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

• 'Applicants' dlnei;.,'.':.:~j.':! 1 i'd 11 n:t ~::. In a ••lrlt or exclu1lnnes1 •nd or •nmmerclal mon– OIIOIJ d1ma11ln,r to lndlold– ubal arll1t1 and likely to o 1truct the apread of fflOdorn eullure In the ltato, It la to be hoDed that the truateea lnve.sthzated every ll'enue from which to choose the new director and m•ke known to the public the mtans by which thev have done AO and nnme the un– successful aoollcants and their r'!CordA In comparison. Ihl the choice Indicated I• t e best they can come uo With. then Ood save the line arts In Queensland. - -John Cooper, 3028 Gold Coaat Rlrh,.•av. Surf era' Paradlae. e 'Delighted' •• , I waa Indeed de– Urh&e41 lo read of lbe ap• IIOlatment of Mr. Jame • Wllllelle u Director nf the Quee111land Art Gal– lery, I feel the Queensland Government ahoufd be con– rratulated on their choice. Now could they •~ their way clear to oromotlniz a e11llerv fund for, aay, tlve yeari., to which Queensl11ndera would be Invited to 11lve what thev oould afford each year tor ~~Y,e~l~W~irt°J 'h,~~,:t.~ 21 Klllara ,henue, Hamilton. 3' 0NAY i: i Gallery 1 trustees resign BRISBANE. Mon .- Two Queensland Art Gallery trustees ·real~n•d to-day In a dramtlc protest over the appointment of a new dlr eetor tor the Rallery, 1 They are architecture professor R, P, Cummln11s and artlst-sculptreu NI~ Da11hne ¥&Yu, · Both iianded their res– lRnatlona to the actlnll• Minister for Education !Mr. J. B.lelke•Petersen) In an Interview to-day, The dramatic move fol– lows controversy within the ~•llery board or trust– ees over the •opolntment of a new director to re– place Mr. Laurie Thoma3, 'who Jcrt to .1oln a news– paner In Sydney. Profea,or Cummings, professor of architecture at Queenalnnd University, has been a 11allery trustee •Ince 1930 and Misa M&Yo •Ince 1960, They Rl'e u,e onlv rep– resentatives or artists In the board of trustees, MIS• Mayo said YeRler– daY: "We have reSIRned In protest about the apnolnt– ment of n new director", Professor cummlnRS was out of Brisbane to-nlcht. Mr. Bielke-Petersen said he was Ilot nwarc that the two had reslcned over the apoolntment or a new dir– ector. He snid: "They rcslcnrd because they were not In aJtrcemcnt with certain actions taken bY the board of trustees as a whole", G67 Brlsb.ne, Broom for an artist sergeant J a m e • Wieneke ot the En• gtneers grasped the broom firmly In regula– tion m a n n e r and p A I N T E D away orlskly ..• No, the hot New GulneA sun hll<I not sent him troppo ••. this was a routine method by the camouflage men to paint large areaa quickly. And quite a change for James Wieneke, used to the gentle touch and paln•taklnr approach of an ~rtl•t. The former camouflage man hns been recommended by the Boe.rd of TrW1teea to be director of the Queensland Art Gallery State Cabinet will consldet this recommendation on Tuesday. Apart from the New Guinea days, when he disguised air– craft hangar\ supply dumps ~dM•r~uwr;:~~ke-:-6~.ar~i h~J a Ille ot Interest tn paintings slnee his schoold,1ys. an~\;~~t :~~~ 1 1':i ~~~d'W'~ during his boyhood. The memo'?: and lntluence 01 the ~/:!'oi,. ands there are still 'The West ts n basic pe.rt r1~1, th ;,e~~-untr,lt'.