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

Qld. misses art show A COLLECTION of 40 paintings by the post Impressionist French painter, Pierre Bon– nard, valued n t $5 million, and said to be the mo,;t val– ued and significant ever Lo o o me t-0 Australia, was opened recently by the Oov– ernor-Oenerul nt the Vlcto• rlan National Art Oallery. Only two exhibitions by this great artist have beon 'sl1own since his death In 1947, one ln Paris, and an– other gathered toge1.hc1· by ~~~,. Royal Academy In L<ni- lt wlll remain In Australia !or nearly a yenr, nnd will also murk tho opening or tho new wing and modernisation of ljte Gallery or New South Wales, a,s well as being •hown In Perth, Adelaide and Canberra Thnt Qucen.slnnd ~houlct m Is s mat on this In– co m Pal' a b I c nnct com– prehensive showing of the work of a single ur1ist ol ::\'ld esteem is uncomplal- That the Trustees or nil 1,he other SI nte On IIcries have given l, hr.lr pat ronnBe to t,hls oncc-ln-n-llfctlme event shoulct s11rel~· be ln– dlcat11·c to Ihe Trus1cc• of the Queensland Art Onllerr of the necessity thn1 11i· 1"' l .mopte or Quccns1nnd shnuld lR\'C n 1'11nncc to pnrt.11'1pn1 c. Pnri;:n!~: Cooper. Surfers' Abonanza for lovers of modern art By FREDERIC ROGERS THE exhibition of entrica 111 the Flnt Leasing Art Prise, due to open ot the Queensland Art Gallery next Tuesday, con• stitutes a bonansa for loven of modern ort. Bennard art exhibition I REFER to John Cooper's Jetter Of th e three •SC'O:-C•Or• so entries, no more thun half a dozen are con• cerned with an even re• motelv traditional ap– proach to an; the others are obsessed wnh prob– lems of space, color or OC'Mgn. And va•IIY absorblnc some of &hem are - ewen when &he anl•15' &ralm of &bou1bl U'e virtually lmpOliSlble lo Interpret. I must confess to com• plcte {'Oll{USIOl1 lJ1 endea– \'OUrlllG to understand such p1ece.s as Peter C I ark e • s "Througs Green", "Through Blue" and "Throui;:h Red." Fascination On the other hand, Asher Bllu's "Noosphere towards Omega" and ••47 quartet" are equolll' elu– s1ve, they have a rascina– tIon that Increases wllh cominued obserl'ntlon. L e on a r d French's ''Man on a Raft" series Is a powerful compelling emotional e55ay; Breu Whlteley·s three "Con• ce:nlng Whan Real and W h a L' s Time" entries suggest new trains of 1hought with each mln• ute of examination. th:nuf~t ~~lJ"l•; e~;:'~l fy~ze-wlnnen, respective- The work or Jan Sen- ~j~';j".;r J~\r~ l 1 l~~d J~~= Jones <whose entries are no on . dlsplnu I find ~~ii. d1fflcult appre- (C.-M. 31-5-71) which appeared under the heading "Queensland Misses Art Show." At this Juncture, existing conditions make It quite Im· poaslble t-0 forecast whether or not the exhibition In question. "Pierre Bonnud," wlll be seen In Brisbane. Queensland might yet see The exhibition wns spon• sored by a well-known over– seas art dealer and for rea– M>ns unknown to us, Brls• bane was not inducted In th schedule. When the Trustees of th Queen,1nnrt Art Onllery be came aware of the collec tlon·s expected nrrh•al l this count,ry during earl) April. 