Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 2001-02

comprising an intricately crafted guitar and a video projection of ten near-identical guitars in performance. This significant work was purchased following its inclusion in the Third Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art IAPT3] in 1999. Also purchased following its inclusion in APT3 was Zhang Peili"s installation Endless dancing 1999. Featuring eight televisions playing footage of ballroom dancers, this work was displayed during the first quarter of 2002. Another important Collection work to be displayed during the year was Dragon or rainbow serpent: A myth glorified or feared by Cai Guo Qiang. Created for the Second Asia– Paci fic Triennial, the work is a series of nine drawings made using spent gunpowder on large scrolls of Japanese paper. A 16-page 'In Focus· booklet documenting the work was published to coincide with this display. DOCUMENTING AND MANAGING THE COLLECTION The Gallery·s Registration section continued to manage the storage and movement of the Collection to international museum standards. Works in the Gallery·s Collection continued to be in demand for special exhibitions at other regional, interstate and international art institutions. There were three particularly significant international loans during the year. Two works from Nilima Sheikh·s series of ha nging scrolls, Shamiana 1996, were loaned to the Asia Society in New York for the exhibition ·conversations with Traditions: Nilima Sheikh and Shahzia Sikander·. The Walker Art Gallery, England, borrowed George Romney"s painting Mrs Yates as the Tragic Muse, Melpomene 1771 for an exhibition of the artist"s work at the Walker Art Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, London. One of the Gallery"s most important works, Picasso·s La Belle Hollandaise 1905, made a rare departure from the Gallery·s walls to be to exhibited in "Forma: El Ideal Clasico en el Arte Moderno· at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid from October 2001 to January 2002. In December 2001 the Gallery embarked upon a provenance research project to confirm the Gallery"s good title to works of European origin that may have been confiscated during the period of Nazi rule l1933-45]. Work on this project continued in 2001-02, with 12 of the 59 objects under investigation being cleared, bringing the total of those removed from the list to 15. A further 70 elements of new information regarding the provenance of the works were gathered and added to catalogue information. Substantial information on the provenan ce research project, its research and findings was published on the Gallery·s website during the year. The web presence is indicative of the Gallery·s recognition of the importance of disclosing the results of the project to the public in an open and timely manner. The website was chosen as the communication tool for th is purpose because of its accessibility and potential to reach parties who may be able to contribute further information to the project. Libra rian Jacklyn Young also presented a paper on the subject at the annual conference of the Arts Libraries Society, Australia and New Zealand, in Auckland, New Zealand. CONSERVING THE COLLECTION The Conservation section continued its crucial role in preventative conservation, treatment, and research relating to the care of works in the State Art Collection. Planning for the Centre of Excellence fo r the Conservation of Modern and Contemporary Materials proposed for the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art accelerated during the year. The Centre will provide the opportunity for the Conservation section to significantly ra ise its level of operation and to increase its integration into Gallery programs. It will also provide opportunities for the delivery of tangible benefits for the care of modern and contemporary art works nationally and internationally. A review of the Gallery"s conservation policy began during the year in view of the exciting challeng es and opportunities that lie ahead. Con servation staff also undertook or organised international travel for research purposes relating to the new Centre. Anne Carter, Acting Head of Conservation, met with former colleagues at the Museum of Modern Art IMoMAI. New York, to observe planning for MoMAs expanded conservation facilities in their building project. Interesting and valuable ideas from discussions with MoMA conservators were forthcoming. Importantly, strategies fo r antici pating the needs of conservation of modern materials and dig ital collections were discussed. Major treatments undertaken by conservators include the restoration and manufacture of reproduction frames for Holy Family with the Infant Baptist after Barrocio, Corot"s Study after ·un matin a ville-d"Avray" c.1870, and Affandi"s Self portrait in Kusamba Beach 1983. Other painting restorations completed include the cleaning of de Vlaminck·s Nature morte {Still life] c.1910 and Conder"s Fruit Trees in Blossom, Algiers 1892. Rummana Hussain·s A space for healing 1999 was restored prior to travel to Tate Modern, and will require ongoing conservation due to its ephemeral nature. Substantial research using technologies such as X-radiography and infra-red reflectography was undertaken during the year. These technologies allow conservators to look beneath the surface of paintings. Research undertaken on a fifteenth-century painting by The Master of Frankfurt, Virgin and Child with St James the Pilgrim, St Catherine and the Donor with St Peter, revealed fascinating differences between the work·s underdrawing and the painting visible to the viewer. As well as tracing the changes in the symbolism of the painting, this type of research also assisted in authenticating the creator of the work. Planning began for the first in a series of Collection-based exhibitions regarding conservation research. 23