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

J C•nberr•, A.C.T. 7 THE theft of Picasso's La Belle Hol– landai~e f r o m the Queensland Art Gal• lery on Monday night spotlighted a fresh controversy over the g a 11 e r y and its trustees. New flurrv in II ustce meeting-which WIIS a11endcd hv Sir Leon Tront– i< ,aid 10 · have voted uoani- 111011,ly In ··,cvcrcly rcr,rimand Miss Hill for her refusa l lo perform normal lutie<", (Sir Leon revealed this and olhcr decisions of the May :!9 meet– ing on May 3 I.I A FOURTH point is that the Dcr,artmcnl has in the past made provision for the issue of special lenses in the Fysh– wick area for shops. Undel' present uclinitions the purpo c clauses of the leases are clearly more restrictive ihan those of 1he industry clauses. One would therefore expect that they wonld be less valu– ahlc 1h11n the less rcsirictive sites. This is not the case, however. The unimproved capital value placed on the shor sites hy the Valuer-Gen– eral is far higher tban that placed on apparently equiva– lent sites for general Industry, and the amount paid by bid– ders al auction is far higher, indicating that businessmen generally were unaware of the cler,artment's views. art world It is reported that Mr Bpclkc-Pctcr,cn has accepted a rcsicna1ion from Miss Hill and that her notice expires in ahoul two mo111hs. A story that the tru1tees were plannina to sell the paintina was dismissed as "an 1rreapon1ible rumour", but it was enouah to spur 50 Bris– bane intellectuals into seeking an inquiry into the aallery truateeahip and to prompt 20 placard-wavina students to ataae a disorganised sit-down prnteat at the gallery. over gallery po1NT 4 or the open letter refers 10 the choice of Mr James Wieneke as director, 10 rer,lace Mr Laurie Thomas, who resigned In join the stafT nf a ncwspar,er. From ou.r Queenaland Correspondent that there was a kernel of truth in the rumours men– tioned by Professor Presley. Sir Leon continue", "Under the Art Galleries Act, we have certain responsibilities and we will discharge them. We have the right to dispose of any painting in our possession. The picture, aaid to be worth $250,000 or more, and two other Picassos, a Degas, and a Renoir, were aiven to the Queensland Art Gallery in 1959 by Huold de Yahl Rubin, a millionaire grazicr, art collector and philanthrop– ist, who has since died.. Thla week's confused argu– ments over La Belle Holland– aiae came in the wake of controversy over appointment of a new aallery director and a dispute over the sending of paintmas from the gallery to be huna at Q'overnmcnt House, All three issues were wrap– ped into one big bundle last weekend, chiefly by Queens– land Unlvenilty Professor (of Philosophy) C, F, Presley, Speakina at first as an in• dividual; Professor Presley called for an inquiry into the trusteeship of the gallery. He said it was rumoured that the pllery intended to Nil "very valuable painlinas" to raise money for' new build· lnp, One of theae was "a Pi• casso valued al about $250,· 000" ' The chairman of the trus– tees, Sir Leon Trout, replied that Profe!!SOr Presley's state– ments were "unreliable and quite untrue"•. Had Sir Leon stop~d there, the araument m1aht have been ended. But he went on, and his words apparently convinced Brisbane art-lovers "If and when we have to make our decision, the trus– tees are quite confident of making it without the advice of Professor Presley and his like. "While we are handling public funds, we intend to run the gallery in a business-like way". NEXT day. Professor Presley led 50 Brisb&ne art-lovers in signing an open letter to the acting Education Minister, Mr Bjclke-Pelersen. This sought an inquiry into the gallery trusteeship-before the ap– pointment of a new director was confirmed, The letter sought investiga• tlon of four points: "l. Whether or not the chair– man of