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

Australia - .'! 1g67 1 0 I\ I~~ ' ·.. Tensions between art directors ! ~ J\.-'riii/ tiriTIAL Strong SIR - I refer to the article published in the issue of your newspaper on Saturday, May 27, by Mr Laurie Thomas under the heading, What ls Hap• pening in Brisbane? As he refers to the conduct of the art gallery trustees lt ls groper that the public should r:c~~rrectly informed ot the It ls true that many directors become frustrated with trustees ot galleries and It ls also true to say' that trustees become equally tru1- trated with dlrectors, espccl• ally when they begln to usurp the posltlon ot the trustees, which many ot them do. As an employee the dlrector Is there to give advlce, just as the manager ot a company does, but the board ot directors must assume flnal responsibility, whether they accept or reject this advice, It is no dltterent with an art gallery. There are many galleries In Australia and other parts ot the world that would be much better oft If they had taken · the advice of thelr trustees and bo111ht paintings whlch thelr dlrectors had rejected, and Brisbane 11 no exceptlon. lt la a well • known fundamental principle that an employee must display loyalty to his employer by refusing to dl1close the emp I o ye e 1 1 aecrets. To dlsclose Information which the employee has learned durinll his employ• ment Is bad enough, but when hl1 1tatement1 are distorted and untrue, It la tar more reprehensible. and trustees M1· Thomas has stated that the writer attempted to "usurp the functions ot the professlonal staff and actlons were ln llne with a suggestion he made to hls board 18 months ago to sell some ot the gallery's masterpleces by Picasso, Degas and others in order 10 raise funds." About 18 months ago a statement was made by me aa chalrman of the trustees, In the presence of Mr Thomas, as follows: "In vlew of the tact that the Government has made It clear that lt will not build a new art gallery without a substan• tial contrlbutlon from the public, lt could happen ln the foreseeable future t!'lat if we want a new gallery we may have to consider the posslbil– lty ot dlsposlng ot some of our palntin11s 1 even our major works, especlally It we considered that they are likely to decrease In value In the future. But lt ls not suggested that the matter be considered or even discussed now. "I hope we wlll never be called upon to make such a difficult declslon." The trustees have not dlscussed the matter since and it Is untrue that the matter la under conslderatlon now. The Government offered to provlde $500,000 for a new cultural centre, which Includes a new art gallery, on the condltlon that a simllar amount would be ralsed from the public, It now appears that we will need to spend at least $2 milllon to get a modern art gallery. With regard to Miss Hill: over a pcrlod ol 15 years it has been Government and trustees' pollcy to lend a few paintings to Government House. Mr Thomes 11uotcs "thnt these were to be sent to Government House on lonr– term loan and were some ot the flnest paintlngs in the Australlan collection." Mr Thomas knows that this statement ls also untrue because he t. aware that one ot the terms of the loan is that any of the palntln11s can be recalled on 24 hours' notice. On previous occasions many of these palntln11s were not recalled, malnly because it was felt that lt gave an added opportunlty for other people, especially overseas vlsltors, to see them. It an account were kept It la quite probable that more ot the publlc would see these paintings at Government House than they would at the gallery. The gallery can only hang a very small fractlon of its total collcctlon and It la far more scnslble to have the palntings on display then to relegate them to the cellars. Mlas Hill, ihe acting director ot the gallery, was requested by the Ohalrman of Trustees to deliver a painting to Government House. It was an important painting, but by no means one ot our most valuable. She refused to carry out her lnstructlons and she thereupon tendered her rcslgnation, as from August 1967, by ~ay of protest because she did not agree wlth the Government's and the trustees' policy, In concluslon, may I add that much ot the controversy about thls gallery has been caused by Mr Thomas himself. He commltted a breach of the condltlons ol hls employ• rncnt by publicly crltlclsin1 the trustees' policy, and was sevNely reprlrnanded by the board for his conduct. In hls artlcle to the Press he made an unprovoked attack on the Mlnlster tor Educatlon, who ls the minlater in charac ot the art 1allery, at a time when the trustee, were ualng thelr utmost endeavors to persuade the Government to provlde us with a new 11allery. This attack was a11ainlt a man who had