~ hea ~ ~n.fe ~ that more painters have not become more Interested In Ille In the country." In ore-World Wnr II days Mr, Wieneke pnlnted and also Illustrated books, Thi& r::;td~~re~~1o~~r;~~ch 1 ~~~u31~ misses as: "I did what 1 ~~r~'ts 1:lo:.r~n~~•~i., r:i~~ of paths In ,heir early days." Alter the "'nr he art teacher nt the Brisbane ~;~~~~t~~ ar'fo~~ffc. and Then In 1951 he became dlrect,ir of the Moreton Gal· lcrtes. This he describes ns a Job which kept him worklnl( "15 out of 24 hours n day.' It r.~;.:.'1:fit e:~s1~~~t lo~~~ln:nF.)~: lions and attending auctions J !!._lh£ south, · fn his ousy yenrs Mr. Wieneke hns lind one regret • • . he has not had any opportun It v to on In t. ~allery post to go to Cabinet JHE rccomnwndalion tu 111111oint Mr. J11111cs \\'iem•kr, till, ns dir~ctnr nr the Queenshtnd Art (iullery will RO before Stute Cnhlnet nr.d Tuesdny. Ml_nlster 'Mr BJclkc-Pe_\· thr S1a1e gallery The llCl,lng Education I ~nllei-irstf appointed to troen l said, vesterdnv . I A.I. Surfers' Parad ise yes• have r~cel\ed the rccom- lrrdnv Mr John Cooper mendntion from th e boo rd who founded lhe Moreton ol,.i"~t:~e.~RkP It 10 Cabl- Galleries. said : net next Tuesdav lo be "\Vhrn I sold Lhe eal– conllrmed or alherwlse." J lrrit•• to Mr Wieneke on Mr Biclkc-Pe1rrse1, al.-n AUQIISI I 1950. a condl• ,aid there would be no lion ol the sale was that PRrlv acllon 10 replRre 1wn ll ilr shnuld rtcride to sell t rw.it eP~ who rcsiln1rrl rrom I' 1e huslnes~ I should ha,,e tht• bonrn on Mondnv 1he llrst option or rerusnl Sale condition 6~ ~,w;n::n"v "d~r"ee~rl~~o~ 0 fr W ieneke Is director "II the price was rl~ht. or the Mnreron Gnllerles.11 woul!I com• back to Brl•– and It ls not \'et known bnne lo tnke over th! "'hether he wlll retain the Moreton Gallerles a~Rln." Views c/Clsh over Art Gallery job THE controversy over the. appointment af a new director of the Queensland Art Gallery was ta ken o. stage further in letters to the Editor yesterday. Here is a cross-section of corrcepondenl.s' views: • 'Tradition' ... ~lay I voice a word =~1~fJ:~:1" 1 or 0 ~1r. th fv1:r.: eke? I happen lo be a member or the Contemporary Art Society but I feel that the public ts trndltionally minded anct It wants to sec pa4ntlngs that convey to Its ~~~t~;J11t,~: b,~t~thc~- 1 tti~; be landscapes, still Ille, genre, portrait or figure. The1·e are a few abstract painters or note who paint what t11e;• leeJ about a sub– ject, but they must hnve the knowledge of dre.wing and painting In the first place and such persons are few. I feet that II Is better t.o ha,·c a director who Js more likely to lenn towards san– ity ,n nrt a., seen by the public, I I hlnk the new director will be ~ulded bv what the bulk of the public wants to see nlld at the sume t.lme he will not be dogmattcnllv adverse 1o nb– strnctlons ,i,here real nblliti• eslsts,-Stephen Le, Fanii, 11 Rh•ervlew Terrace, In – dooroopllly, • Inquiry urged , , . The recommenda– tion to appolnl Mr, ,lam•• Wieneke as Dlreclor or the llueen1IM1d Art Gal– ler.v will JO hdore SlatP Cabinet next Tue•day (C.-M., l•ti-671 , i 1r. Wieneke hns for sonw yeurs been In chnllle of thr smnllci· nnd more conscn ·n- th•e of Drisbane's two lend- ~~f, 1 ~~ 1 1~"~u~:~ler~~lth ~\1~ wish lo dP.•ect I.he Slate C1n l– lerr. nnct It Is 11nfort1111ALe thnL his nspirntinns should hn\'r plnrcd him 1 11 such nil ernbnrrnsslng posll,ion. Slncf' It, wns rlr!-.t repot tr<l •Sunclnv :\lnil. 21-!;-li7 , thnl the rrnSIccs !ntcnclcd lO re- fgr~111~-~~1011~!~:c1~d~'~?~~1l m,i~~'; hc, 1 11 nllnckcd from n1\ i-;lcJC'..:. Vlrlu. L:1hrv. who lrns wnl'k(•rl for 3{) mnn" rrnr., Jor lhc dr\'elopmrnt nf llw Stale Gullery, \ VH.li, nt 11w Ri:!