trustees, Sir Leon Trout, is planning, against expert advice and to the clear detriment of the pub• lie collection entrusted to him, to dispose of certain of the finest European paintings iit the collection, "2. Whether or not the chair• man instructed the acting director of the art gallery, Miss Robyn Hill, to remove certain Australian paintings, likely to he of special in• tcrcst to the public, to a _ 7 \\\N\967 • ~ L I "°!! y PollN lllffrln Pitasso La Belle Hollandalse was the most valuable pnlntlng In n eollectlon donated lo the gallery In May, 1959, by • • ~',~b\~'.e Mr. Harold de Va.hi P aint,n,. b1:t l~~!-~:~::fdn:~~k!~ 4 ~~1~; ':JI Is about $200,000. ~ Its theft wns discovered S'a I by ari art gnllery employee 1ft this mOJ nlng. ... rollee are concentrating on the po••lhlllly that the BRISBANE, Tuesday. - Police believe recent publlc controversy over the rumoured plan of Q1111nsl1nd Art Gallery trustees to 1111 Plc1110 paintings could h1v1 led to the theft of the $200,000 La Belle Hol– l1nd1l11. rohhery I• the work of a Brf,hane art lo,•er. Howel'er , they • re also considering Ihe chance thllL a master erhnlnnl could lrnve seen nn opporl,unlty to more In durln~ 1he dispute In 1he hope lhRI his crime wo11lrt be ntt1·lh11ted to rival facllo11s. Overseas police They nre tnvesl.lgntlng A rlcscl'lptlon or the palnt- lheorles that.: Art sl.udcn1s In~ lrns been sent to nil or young artists co11M have Aus1rallan Slnles and m·er– nrganlsed lhe robbery to seas police forcrs. focus public nttcnllon oi, the The ac1lng director of Uie issue: • fanallcal art lol'er Q11eensln11d Art Gnllery could hnl'e tnkcn the painI- •~llss Rohyn Hill I said to– In~ tu hide 11. sn thn\ it nlRht tha t lhe Immedia te could 11ot be sold. roncern ~'AS Lhnt the famed Ohulrman of t.rnslees ,sir Plensso pnlnlln~ could br Leon Troul, hns denied 118 lrrcpnrnbly rlnmagcd. "completely llllll'UC" rum- "It Is CXI rcmely frn 1ZIIC our• llrnl 11,e ~nllcry 111- nnd could be smenred nnd t.enctcrl sclllng pRlnlmgs dRmnged unless hnndted from :he R 11Jln collf'(·tlon. cnrefnlly," she said. place where the ruhlic would nol have access to them without invitation. "3, Whether or not there was a meeting of the hoard of trus1ces, not attended by Sir Leon, at which the trustees were unanimous in wishing to retain the services of Miss Hill and in declining 10 accept her resignation. "4, Whether or not the two trustees who dissented from the recommendation of the board concerning the ap• pointment of a director, and who had consequently re– signed from the hoard before the rccommcndntion was finally made, were lhe only members of 'the board of trustees competent to form and offer an expert opinion on this matter". Point I is a reference to the rumours thnt La Belle Hol– landaise was to be sold. Points 2 and 3 refer to the dispute over 1hc sending of ,painting to Government House, residence of the Gov• ernor, Sir Alan Mansfield. It is believed thut Miss Hill refused a request by some trustees for certain r,aintings to be senl lo Government House, saying the paintings belonged 10 the public and should be available al all times. This is believed lo have happened about two months ago, and Miss Hill is said to have resigned over the issue. The trustee meeting mentioned in Point 3 is believed to havo asked her lo reconsider. But on May 29, IIDOther i- 1 1 f7 On J\lay 29, l•cforc the nighl mcetini: of 1rus1ee~'l!'l trustees resigned in 1:n'll'tcst again,1 the choice of Mr Wieneke. Al 1hc May :!9 meeting. 1hc remaining trustees voted to recommend 1ha1 the Govern– ment ar,point Mr Wieneke director. (This was not re– vealed until two days later.) Mr Wieneke. 