Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 3 : Presscuttings, Sept 1959 - Sept 1967

uAUSTRALIAN" 27MAY 1967 Australia What • IS happening • Ill Brisbane? By LAURI~ THOMAS BEHIND the calm facadcs of Australia's major art galleries there arc often seething tensions. Most, ii not all, of these tensions have been, and in places still arc, caused by the method or ·contrnl which has b<,dcvlllccl the galleries since their beginnings in the Victorian age. This ls the control exercised b~· largely unprofessional com– mittees or boards of trustees over professional alfairs. Then; ls hardly a single i1allcry dil'cctor here who has not been for a good part of his time frustrated in the attempt lo build up first-class collcc• tions by the heavy hand of well-meaning trusteE6, Nci1· ls there a single oliiclal art collection in A11strnlia which would· not have been bcttc1· without these frustra– tions. The J!iational Gallen· or Vlctol'ia, 1 or· example, •·could have had a brilliant collection of F1·cnch Impressionist paint– ings for pracllcally nothing IC Its hoard had taken the advice or the director, Bernard Hall, when he went overseas in 1905. The trustees dld buy one of the recommendations - Pissar– ro's Boulcvardc Montmartre. But Hall had urged then\ to buy Monet, Manet, Dc11as, Renoir, Sisley, Plssarro, Van Gogh . . . . As It happens, paintings by most of these artists have since been acquired, but at very different prices and only after It became fashionable to 1·ccognise the a1·t1sts, when they were 11 safc." · A couple ot years ago, the Queensland gallery was otlcrcd a great bronze by Henry Moore on the most generous terms and with the chance of paying for it over three years. But, althou1h the purchase was within the trustees' means over this time, It was tumcd down with hardly mo1·e. than five minutes' consideration. The professional staffs of galleries a,·c not Infallible, nor would It be anything but wlshtul to think that they · would always be right in their judgmcnts. Moreover, a trustee systcrr may well act as a brake on•:1 ovcr-cnth\lsiastic staCT. But at least the professionals, know their !ob and the simple fac~ is that oltcn the trustees don't know theirs, • It is silly, and even tragic, that men with no p1·etcnslons to kaowlcdge ot a specialised kind should make decisions ot that kind when the trained men in their midst do not even have , a vote. It is sllller and certainly rnorc mectrtcnini: when as happens especially In the smaUcr gnllci·ies-but not only _,,.., those-trustees try to sit In the director's chair and usurp even his administrative duties. Dit!icult!cs like these have been laced ond to a large extent overcome In a !cw places w h e r e enlightened chairmen and ftrm directors arc prepared to back each other up. They have, however, been exa<:crbated elsewhere and were the cause of some spontaneous outbursts ot pow– 'erful feelings a few weeks ago In Mlldura when the Art Galleries Association of Aus• tralla had Its second annual general meeting. The assoclallon, whieh is made up of the professional statfs of all the State and provincial galleries, Is attempt– Ing to raise the standards and standing of lts members and Is seeking alf!llatlon with the Brillsh Museums Association. Delegates were angered at reports of recent developments in South Aush'alla and QuE<msland In South Austra~a , the dlrcctorshl ot the I Gallery wfl1 be vacant o low– ing the re rcment ot Mr Robert Campbell ln July. The appointment ot his successo,· ls not the prerogallve of the trustees there, but ot the Publlc Service Commlsslonc1·. Althoui:h In pracllcc he may r!o so, the Commissioner is not bound even to consult the trustees - or the ass and delegates !ea1· appointment might which could result injustice being donr other of Its membc1 s lowering standards The Public Servic sionc,· has nomlnat inspector from t Educut!or, Dcpartmr assistant director or Mr R. G. Appleyard, in an appeal. The trustees nothing and this beckusc they arc not do so, thou1ht It , Improbable that II accept an appolntrn upon them against t without a murmu1·. The chairman association's meetin don Thomson, Pow ot ·contemporary . University of Sydn,• the pos!lbl!lty appointment could person of no spcc quallflcations - Inc who had neither special study of u nor worked ln one. this kind of sltuatio, happen ln other pro There Is no evlr.1 wrong appointment be made, lnde<,rl nothini: to preven good man cmcrgln~ a member of the a •; has not had p1·evi