Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 4 : Presscuttings, November 1967 - June 1972

Brisbane ,.,,_ ... ,o "~- 13 · talKS 1;,y art chiefs For th first t lme since 1962 the directors of the Australian State a rt gal• lerles will hold their an– nual conference in Bris• bane. The conference will be opened officially by the Minister for Educat ion and Cultural Activities, Mr. Fletcher today and will continue until Friday. The Queensland Art Go 11 e r y director, Mr. James Wieneke, said that the directors would dis• cuss policy and complex gallery problems con– fronting each State. The conference would Inspect the new Queensland "Art Gallery 1lle on the south bank of the Brisbane River, and would judge both the H. C. Richards Memorial Prlie for pointing and the L. J. Harvey Memorial Prlie for drawing. bhlbltion of entries for both prlies would be opened officially at the Queensland Art Gallery on,Thursday at 8 p.m. by the Deputy Premier and Trea urcr Mr. Chalk. TEA AND TALK for Australian art ga.llery directors during a break from business . at their annual conference, which began In Brisbane yesterday. From left: Messrs. Thomson (assistant director, Melbourne), John Bally (Adelaide). Hal Mlsslngham (Sydney). Bert Whittle (assistant director, Perth), Dr. w. Bryden (Hobart), and Mr. James Wieneke (Brisbane). The Education and CUiturai AdlvlUn Minister ~--– IMr. l-1etcher) yestcrda,- offlclall,- opened the ~n~:~nQu::!.::i~: ::.t~':1•~r!1 :Mf.Te~r. opment. Ali j 0 o•EMlll~la,~ .. ~d=f=.'rec::..;oln=~..::;:;.;-=~:.::;~s:::.:~~r~:y..!:l~::9:::l .... &.a.n:.:::?=i.J....::;=..:.=!..!2!~.=-.~a..::..=:,:-:.:~.!2!!!....!'!!~ Hal Missingham's old Army mates reckon he's got the softest cop in Sydney. Hal, you see, is diredor of the famous NSW Art Gallery. s.-h•w ther'•• 9ot hold ef the Ida• that ell Hal ...., 11 •• •- N••••nt- 1, It the .,.1ctuN1 .,. tho wall. AMI 1110.. ltote.· cou~l~ 1 iu~t'fier 'TlC:m ~~~ truth. ru~~;~ 50 th:ar~:ge ~~}~ he rnre'y hos tCne to cast an appreciative eye over the mnsterpleces hanging In his gallery. Why, the gallery Is Just like running a. business. And4!1ere's tons or paper worlc. E,·en down to sig– ning vouchers rar; ~let rou~I Is In 8rlsb,~t for the nnnunl conference or the Austrollnn art gnl• lery directors. A colorful character In the world or nrt. Hal's }",.::~y b:~f~,i g!~~~acf~~t His while hnlr recedes In ,~01/t,eb~~c~rott5 !fi;f;;'i ~ distinguished touch. Today he wns In a light suit for Brisba ne's ri~~::11rlc. with a yellow One or the first points hou notice about Hnl Is Ji!-. ~~: m~t fn°~~ 5 ~ri 1allery director. A top notcher. An experienced prt.lst. A world t raveller. But there's nothing arty about HAI. If you get. what I mean. And thn t's refreshing. He'll llllk about art nt the cl rop of a hnt. But In words rou undcrstnnd. None or the usuAI Jargon. Ancl he'll listen nttenUvel)· to whet you hnvc to say. * * * Hnl - thnt's his onl)' Chrlstlnn nome - comes from a family or eight. Borne were born In Char– lel'!I Towers. His Dad. Dn,·lrl , n min– ing en lneer. wns mayor @ on the spot with lf.D CROflS or t.he Towers In 1893. Then he pushed west. n f. ter the Knlgoorlie gold strike. Hal was born In Western A11stmlln on De• ccmber 8, 1906. Hnrs fnlher was killed in a W.A. mining acci– dent. So llnl left school nt 14 nncl trlecl his hnnd at. process engl'n\'lng. Then. nt. 19. he went lo sen - and ta those cen– l :·es or nrL. Parts and Lot!don. He studied ns a puinl cr in both cities, winnini: n ~enlor nrt s 0 holo1·shtp in London. * * * Hal finished UJ> l,inch- ~~?01~d'\.0~~11~-n~~1~ei10h~:.rs, II .Ali:,'~ cfi'~\e \~/:;~~ "iJ~! Army. One or /,is Jobs to• wards the end wns with the Austrnllnn Wnr ~;x– hihlllon. After the wnr, Hal wM kcrn to continue pnlnt– lng. First nnd foremost he wns n pnlnter. Dut. fate lnten encd. And he became director of the NSW Art Onllcry, In 1945. "It wn.o; renllv nn nccl– denl ... Hal chitcklcd to– day. "In 1045 nn nd,·ertfse• ~~l~r.npr~J!~\,{ 0 1' 1~~t~1 1 ·: est didn't wnttl, to have pnrt or It. Ncr- He gives that the brush-off er went into a rt galleries, :~re;!" 