60. director of the Moreton Galleries (a private business) in Brisbane, has considerable personal popularity in Brisbane art circles. His opponents claim. how– ever, 1hnt the director's joh demands high academic quali– fications (Mr Wieneke studied art to technical-college level) and that Mr Wieneke is a "traditionalist", with little or no time for contemporary art. The 50 signatories In Pro– fessor Presley's letter included 13 mcmhers of the Queensland University staff. nine r,ainters and seven architects. In addition to Professor Pre.,ley. the university group included the acting head of the Education Department. Pro– fessor W. J. Camphcll: the head of the Government De- partment, Professor Colin Hughes: the Darnell Professor of English. Professor K. Hn111- il1on: und Dr Val Vnllis. the poet-lecturer. Painters on the list included John Rigby. Jov Ro!!genkamp, Lorrie Paul. Lillian Gunthorpc anrl Pam Wilson. Mrs Julie Rubin, widow of Harold de Yahl Rubin, also signed. She said later that any movo to sell the paintlrtp alrn1, Qld. Auction results show that a similar po ition existed with the motel and guest house sites leased over the ~·m few years. The departmeni did have a definition for motel, but not for guesthouse. Leases for given by her late husband would be "disgraceful". Mrs Rubins said La Belle Hollandaise had been valued at $137,500 in 1959-"and could be worth twice that to• day". 'fHE day after the open letter was issued, 20 art students from Queensland University und the technjcal college ar• rived outside the gallery with placards prolcsing against the choice of Mr Wieneke and againsl any sale of the Rubin pain1ings. The long-haired youths and mini-skirted glrls' argued for a lime over ·what they should do and then marched into the gallery. They sat down in front of a Picasso painting. Gallery staff ignored them, and after five minutes they got up and left. Sir Leon Trout later issued a Hat denial that trustees planned to sell any of the Ruhin paintings, He said any such claims were "irrespon• sible,rumours". Less than 24 hours after Sir Leon spoke, La Bello Hol• l11t1daise vanished, C1lrn1, Gallery report denied 'c P O";:;,T 1 1J UN 1967 • IS BRISBANE, Mon. _ Sir Leon Trout said to•da that it was completely un! true to suggest that the Queensland Art Gallery truatee• were eontemplat– ifng selling any paintings ram the gallery, Sir Leon is chairman of trustees. He said "The trusteM are not contem plating selling anY paint: lngs from the Rubin col• lectlon, or anv other paint Inga. • "Crltks or the truatee 1 should base their criticism t'.,~y.~~ct and not on fan- Sir Leon was comment• Ing on an open letter sent by a group or Queenaland art lovera to the Actins Education Minister (Mr BJelkc•Peterseu) about th~ gallery. The group Is fed by the ProfeMor of Philosophy at Queensland Un Ive ra Ity (ProfeMor c. F. PreleyJ The art lovers referred to a rumoured t>lan to •ell the Ru b In colleotton j~•~!f,i ~; 11 \[:~. late Herold Tho group c•llcct for an Inquiry Into the trusteeship of tho galler.v hoforo the conflrmnllon or the •P• polntmcnt of Mr. James Wieneke 11s new director of tho gnllery. Tho nppolntment Is due to come before Stute Cabinet to-morrow for con• flrm•tlon or otherwise, BRISBANE. Mon, _ A lnrer ~roup of Queensland art lovers has called for an Inquiry Into the lrualeeanlp ~fat:~i~~ Queensland Art The •ruup, lr.d by the t>roirs,or or phllus'1)lhy 81 the University al Que~n•• ) 11110 IPl'Ofessor c. F. Pre•• - 0 Y J• ho• •ent an open lel• tu lo the Rcllng Mlnl,ter ~•~•de~,•tlon tMr. BJelke- The loiter calls for an Inquiry Into the appoint• mout of • new director for "'~ gallery and 1hr. Hie of pa,ntlng• from the cullec– tlun Riven to the gallery by u~•,.:'"il'iib~,11~Jor Harold de 1·he lelter eal!A for the h:qulry to tnke place he• loi·o the eunfh1nallon of the •r.polntment of the new dl1·ecto1· of the aallery. ,1'he teller follow, lhe P• ovlslonal appointment of Mr. Jl\mo• Wieneke a, lhc new director or the g11llery am1 a rumoured pion to >ell the Rubin collcollon to finance a new iallery,