The Boy Behind the Curtain: Barefoot in the Temple of Art Summary & Analysis

Winton watches children reach into the wall of water that falls in the entryway of the National Gallery of Victoria. It’s a surprising feature of a building that, from the outside, is as imposing as a fortress. Watching the children sends Winton back to his own childhood discovery of this place in 1969.

Winton and his family travel from isolated Perth to metropolitan Melbourne in 1969. The journey is harrowing—bumpy, dusty, hot, and long—but they’re sure it’ll be worth it when they discover what the “other side” of Australia is like. When they arrive after more than a week of driving, their itinerary is full of disappointments. Melbourne isn’t as glamorous as they expected it to be. Visiting the Melbourne Cricket Ground when empty is a hollow experience.

Winton and his siblings look forward to the National Gallery, not for the art it holds but for the promised waterfall within its walls. When they arrive, they dunk their sore feet in the fountain and splash around before being shooed from the water. Apparently, their behavior is disrespectful—the fountain is art, and it shouldn’t be touched. But when they finally try to enter the museum to see the art inside, they’re told that going barefoot is not allowed. Only his dad telling the attendant that they’re from Queensland gains them enough pity to be let through.

Embarrassed and out of place, Winton spends a long time staring at the same statue, reluctant to explore anything else. But after seeming to gain comfort, or perhaps even inspiration, from the statue, he sets off to see what else he can find. Winton feels like he could look at each piece forever, trying to work out its story or meaning. He keeps exploring and looking for a long time before finally yielding to his waiting family, exhausted at the entrance.

Though Winton doesn’t see himself as a genius, he knows that he wants to do what the artists whose work he’s just experienced have done—to see past the normal everyday and into the world of the imagination. By the time a year has passed, he’s excited by the prospect of life as a writer.

In the present day, Tim’s delighted to return to the National Gallery and see it full of visitors. The water feature is now embraced as an interactive installation. Though the stained-glass ceiling seems a little outdated, Winton admires the changes that have allowed for more lively interaction with the art—places for children to run and opportunities for them to respond to the art they see. One of the most striking developments is the increased representation of Asian art which echoes Australia’s social changes in the years since Tim’s first visit. He remembers the feeling he had as a child who, though initially ashamed, exited the building “like a man in boots.”