befriended hlm when he first came to Brisbane. With regard to the appolnt• ment ot the new director: the decislon ot the trustees was unanimous. The appolntee • elect, Mr James Wleneke, Is a man who has been tralned as an artlst and is a most experienced critic who has a profound knowledge ot Australian art and AustraUan artists, which is most necessary when one ls spendln11 pubUc money on valuable paintings. He ls an expert on the conditlon and restoration of paintlngs and has hi• home and famlly in Brlsbane and Is not likely to 111e this appolntment as a steppln11 stone to move elsewhere. Queensland has been very fortunate ln being able to obtaln a man with so many quallflcatlons. - Bia LEON TROUT, ehal.rmaa or U'Uteea, Queenaland Arl Galler,, Adt• !aide Street, Brlabane. week I N the para- : pbrued worda : of that lo • 1• : forcottea pblloaopber, : aob-aaleaman and pop ; 11l • cer, Mr. JohDDJ' ~ Ray: Ob, what• week : It wu; It really wu ;: 11ueb a week I ~ Everything, abort • ot little green men frqai Venu • joining the Holy; Waj:.i,t tbe AtL9!llery 1 • eem • to have happcnedi First, some cad wrinP, the Belle i>y • teallng one of the few valuable · painting • In the State; Plca • ao'a La Belle Hol; landaiae. In Hollywooci; acripta, thi • kind o, : thing i • mostly engin~~ eered by crooked col- : Jector • who Ju • t Mu • ~.j Mave It, and it endll up . in a fortreued cellat : being 1neakily admired. by George Sanders, or: 10mebody. i • Further afield, lront man Sir F r a n c I i : C ltl.£..h eat e r . flnall.f ; • bowed · he I • human;-, after all. He Willi ruahe4{ to a Plymouth h011pltal; with an ulcer. ; ~ In London, the Duke: and Duche• of Wlnc5-.; 10r ended 31 yeara JJf' belnl on the elepilt outer. For the firat time • Ince hla abdication, they took p • rt In a Ro"1· culon. lrl1blne, Q . JUN 19S7 -. Q. t/. •I> ,,.-#.,....,•,•-~•••,·,' 't,,, r r ,,•.,, _ ._ ._,_..._ Cairn,, Qld. l ,~~MtJl&iD•# ~ ! LIKE MONA USA - MRS RUBIN SAYS POUCE WARRANT UPSET HER BRISBANE, Today: "I was completely embar– rassed when pollce ar– rived with a search war– rant before I could make up my mind whal lo do with the Picasso." So 8ald Mrs Julie Rub– in, widow of the man who donated the $200,000 palnllng, La Belle Hot. lnndaise to the Queen •, land Art Gallery. I' Police disclosed yesler, day that the Picasso, stolen from the gallery the prcvlous Tuesday, was 1·ecovered at Mrs Rubin's home on Mon• day.) Mrs Rubin sald that a man, whom slw sllll could not describe, ar– rl\•ed at hel' house Joie on Sunday night with the Plcnsso and asked her to keep It fol' a monlh before returnhit1 It to the gallery, "I ltntl It In my bedl'OOm the next day when pollre urrlvcd with a seal'ch warrant. J had not de– d d~d whut to do wllh It," she snlrl. Sh•• said shi, dld not ask lhc man any que~lions. Hcl' main conrel'n wa • lo gPt the plclure back. Picasso painting returned BRISBANE, Wed. - La Belle Hollundalsc, the S200,UOO Picasso painting, \\'M r c tu r n c cl to the Queensland Art Gallery bY }Jt•lice. · Chier or the BrlsbAnc CIB (ln,p, W. Ructzl hnnclcd the pnintlng over to the chult·rnun or the ~nllrrr tru~tecs (Sir ~on 'fro11L1 in his ofricc nl 1.30 )).111, Jnsp. Rnrti snict p n i n t l 11 ~ hart b e ,, n c~nminPcl hy t•xpcrl.~. who "tnlccl It wu~ the originlll P it·RS!;U. Thr 1rnintl11g appurr.ntly i~ undn111n12ccl. 'rhr pnint– \nfl, which disnppcarcd from the JtAll1 1 r.\' nn ,June 5. wn., rcco,·r.rcd tn u ho11J11r UI n Rrl~bnnc :iiUbUrb yrstrrdav ufl,!r Jn,:p, Rnct1. rccr.:ivrrl confldcntlul lnfor ... mntion. i p EOPLE ore aoyl111 now thot La ~ Belle Hollo11dolae h , M f Liao quollty 111 her • mile. •• o 0110 ). If ehe has, it'e not Rurpriaing t When a girl, ae lightly clad. ee La f Bo!le, dieappeRrs mysteriously for a long we week and then re-appears just mysteriously, apparently unscathed e~~ cept for R slightly smudged shoulder welII, you'd expect her smile to be sligh try' en gmatic. Added to this, La Belle le gettin more publicity than a MiH Australia an/ as . a to~ic of conversation, has ri;alled Bnsbe.ne s worst flood since 1893 Isn't it enough to make a~y girl smile lo herself• Ae for her kid h h , · · napper per Rps ea another Laughing Cavalier'. -BF:LINDA. RRISBANE. Tuesday, - covered froJll a Brisbane Th,e ~tolcn SW0,000 Picasso suburhnn home yesterday r. nmtrng - La Relic Hol- 11flcr confidential advice had anda,sc - wa, rcturnc,I to hccn received by Inspector lhe Quc,:ruhrnd Arl Gallery Rnelz. lllday hy police. - - . · The only damage to 1h The Chief of lhc Brisbane . . . e CIB, lnsrector Raetz, said p:11n1tng was a ohgbt smudge 1he paintin~ had been exam- on one shoulder or the incd by C>J'el'I> who ,aid ii nude woman portrayed. An wu the genuine Picasso. expcrl sni<.I this would de- The painting wns re- tract from it, value.