Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 1994-95

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS Visiting international exhibitions The Gallery's commitment to major exhibitions of international art continued with the presentation of 'Renoir: Master Impressionist' and 'Matisse'. The latter, shown from 29 March to 16 May, was a highlight of the Gallery's centenary. 'Matisse' was curated by the Gallery and organised in association with Art Exhibitions Australia Limited. A Gallery initiative, the exhibition received critical acclaim, both for the calibre of the loans and for its intellectual content. It is best summed up by Joanna Mendelssohn's review in The Bulletin on 25 April 1995: 'It is easily the most intelligent blockbuster exhibition ever mounted in this country, the result of the kind of meticulous planning and thorough scholarship which have become the hallmark of Queensland operations'. John McDonald wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald on I April that 'What distinguishes this exhibition from other recent "blockbusters" is the unusual care given to the selection of work and the catalogue'. An international committee, which included distinguished government, diplomatic and artistic representatives, was formed to assist in preparations for the exhibition. Members included The Hon. Wayne Goss, MLA, Premier of Queensland and Minister for Economic & Trade Development; M. Philippe Baude, former Ambassador of France to Australia; The Hon. Michael Lee, MP, Minister for Communications and the Arts and Minister for Tourism in the Commonwealth Government; and The Hon. Dean Wells, MLA, Minister for Justice, Attorney-General and Minister for the Arts in the Queensland Government. Dr Caroline Turner, Deputy Director & Manager, International Programs at the Gallery, was curator and organiser of the exhibition, and Dr Roger Benjamin, Australia's pre-eminent expert on Matisse, was scholarly adviser. The exhibition's significance was recognised by its inclusion in the Cultural Agreement between the French and Australian Governments, and built on the already strong and cordial relationship that the Gallery enjoys w ith French cultural institutions. The Association Fran~aise d'Action Artistique gave its support to organising the French component of the exhibition and appointed distinguished Matisse scholar Madame Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, Conservateur en Chef at the Musee National d'Art Moderne and curator of the Matisse exhibition held in Paris in 1992-93, as the French Commissionaire for the exhibition. Paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, illustrated books, cutouts, costumes and a stained glass window, totalling 270 works, were drawn from institutions and private collections around the world in a comprehensive overview of the artist's oeuvre. The exhibition displayed some of the artist's most acclaimed works, including Decorative figure on an ornamental ground and Still life with magnolia from the Musee National d:Art Moderne, Paris; Basket of oranges from the Musee Picasso, Paris; The blue window from The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Nasturtiums with 'Dance' (I) from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The official opening took place on the evening of 28 March 1995, and the exhibition opened to the public on Wednesday, 29 March, the date of the Gallery's centenary. Among the official speakers were M. Germain Viatte, Director of the Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris (which was particularly generous in the number and quality of its loans); the Premier of Queensland, The Hon. Wayne Goss; and M. Claude Duthuit, administrator of the Archives Matisse and grandson of Henri Matisse. The Gallery is grateful to M. and Mme Duthuit, who travelled to Australia specially for the opening, and to other members of the Matisse family for their support of the exhibition. M. Duthuit supported the project in a number of important ways, including copyright, and generously gave his time for interviews with the press and a number of speaking engagements at events organised to coincide with the exhibition. An official dinner hosted by Art Exhibitions Australia Limited was held after the opening. Speakers at the dinner included The Hon. E. G. Whitlam, AC, QC; M. Alain Mauroy, Charge d'Affaires at the French