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

THI COURIER-MA!L TUESDAY JUMI 22 1971 Half~ofland bought for new art gallery AIOU"{ half the land needed for the new Queensland Art Gallery had been reaumecl. It was hoped tl,at negotiations for the remainder would be com• pl1t1d within 18 months. workil and Houalni; Min- ,conslclera1lon would be giv– lster !Mr.Hodges! siud 1his eu "'hrc: preparing ,nt yrsterday. He denwd thal coming Budget. as to wh~1 the S t.ate Governnw11t \\'as money ,rouJrt be m~o 1>l~~nAJ'nJ;11r!;'i,:'~ ~·in- al'a1lable for Ille proJtcl. ber tor Norman, Mr. Brom– ley, advocated lhe com– blnlna: of all people !mer– eswd 1n art int.o a pressure group to end ..the 1111.llery go.me ". Mr. Hodgea aa.Jd: "We are procttdinir with re· aump~lons aa we can. A par c el waa acquired recently Howel'er, a lot .of land I& tied up In eetatea and lhla make& ne&otlaUon difficult. Resumption• ..One key piece i.. the ~~~j~1~\ ~~v~1%~t~ls~~·~ ernment.. ..We have to wait. fU. ~~~!ftt~~ r~t~:::f· Jv~~ P<;f,g:·"Governmcnt plan• ~':,o':,~11~ 8 ~~•~ ~~e~a~n;.~~ at South Brisbane, ol'cr– look!nl{ tJ1e Brial>ane River, near Victorin Bridge. It haa outlined and ap– proved a concept or a gal• lery costing about •7 mll• \~f lan'if~~~~iuot'.· 350 • 000 About is56,000 has been 1pem on land alnce scheme WIUI f,llllounced In 1069. · t~~:~~~E1r 0 !~~ Jli~~?, ~:iml~:~ ~:ft'l~sn~a.;, tU.; present gallery was true. 'l'he premises were " dis– grace to the Staie. How– ever. he said : "I hal'c s11f- tlclent contldcncc In this Government that it wlll build the new gallery ns soon ns It can. No casket The Treasurer 1Slr Gor• don Chalk! yesterday re– jected Mr. Bromley's sug– gcstlon or 11 special art union to raise funds tor the gallery. He ~d Golden Casket proceeils were being used by the Gov1!rnment tor such purposes as •hospital expam!On, and any at– tempt to raise funds as Mr. Brom I e y had proposed could have e. detrimental ertect on cuket funds. In the conttont flow of one-man art shows, there l1 a tendency ta 0¥1rlaak the foci that our Que1n1land Art Gallery (Gre1ary Terrace) 11 a repository far a 9reat ,l1al al ,acollent work by ,i lar1e and dlv1rso number Sir Gordon aald, Cabinet had decided in April, 1969. o acquire the old Cre– mome Theatre alte, as the site tor the new art gallery. It 11·a., to be acquired pro- i 'i,8g~veiorks Depnrtmenl had been ukrd to prepare a comprehensive report tor C & b I n e t on ways and ~~~~iect°' pr~j!~F, 1 ~ th t h : view 1.0 having the detailed ~:a~lat1~ 5 1n mr~{id and S'.r Gordon said further al ortl1t1. I had Intended surl'ey– !ng the current showing there or selectlona lrom the permanent collection but such Is the variety and excellence that I found further 1·tslts nec– essary to assess It proper• ly and have reserved dis– cussion unlll next week. In the meantime, It has been a pleasure to note a markedly artistic ~f"i'i\~~n~~e\-1\~~1;~~ '\gr~ showin~ nL 1hr Mcinnes Gallery , Rowc·s Arcade, Adelaide sneet1 H is wo r k remains strongly trac!!l.lonnl but there ls increased secur– ity In 1cchnlqur and e\'l• dence of an nlto~ether lder approach to h is bJects. ,~· Qld. art show impresses By FRECERIC ROGERS There have l,een times In the put when the Qu1 • n1land Art Gallory has l,1en accu11d of l,eing timid, if not reactionary, in it1 acquisition policy for lt1 collection, The rnct or the mnttr r was thal, while there rii~y .