1 i1ievlt~·e,~ u! ~-~~: ing In those days. "But a mote conned me Into nppl)·lng. He was n good tnlker and in the encl I sent. along an ap– pllcntlon. Next th ing, I knew I wns appointed. .., thought to rnysell, 'This will be n pushover.' F'runous last. words! HCl'C I am. still there after 24 ycnrs. "Too lonr,:? I don't sup– l>osc I would do it. ngnm. n 3 b~ut itt'; 1 hc ~;~~c ~ 1 .11~~~ you clon'L notice the year~ (!O by, •·You·re interested in whnt you are doing; It gets you." The gnllery, says Ha l, wns n pretty desolate. drenry pince when J1c took 0\'er a ftcr the war. Some pnlnt ings h ncln't been morccl for 30 or 40 ycurs. Th c r c were "sheep runs" for the public, clicking gnles. Iron doors. He threw them nll ouL ~~1<1pgJ~i'~e~o~\\~1 tt~"~lnnrt~ unfettered look. * * * O t her p r oblem s crop)'}{"d up. No one knew where nny1hing was. And on nnd so on, by the \!n l'd. . " By t he lime I slmlghtcned thnt out. 12 ycnrs hnd whizzed by,'' e~b~:!~i1~'inri6!1 lnng- nishcd for n second or two. Hnl hnct n pen~h·e look In his eyes. Oln·lo11s– ly thlnkln i:: of those Army cobhcrs. But lhey·re f!0t the wrong cn,t of the stick. Hal explained. "l work H;f;" o~t 1i,i11l.l~fnt 0 ;~~~f.; :;s,e n\~t•\::~v11~~1~ n1;~\~~ ther ~et there by magic ! "I rnrelv look at the paintings 'th ese dnys ... 100 busy on r unninc the ~oiler)'. 1t·s Just like run– ning- R bur;;lness. "F'orty n,·e on t.he stnrr. Not ~o mAnr. you n1inh t ~n ,•. but. we nrc closely– ktill. I'm In constant touch with t.hern all Lfhen - r hn\'e ln– numbcrable vouchers to sli::n , , . ancl on It ~oes." Hal's so bus~• with the gallerv that he's glren up painting. " In l' o II I h f II l en– t,husinsm. or mnybe nrro– l(ance, r thottRht I could rlo both - run the gnl· lery, and point nt week• ends. 11 I Jtrt n d11odcnnl ulcer. My cir clor lolcl me r hod to gl, e ttn one or I.he oth– er ·- the gnllery, or pnhling. * * * •·r gn,·e up nninting.'' WhJ• painting? "There nre plenfy of g'ood pninter~ nround, but good nrt gallery ell– rectors n1'e scnrcc.'' And how·.s life t.orlay? "No trouble ~·llh my henIth sine.,,. nn os flt ns n flrldle." Three yenrs ngo Hnl. wife Esther nnd son Pe- ~1~r~efi,~11{n,~i1' l~~rlo~ 0 ese!~ much. They clrove 17.500 miles around Australia, snw n lot or Qucenslnn<l. Hnl hns two ~ons - Peter. now 24. Just. hack in S>·cliu•y nrter nn O\'{'r- sen.s sprll. nnd On,·icl. 27, nn arc h i Ll'CI In London. Hnl ft.lissinµhnm is n g o o 1I humorcd blnkc. Whll'h Is Jttsl ns well be– cnusc tnlk nbout nrl t':\11 bt'eomc lwctlc an1011g I he decllcntccl. Sometimes 1herc·s 011110~1 n ru1rnii1g llot wnr bet wt•rn df'rotct' · or clnshlng £1ylrs. * * * tlnl 1loe.,n·1 get workc<I up nbouL s1ylcs An is ~ 1 !~:_:g 111 S1e,~ 11 !~'g 1 ~~~d pnlnt,irs In all styles, he snys. "The pointers 1 ~cl t\~f;~io~:11~b~i 1 :l i~rcp,\ 1 b~ n111I tell vott or the mnr– vrllous 1lnintlng:s lhC'y'II be showlllt! b<'forc tile t•rul of the rcnr. •·nut by Nrw Yrnr'.<1 ~~~lc/'~i1r~t •[ 1 ,.1~ 1 "1~e•~;\ i~ 1 i~te~: ~~~~~~-ld1~{Slcb~ talkers. They should be pnlntlng." Hnl Is too polite n fel– low 10 nsk if YOU IHl\"e paintings ndo1·11lng the lounge room. Bu t he likes fti;:~'iof'~ec1°i,~c~ell when He Is not \\Tn ppecl up In the iclen or hnn gln g up reproductions of fam ous 1 cam·ases Jn your home. "l know some people with a lot or money woul:I hang up only re~ p1·oducllons of R em– brandt and so on,'• snys Hnl. "It seems some sort of snob Iden. '·But reproducl Ions plre only n sense of the shape and colors or the ot·lgfnnl. Often t.11cv·re cl I r re rr II t sl,.es. Thcv cton·t bring the rNil physical IJ1·,•srnce of I he Ol'lglnnl Into youJ" room. "Why not buy nn ori gi– nal by n lesser known pnlnter? It's possible for nlmo.st nttyone t.o own a 11nlntlng t.oday: "Of course. it's n litllc • m ore difficult for n young n~:ed couple to or.n "-i,nlntlng thnn a TV set or fridge. "That's because hardli• nnrone sells paintings like fridges or rumilttrc. o~~~~llt\~~:in_~t~i-~~li~!l~i;.i~ ney let you buy pnlnt lngs on hire purchase one! Just add the lnstnlmcnts to your monthly uc– count." You rottl<l strike II lucky, too. Like buying a cottple of plc~urcs by n minor pnlnter who Inter ~~~ st!'~ h~~~r 0 •~.\~1fl:~; could Jump in ,·nluc, ml~ht even be worth 11 fortune. "Just like slacks nnd shores," Hnl excln imr<I. " A lot of busillCSSlll('ll tnve.st In pnltlllngs. pr~f:~·hr1r: /;~u. ;;;m~\f Buy n Dobelf 01· Drrs~nlc todny for thousands. In :;~gb~h,~hreaoit~~~· · \~~•:,': vnluc.'' I thanked Hnl for lhe lip. But I explained I Just haven't that kind of money lo throw round at the moment.