1971, effort s were 1m m crHntrl~' m~rlr. to hH,. B r I s b a n e Included In l.h tour. and we arr stlll r.nden• vourlna 1.0 do so. The ex hlbltlon wlll lenl'r Austrnll In earl\' Nov~mber. 1971. Jamr.,, · Wlenr••• Olrecl<lr Queen•lan11 Art Galler,. Exhibition at gallery h~~i~•t~~\ri~:rP3,'~,t:~,:,,~~ nard. Queen~Jnnd Art Gallen • ctlr~ClOI' lMr. J. \Vleneke 0 ) said negotia tions now un– der way might secure the exhibition for Queensland. At present queensland Is not on the itinerary tor the collection, now In Austra– lia. which Is reputedly worth t5 mllllon. · Thr First Lea.sin~ Art P n 1.e rollrcL1nn \\'Pll t, n n rl1.c;.pln.r AL th(' Queen!-lnnrL Ar1 Onll"rr ln!-t n iJ,?hl . 1 Compr!!-1111,! ;rn />nintii\'l~. the rs h1h1I1on .c: 1ows thr work.c: of 19 .roun't Au~t ra– llnn nrt.1~1s who cnt.rrrcl l!u.;1, -~·rnr's F'trM Lea~lnR: Arl Pr\1e. . "-J1<?11~nrrrt by n ht.1'1,?r l~ru c f inance com-1 rmn."• The F:rturnIIon n1\<l C111 . tu rn\ Artlr il1ci:. l\1!11is1 r r l 1 ~t r. Flctchrn offirtnllr n />rn l" cl thr cxh lbll iml w 11ch will rcmnin on ~ho\\:I :it thr ArL Gnllrry, Ulllil J1111r 2:l. THI COURIH-MAIL WIDNISOAY MAY 21 ltTI e ART REVIEW by Dr Gertrude Langer Huge painti11gs in .prize show 'fllE 89000 Finl Leulq Art Prise Com• petlllon, opened lut nl1h1, will be on view at our Stale Gallery until June 22, l'hla exhibition, which was shown flrat last year at the Victorian National Galler,·. muat be considered a major event. 1n:!-!~b~W 5 t!1J' :y~' irv\~;j artlata t1eSJl 1 rerrettably, the worlu by AJUn Leach-Jones, which were not available for Brisbane l amount to a most lmpreMlve display of Austra• !Ian contemporaries, About half the woru are by JeadlnJ eolorfleld ab– stractlonlAta, prominent woru lncludlnr the shal)l!d canvu color construction• by 8JdMJ Ball, and the vibrant colorflelds by lbnllll Norlth. None of the prize• went to painters who structure their work on eolor alone without an y referential qualities twhlch doe1 not mean that otronJ feellnl cannot be ex– preased throu1h colorl, but LO paint.en who express con• tent. Winner Asher Bllu, awarded the fin& prl1e c 11tMIO 1, ex– p r e • • e • a metaph,11leal content In hit a•perll . , m– llolle tenaN!•palnUnp. His "Woven Echo" with Its ~~~~u~\'~/>~.ri~ ~r!~· r~ ~~~fh ~~~~.rn;,~: lsh nnd crimson p1:jsatlons, \~g~e ~1mtn';.OS\nun~or1ri\; show. The second prize-winner Breu 'l\'hlleleJ tor 1reat fame In En1land l does not care ror "good tMte" when makin1 his point "What's Real And What's Time" with an erie-decelvlng, three-di• ~ 1~!f~a~c~~ro~c:l'l.'o~~? up Remgrandt Self Portrait, nor \\•hen errlxlng ,. plMtlc peach bloMOm branch ui a Van Oogh orchard, lnui ~-~~~ 5 is f~ard':a~~trii::~~ holdlnJ a brush. A plea p1l:t1:h\~~u:~~ ,.~~i::i;~~~ reverence. It makes the vle\\•er Identify himself with the act o! crep.tlon. a• well a.s think about what·• reAI. "Life Is the distance be– tween two 1·otds. So Is draw– ing" are the written \\•ords ornlnt1 WhlLeley·• sequence o panelA and the various means used to expres.s the thought 11re 1·alld. Jan Seberp, \\•ho shared• the third prize with Leach– Jone11, Is deeply concerned 1u he was from his beRln– nlnpl with the human con– dition or \\'hlch he takes a pessimistic vie\\·, His haunt– ing. hilhly original and beaut ff u 11 y constructed ru~~~~d r:~l:f."e a de· The winners certatnly had 1~Z:li:!~l~~';j.~~~~~~ log worka deplctlnJ man crucllled on a rart In the deep blue oea under II mllky 111:y.