(' Of R!i, mnvr.cl I o r.111 - plrnsbr tile hnport11nc•f! nr rhoosin~ lhc best pos!-1blr dlrrctor ,C.·M., 2;3.r,.1;7 •. "Incredible" ,John Cnoprr. \\ ho !-nlrl t.he Mnreton CiH l!cr\' 1n :'\tr. IV1rnrke. find, II ln1'l'C<l lhl<• IhnL the ln1i;;rrr .... lrnr r mnr!P thr brst d10it'r ,c.-:\ t . 1-n-r.11. :\11'. Chlll'f'/11'1', 1hr P1r., 1- rlcnt or the Cnntcmpnra : ·· Art. Society, hn~ i111plol'rrl the Gonrnmr111 not 10 n<- ?8~~!\T .,Ll~tr,~~~~-rnmr ncln t 1n 11 Emeritus Prnl1•~:,,or C11111- 111tng, nnd ~llss Dn phne J\l n,rn hRl'C bolh resigned from the Board of Trustees ns a protest · ngnlnst this recommendation. None of these neople hns ~.;~~ Wf:g~:~. fee ing agnlnst From their advertisement, one sees thnt, the trustees did not require of nppUcants the q1rnllllcntlons nowadays expected or gallery dir– ectors. But Mr. Wieneke Is not lo blame for this, And ii I.he . t-rustees scL aside applicants from other State11 nnd other coun trte, who did hnve these qualifications, this Is not Mr. Wleneke's !Rlllt either. The fault, If there is one, lies with the w·ustecs. Trustees At 1ls rccrnt nnnuRl gen– eral meeting, the Art Gal- leries Association ol Aus- trnlla rlu;cusscd the un- R~~l~~~n~ ~at.yt °i-fnsnrt/1l6~~ r~~ t'Oh'cd to draw 11p ln con– junction with t ru!-itecs. R document setting out the functions, duties and ethics of trusteeship. the re– lRllonshil> of trus tees to protcs.c:ionnJ personnel nnd methods o! appointment of prnfcssiounl stn ff. These nre m nUers thnt require investigation here in BrlsLHlllt'. Anyone who r~- cn lls tht> clrcumstnnccs In whlrh Hobert Haines, Ln11rle Thomns and Robyn Hill re– slgnrd must be roncerned for rite Sl:llc Gallery. In Ilic in trrcst, or those whn br lirq • ill f he Jn,pOl'l– RllC(' of tlw ,·tsuu l nr t.l.i, nnd ~Jr. \Vwnrke 1~ cert :1 Inly one ~urh per:-;on. it i,._ tn be hnnect that St n rr Cnbh11•t will nrd<'I' a n l!ir11111-,,,· 11110 1hc l fll~l('C~hl)) o r ll1r Gal– lr ry, ;'\Jlrf tlm t 110 l-)f'l'll1011Clll. nppoh1l mf'11l \\'i ll he mode un til lhis ill(lllin· I.!,_ ('0111· plctr. C. F. l'i-esl•)·, ('nrl111la. • 'Balance' u,~ , . 1 ~~,~~~:s mu,~;.rat~'~!\~ 11nanlmou~ drds lon to i111Polnt :\tr. \Vl~nekr ,1,rii Oirrrtor 1111drr contlltlon,c nutllnl"fl In your issue nr Ma:v :u. HI~ \ 1 :irlr rxpcr lrnrc• nr :ut in 1111 plHt~rs ,1·111 ch·c R hfl inllce \\'h lrh hA<.; b£1rn !nckln~ lnr VC'R r s;. It l1Rs hr r.n m ~· m rlnn– l'hnh· r xncnr11cf' to i nl rn– rltll'r n.rt.Jm·m ~ ln t1' 1'!,: lntr \'15ilor... 10 n11r · CH llrn· nnrl note I IH•ir n•ncl .ons Th,• l111u1H'I ha~ hcrn 11 nrnr11111- n1e Th£'\' Al'(' Ill R In!-~ l fl 111ulrrs1 nnrl t hr Q11rcn!-!ln nd ~1~~~~!s~.:~~h 0 ~1·~ 0 n{~~~~~- ~l~: Rl'l'e, notlcrnbl.v e hr.mera l and, alRs, lrequcntly lncom– prr.henslble, Austrnlla and the world have produced many great works of nn wil h lasting merit. plcnslr>R to the eye Rncl stimulntlng to the ln– telll~encc. Under the guid– ance or our new director we nrny sec more of t.hem. - John Rostock, 106 Bonney A,·enue, Claylleld, • 'Big mistake' .. , I think It Is a very blr mtatake lo appoint to a Government position a ::::n P;:;~:.. r.-.:i :~~:f:~. In The Rppolntment ohould go to n man who has had l\fg •:~~~~ 10 ~a"'![1:iufJ8g~is; free mRn. 11nd preferably a senior -public servant. - IMrs.1 r. A. Parker, 1 Kan{arOo Avenue, Brlble Island.