 300+ pieces of original content created and shared organically.

CASE STUDY

Commission Themes

Michelangelo's David

Create a work that represents the idea of human physical perfection

The most iconic commission, the inspiration for Michelangelo’s David, a vision of human perfection carved from a mammoth and flawed slab of marbled stone.
Self-Portrait with Monkeys

Create a work that divulges a deeply personal, yet unattainable desire.

In 1938, Frida Kahlo received one of her first commissions, a self-portrait from industrialist and philanthropist Anson Conger Goodyear.
Hurricane Bob Dylan

Create a work that rails against social injustice through it's clarion call to freedom.

In the early 1970s, adman George Lois approached Bob Dylan with the autobiography of Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, an American-Canadian middleweight boxer who was convicted of triple murder in 1966.
The Age of Maturity

Create a work that examines the inevitability of the passing of time, as well as the desire to hold onto youth.

In 1913, a cast of Camille Claudel’s The Age of Maturity, from a sculpture originally commissioned by the French state, was made for a private client, Captain Tissier.
The Great Petition

Create a work that examines debates in your society about an ongoing struggle to give voice to the powerless.

Artists Susan Hewitt and Penelope Lee were commissioned by the State Government to design a large-scale piece to commemorate the ‘Monster Petition’ for womens’ rights.
The Sleeping Beauty

Create a work depicting an extravagant political figure, alive or dead, using fantastic characters, settings and ideas.

In 1888, Tchaikovsky accepted the commission to adapt the Charles Perrault fairy tale La Belle au Bois Dormant (Sleeping Beauty).
Titanic

Create the impossible in a work that pushes the boundaries of your discipline to the extreme.

In 1907, chairman of White Star Line, J. Bruce Ismay, proposed the commission of a new class of ocean liner – the ultimate statement of comfort and luxury.