Lost Mirka Mora mural uncovered at former Cafe Balzac

It has played host to numerous artists and celebrities over the years, including Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Graham Kennedy, Charles Blackman, John Perceval and, of course, Georges and Mirka Mora.

Now a little slice of history, long thought gone, has been rediscovered at the former Cafe Balzac in East Melbourne: a mural by Mirka Mora herself.

Business owner Gus McAllister was renovating the second floor function room of the venue – now a stylish bar and eatery called Tippler & Co – when he uncovered the lost gem.

"I took down a little section [of the wall] and all of a sudden I could see the little face," Mr McAllister said. "I kept on ripping away the plaster and it just kept on getting bigger."

Tippler & Co owners Nicole Murnane and Gus McAllister recently uncovered a Mirka Mora mural. Pictured here with her son William Mora.Credit: Jason South

He and wife Nicole Murnane​ were "99 per cent sure" it was painted by Mirka because of the history of the building, which also once housed a bigger mural on the adjacent wall by Sydney's Annandale Imitation Realists, which has since been relocated to the Queensland Art Gallery.

A phone call to art dealer William Mora, Mirka's son, confirmed the find.

"Everyone just assumed that when they [previous tenants] did the renovations they just got rid of it or painted over it," said Ms Murnane. "No one thought that they just put plaster over it."

Dating the mural

Mr Mora, who was three years old when his parents opened Cafe Balzac in 1956 and spent much of his childhood there, remembers the mural well. Although Mirka never completed it, she would have painted it in the mid-1960s, not long before Georges sold the restaurant, Mr Mora said.

The little boy in the bottom right corner of the mural was uncovered first.Credit: Jason South

"What I'm so thrilled and surprised about is how fresh and relevant it looks today – and it is 50 years old at least," he said.

The mural is what's known as one of Mirka's "early charcoals". The subject matter of people and animals embracing each other is classic Mirka, but unlike her many more colourful pieces, it is in black and white – in this case charcoal on paint.

Mirka and Georges Mora in the 1960s.Credit: SMH

"Knowing Mirka, she would have just gone straight onto the [painted] wall," Mr Mora said. The detailed, circular flowers in the mural were "very specific" to the period and the charcoals, he said.

Mr Mora used to visit the cafe every day for lunch as a child because he went to Yarra Park Primary School across the road. "The more I look at that mural, the more I remember about being a kid," he said.

Mirka Mora pictured recently with her filmmaker son, Philippe.Credit: Trevor Graham

At the cafe he would dine on boeuf bourguignon or blanquette de veau, but "of course, all I craved was a vegemite sandwich".

"In retrospect, it was a wonderful upbringing and I still have a passion for good food," he said.

Cafe Balzac in 1979.

Art cover-up

The mural was covered up not once, but twice. In 1993, business was going so badly for then Balzac co-owner Cosimo Carvignese that he punched a wall on the second floor in frustration. "The entire wall collapsed," Mr Carvignese said, and the second wall – and Mirka's mural – was revealed behind it.

"We invited Mirka Mora to verify it and she did," Mr Carvignese said. After that, he and partner Joseph Martin reopened the restaurant as Arrigo Harry's Bar. He believes the mural was covered by previous owner Jim Klapanis.

The mural after Cosimo Carvignese uncovered it the first time in 1993.Credit: Eddie Jim

The mural remained on display through successive ownership until 2002, when then proprietor Brendan Tohill and his business partners spent hundreds of thousands of dollars renovating the space. They preserved the mural by draping plastic over it and then concealing it behind a second plaster wall, leaving a nine-centimetre gap.

Mr Tohill's restaurant, Toey's, closed within the year, and the mural was forgotten, until now.

The Annandale Imitation Realists mural was on the adjacent wall on the right.Credit: Gus McAllister

Preserving the mural

Vanessa Kowalski, paintings conservator at the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Preservations, said the mural was in "really good condition".

"I think the fact it has been cared for and preserved all these years shows how respected she is as an artist and cultural icon," Ms Kowalski said.

Mirka Mora in her studio in Richmond in August 2016, wearing the Gorman dress she helped design.Credit: James Geer

Some paint has peeled away in a small patch in the bottom left-hand corner of the mural, which may be restored, she said.

Mr McAllister and Ms Murnane plan to protect the mural behind perspex, but are otherwise likely to leave minor nicks and scratches intact to honour the restaurant's history.

In 1960, Cafe Balzac was the first establishment in Victoria to be granted a restaurant liquor licence.Credit: The Age

They will keep the second floor space as a function room, but will open it up to the public on certain days to view the mural – beginning next weekend.

Mirka revival

The discovery of the mural comes at a time when Mirka's profile is, arguably, bigger than it has ever been, with a new generation of art lovers embracing her work.

Mirka Mora in 1954.

Earlier this year, popular Melbourne fashion label Gorman collaborated with Mirka on a line of clothing featuring her artwork. Hip young things have been spotted around town in the range ever since.

A Melbourne University PhD candidate recently wrote a thesis on Mirka's painting techniques.

Mirka has yet to view the mural again herself. She is 88, and the stairs to the second floor of the former Balzac are a bit much.

Many of her other works remain on public display, including a mosaic mural at Flinders Street Station, and her charcoals, which are held in galleries including the National Gallery of Australia.

A rich history

In 1960, Cafe Balzac was the first restaurant in Victoria to be granted a restaurant liquor licence, meaning it could serve drinks before, during and after dinner.

Crowds from the 1956 Olympics, followed by the extended liquor licence, cemented it as a Melbourne institution.

"Any famous people who were visiting Melbourne always came to eat at the Balzac," William Mora said.

"When they made On The Beach here, Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner used to eat here every night. Graham Kennedy used to park his Rolls-Royce out the front and come here every night for dinner before his Melbourne Tonight shows."

Australian painter Charles Blackman cooked in the restaurant's kitchen in its early days, and painted his famous Alice in Wonderland series during that time.

"Georges and Charles would sit down at a table with a flagon a wine [after service ended]," said Mr Mora. "Charles would sit there with a ream of butcher's paper and draw. They would drink and talk and draw.

"When they ran out of wine, Charles would stand up, tear the drawings and put them in the bin. Georges would put the takings in his pocket and stagger home through the Fitzroy Gardens every night at 10.30pm or 11.00pm – just the time not to be in the park with a pocket full of money."

Georges and Mirka Mora were both awarded the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government for propagating French culture in Australia.

The rediscovered Mirka Mora mural will be opened to the public this weekend: The Tippler & Co, 58 Wellington Parade Saturday 3 September (3pm-late) and Sunday (3pm-7pm). Enquiries: [phone]​

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