Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

.A' , 1 .../_~. \ .• l \ ' I : • . .. • "' .,(''4. -~ . . ·' . ' .. .. . . . i. . I : •\\. , .• er,. ,r THE BEHAN' COLLECTION A ciah COUrN I; Latin WOClld help be– fore embarking an • fflfftlng with Dr Nor– man Behan, the man behind tht famed Behen Collectlon. And a swot ur. on the Greek philosophers might help as wet . A conversation with the whimsical, witty, sil– ver-haired collector or beautiful works of Austra– lian art is ipiked with long quotations in Latin. He loves to roll the classical language slowly off his tongue and then ends up stumping the lis– tener by uling: ..Don't you agree?" He seems to appreciate thoughts better when put into the language that has sent sheer terror anto the hearts of multitudes or school children. But then with the mixture or English and Lat– in, accompanied by side-dips into the Greek phi– losophers, he brings art to lire better perhaps than most other experts. The more than 100 paintings, drawings and pieces of sculpture in the Behan Collection arc like children to him, and be knows each one inti• mately. Take the portrait of Sir John Franklin for ex– ample, a Governor of Tasmania in the early 1800s and the man the Franklin River of great dam controversy and High Court decision is named after. Artist and scoundrel It's by an artist and scoundrel called Thomas Griffith Wainewright and the whole thing be– comes much more interesting when Dr Behan re– gales you with tales or Wainewright and how he was sent out to Tasmania as a convict after poi– soning his wife and then following that up by trying to kill off his mother-in-law for her for– tune. He got away with the first crime, but the law caught up with him before he could despatch his next victim. Wainewright was a society artist in London and exhibi1ed ·at the Royal Academy. · In Tasmania he managed to wheedle himself back into society and was allowed to paint por– traits while under guard. ..History lesson goes with the early artists BY SYLVIA da COSTA-ROQUE Good stuff, and if you have the time Dr Behan can rustic up juicy stories for the rest or the col– lection. There is little about Australian art that he doesn't know. He can give you a run-down on it from convict times and the early colonial period through the Gold Rush days to the impressionist period at the turn of the century when a covey of Australian artists of the Hcidlcberg School went to Europe to catch up on what was happening there. The Behan Collection 1s on display at the Queensland Art Gallery until September 11 . 30 years on board Dr Behan says it was r,robably the gallery's way of saying "Thank you• to him for serving 30 years on its board or trustees. He left the board this year: "I'm 74 you know. It's time I left them to it." Dr Behan gave the collection to Queensland University in 1979. There are many people who wonder why the university. and not the Queens– land Art Gall~ry. Dr Behan "fays the blame firmly and fondly at the feet or former Australian Governor-General Sir Zelman Cowen, who was Vice-Chancellor or Queensland University at the time. "He was very persuasive," he said, with a twin– kle. Dr Behan twinkles a lot. Much of what he says is in fun . He comes out with the most marvellous quotes and then disappoints by saying: "For goodness sake don't write that down." Though not exactly shy, he is modest isnd retir– ing and asks: "Please don't talk about me. Leave me out or it. Let's talk about the paintings in– stead." Dr Behan is a doctor of the medical kind and though partly retired there is still a stethoscope to be seen on the back scat or his car. He hands over a catalogue called The Behan Collection. Stuartholme. He pul it together himself and dedicated it to his wife, who you discover is called Anne, not "Mummy" as Dr Behan refers to her. If ii h:id n' 1 been for S1uar1holme Convt·nt lhe collection might no1exist. It was in the I'l )Os and the nuns at the convent had decided lo bu iId a new chapel. He likes paintings and portraits that come alive. Which brings us to his favorite or the entire collection, Rupert Bunny's French Peasant Woman. The face is old and worldly wise. "There is Bunny giving you a portrait or an old woman. There she is with her memories. or hap– py days. Of sad days when her sons were killed in battle. When France was occupied. It shows she has worked hard on the land and that now she can't sec much any more. "Bunny makes her come alive. He sees her background. And the hands that arc coarse from harvesting and tabor." Bunny, you learn, lived from 1864 to 1947 and was a Mclboumian who became a French citizen. He was ignored in Australia. Now it's impossible to buy a Bunny under $50,000, with S150,000 being a more realistic figure. Surprisingly, you sec a John Olsen on the wall. Very different from the rest of the collection. It's called .. Sea Flux". There is the blue or the sea, some black, and shapes of things that arc probably shells. " I told John it would be a beautiful pattern for a lady's dress," Dr Behan said. "It has a nice line and has nice color. "It's a good industrial design pattern . The black... I think, probably represents mineral sa nds. Then there is the Lloyd Rees "Stones of Athens", a surrealist mix of the ancient stones of Petra, Rhodes and Athens. "He would sell it only to me," Dr Behan said. "It's a Chagall dream. It's one of his best. It's a result of the two years he spent in the Mediter– ranean." There is also a Jan Molvig picture or the bawdy girls of the village in a painting full of col• or called "Hotel Lounge". "He seemed to brutalise his women," he said in pu zzlement. Arthur Streeton is well represented in the col– lcc1ion . He also did much of his work in England. "He was enraptured by the Engl ish light," Dr Behan said. That 's ca,y to sec in his paintings of Chcp– stowc Ca,lc and Wes1mins1cr Abbey. John l'ctcr Kussel! is pcrhap, lhc saddc, t of lhc an ists in the ctillcction. ll c became kno"'·n as lhe fnrgn11cn pa1n1cr. P rnh!.i hlv h,.,.. :-.i11;;r h,~ ..,n,~n, 011,, 1 ,,r h t,· 1;r.~ ,... . •·