Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 1 : Presscuttings, 1959-1962

£150 AS GIFT TO GALLERY Pioneer Sugar Mills Ltd., el North Queens- land, hot mode a gilt of t150 to the Q land Art Gallery. The gift was confirmed at a board meeting of the Icompany yesterday. Mr. Russell Drysdale said the money would be for the purchase of a painting or paintings by tile Art Gallery Trustees. Mr. Drysdale, a leading Australian artist, as well as a Pioneer director, judged and opened the H, C. Richards and L. J, Harvey memorial prize art exhi- bitions now on show at the gallery, K+ *N. Est, . 1904 'Phew MU 5133 AUSTRALIAN PRESS CUTTINGS Melbourne, Victoria From "COURIER MAIL" i462 Brisbane, Art charge criticised IT is ma unfair that a rge (3 g should hi. I .le for the public to inspect their own oicturea in their own gal- lery. 'I he authorities have not even the excuse of having laid out large slims of money for these pictures. some of them, they admit, are worthless. Why then the change of policy by making a charge? The timing too, makes worse. Many people down from the country (or the vacation like to look at any additions to the gallery since their last visit, and school children on holiday should be able to look at what is part of their own heritage, with- out charge. Has the success of parking Dieters, parkatareas, mid similar methods of extract- ing money from a usually meek public emboldened the gallery trustees to try to snatch their little WO- "Lettice Mlikem," .Ashgrove. Est. 1904 'Phone: MU 5133 Aust. Press Cuttings Agency Melbourne, Victoria From "MAIL" mum 1 rose' OOOOO Naked nymp s in Gallery 'sale' Art fanciers are peerinusceptieally at the assortment of work for sale at the qUeenaland Art Gallery, hoping there jest aught be s masterpiece there. A iota. ), 175 paintings and sm. attires will be auctioned at the gallery next Saturday. Yesterday an Art Gal- lery attendant said pro- spective buyers had been coming to inspect the paintings for the last three weeks. They furtively gazed at the paintings, took notes, and stolidly refined to say which paintings they fancied. To choose from, they have 82 unframed water- colours, by L. W. K. Wirth. six brilliantly col- oured paintings on syn- thetic wood, by contem- porary Dutch , Jan de Groot, andmillet two plas- ter busts of King Ed- ward VII and Queen Alexandra, only slightly chipped. NAKED 11111P11 There are also an anonymous wood carving of Richard Wagner, sev- eral Australian I-l- as-apes. with good frames and naked nymphs and goddesses. A-BrialDnie art teacher who lute been to 'similar sales In Europe, looked at the paintings the gal- lery has te offer yester- day. "I feel -sad when I look at these paintings," he said. *; "They'rli good honest Week, but none of them show any creativeness. "At the sales I have been to in Europe, many of the painting,' sell for as low as 3/ or 7/. 3/ FRAME "I am onithe look -nut for sound 1 frames and glass, and (a earns. that can be us (1 again for my art class. "If few people are in- terested, I may get a frame for my art class for IV," be said. No-one else who in- spected the paintings 515 enthusiastic, except one man. who seemed to mc-n something t iat nnimuy else had spotted. lie left the gallery hurriedly, without 1.tting anyone into his secret. Brisbane, Q. Qld. "COURIER MAIL" Brisbane, O. 4 HE AGREES 'A LOT' ON ART BLAST A NATIONAL Art Gallery trustee sold yes- terday he agreed "with a lot of" Dr. Bruce Barrack's controversial statement about the gallery's policy for buying paint- ing.. Sever other trustees bad "no comment." In yesterday's Courier - Mail, Dr. Barrack said some of the trustees of the National Art Gallery did rot use their own Judgment and should broaden their outlook. Dr. Barrack, a gallery trustee, said he could not agree with the policy of buying modern, Impres- sionist -type paintings while the gallery s collec- tion of traditionalists was still lacking, The only gallery trustee contacted who would com- ment was Brisbane bar- rister Mr. P. D. Connolly. "Fill gaps" "I agree with a lot of what Dr. Barrack has to say, I think a lot of the trustees aeree we should till the gaps In the schools 1 traditional painting that Lzipear in the gallery s col- lection. "But this is ceder said than done because these paintings don't often come on the market, and when they do they are very ex- pensive. "However, this Is a prob- lem that is constantly in the mind of the trustees," he said. Board of Trustees areal- Reginald Groom, a vice dent Sir Roslyn Philp, Vice president, and Mr. J. President Sir Leon Trout, Kriatsciinitt, Miss Daphne and five other trustees. Mayo, and Director Dr. Norman Behan. Pro- General of Education (Dr. lessor R. P. Cummings, It. G. Watkin) were out of "ADVER -Mr. E. A. Ferguson, Pro- Brisbane -:ter ,a . - fessor F, W. Robinson. and Mr. E A. Cuopaidge re- fused to comment. However, after Mr. Cup- paidge's "no commt" statement he said: "Noe inn- dividual member of the Board of Trustees should comment on or criticise any decision made by the Board." Queensland Arc Gallery Director (Mr. L. Thomas, also had "no comment." 3.1 ti AY ',252 Adelaide, S.A. ,Price Cutting llonatiza From A Special Correspondent BRISBANE, May 30. THOSI?, who claim to he in the know say tile present price -cutting war among Brisbane food stores he the setting up of yet :mother "chain," or of an- other group -buying organ- isation. Whether the forecast is iccurate or not, the war its meant a bonanza for housewives. Price cutting on such lines as butter, milk and tea Is not new, hut now meat Is on the list. And so, at least temporarily, is Ice cream. Typical recent reductions have Included lamb at 2.iti lb instead of the usual 4 (two stores alone sold 18.000 lb. in two days); cheese 1/ below normal at 3 9 8,500 lb. passed over the entailer); eight tons of chickens sold at 4 II lb. ,usually 6i1. The chain stores say this will continue en varilitis lines as long as supplies con he kept up. And the wholesalers and graziers say, "Leave that to us." Court List The cynics may see it as a lean One for the law- yers. In fart it Is the re- sult of hard work by judges. Brisbane's District Court is pist completing its lightest monthly sittings since the District Courts system was reintroduced in Queensland three vears go The list of criminal cases when the May seslon he- gan totally(' only 32, com- pared itlih 71 in the smile month last year and 58 In May, 19110. After two years of long hours, the Dad 'lit Court Judges hove at hist had it chance to catch up on some of the arrears of cases which began to pile up a couple of years ago, BRISBANE LETTER Business has continued brisk: the District Court dealt with 682 criminal cases In 1960, 978 last year and 264 from January to the end of April this year. Art Controversy Meet Dr. Bruce BarrtR.,' a Brisbane medical specialist with a mind of Ms own on other matters as well as medicine. Dr. Barrack a few days ago startled Brisbane's art world with somg cryptic comments on the policy of the trustees of the city's National Art Gallery. Main points or his com- ments: the trustees buy too many impressionist paintings: as a result the gallery lacks adequate examples of what ordin- ary folk might term "straight -forward" paint- ings. Perhaps the core of his criticism lay in his claim that ton many of the trus- tees do not rely on their own Judgment. What makes Dr. Bar - rack's outburst the more intriguina is that he him- self is one of the trustees, a point which ma,v help ex - Plain why his colleagues on the board of trustees chorused "no comment" when asked for their re- actions to his views. As so often happens In such arguments, the truth lies somewhere between the two extremes. Over all, the gallery's collection strikes a fairly happy The controversy itself is a healthy sign. easciiially hr. ,ti very.having re- cently auctioned 173 of its Immune(' works, can be esneetecl to embark soon on another haying carni- val I 't 11 Visitors' views People visiting the pal- lery did not seem to agree that there were too many modern paintings at the gallery and not enough traditional type paintings. was Typ onicealfrom of the a New Zeacomments - land visitor to Brisbane for six weeks' holiday, Mrs. Sheila Monsen, of Hamil- ton. "I was pleased to find so many traditional paint- ings," she said. "I don't think there are too many impressionistic paintings at all." Under the Queensland Art Gallery Act of 1959 "not less than two of the trustees shall be know- ledgeable and experienced in visual arts." Other trustees, str TISER" Adelaide, Gallery Needs Brisbane art lovers' face are red, although they are happy to see again Ade- laide's National Gallery di- rector, Mr. Robert Camp- bell, back here for a con- ference of Australian gal- lery chiefs. When he was director of the Brisbane Gallery OM to 11)511, Robert Campbell was responsible for some stopgap structural changes which, to some extent, helped hide the fact that even then a new gallery was needed. Since then, the gallery collection has been greatly developed, to keep pace with the times; but not so the building, which still lacks space and many of those features which help to make a real gallery. Only officialdom can supply these wants, and 11 Director Campbell asks, "What about the new gal- lery?" officialdom can say only, "We're talking about