~:~:ea b,~r;~rl1lfon~"1l: approach, the money to m a k. e expr.nsi ·e pur• cha5es simply \\'R5 not. 11.rni!Rhle. na 1 n~r.'i 0 ~f~~i:n~~nh~l!e,{~t bl!en ovcr-5tc.nerous. but. 11sltnr, to the Gnllery·• c u r r e n t exhlbll-!on - Limed 10 complemcnl E11· ropenn Cult urn! Week. which begins next Friday - cerlalllly will not be able to condemn the gal• ~![fu~smg~t i~~ei~~tr~qu~i lnckinJ: nn f\ O\'('Jl lllrDIIS t,;p1r11. Pnrt.lculnrly 1111prrs~1,·e ls the nrrny nf Aust rnl:n n pieces recrnlly nddec1 to the collecrlon - mos1 or them now bcinp: shown for the first time. They rnn~e from n charming Blll'elot clrnw– inJt. "Summer E,·enlnJ.:'" - wh l<-h t hiwc 0 11 trt,a was n sketch for n ~11h– .se11 t1rnt po ln llmr - 10 pirrrs hv Mrn ·~·n Mo• r1nr1,·. Effllnr Hn7'tnn fA f, 1 1 11 ~ 1 ~ 1 !n~t~W1n~~-Ni~·, t[i.~;.~)~ ,Tohn Alnnrl, Prrcl \Vll - lin ms, 1A ,strikln~I)' cl1A rnrterlstlc ··n urnt F r r n !- • • 1 nnd M lrltArl Kn\lt nmon12 nther~. n:li well ns ' nn nb.sorhl ng "nail sculpture" hy .lohn Mason. ! :on t hnl ~1,·cs t ht" lir to t llaq.:C'- 1hn1 1l'w Quccns– lnnd Ar t G;i llr r~· Is n bnckwnter r c·ulturr. From tlw rti~plny or c1 r a ,,. 1 n ll s. pn111t 111gs, bt;:1tir;r;·c,~ 1 ~t ~ 11 ij;}1~~:1~f1~ D u Lc h. Russian, nnc1 1-"'lem lsh nrl 1sls, il Is oh– vlnu,._ thl\t thr \11n<icqu11 te builrlin~ ltt Cirt•~or~ 1 Trr• r i\ C C' hOUM'.". 1 rr:um l'C'S unlnrnJ:illNI lly Ih~ p11hllc Rl• IR11lC • nnrt !--r'("llt– Jlli,tl\", lw Gm·Prnmcnt nu t.lloritier.. too. Two rcrnm111r1Hlnl Ions omerge f1'0111 the close RltC'lllinn 1 h:t,·e ~h·en 1hr f'X h ,l11t. fh l !"lllj;{ th<! WC'f'k : T lt:1t r,·crybOOy \\'hn cln1111 to enjoy bcnut1 r111 1h11u:~ should ,,~it the Gnllrr" forthwit h : nnrl Lh i\ l thr G O\'Cl'l'\111('1\l ~houlct make the est ab– lishment or thr propo~ecl Ga.llerv nnrl Ar1 C<'ntrc a mntter or Ul'l?t'tH priorit y. Gallery repository of excellent work In the co111tont flow of one-mon art shows, there is o tet1dency to o•erlook the tod that our Queentlend Art Gallery (Gre1ory Teuoce l is o ,epo,itory for o 9reot deal of eaullent work lty o Jorge and diw,rse number of orti1t1. I 11ad intended sun·ey– ing the current showing 1here et selections trnm he permanent t·ollect1011 but such 1s the \'anet}' and excellence 1hat I l0Ulld further l'ISllS nec– e a1·y to as ess It prnper– ly and have reserl'td dlS· cuss1011 until next "'eek. In the meanume, 1t has been a pleas11re to note a ma rkedly artistic ~~,·~l1~C"f;~ 1 n~ l\~~l \~·~r~ snowin1r at the Mclnnr~ Gall Pry , n owe·s Arrade. Adeln1de s 1rr1•11 H I s ""o r k remams s1 ro11gl}· trndlllnllkl but thert• ls mcrPa.serl 6e<'Ur- 1Ly In tech111que and C\'I• dence or an altogeiher l>older approach 10 his subJeCIS. THI COUR.llll-MAIL WIDMESDAY JULY 14 1971 Display of art lost to hot air lrisltona h11 l,een ••· cludad from the Austral– Ion itlnuory al • French ert Hhll,itlan blcou11 the old Qu11n1land Art Gal• luy lacks elr conditioning. It Is understood thnt the Pierre Bennard exhibition sponsors would not chance any damage, throu~h at– mospheric variations. to t he $5 million Pierre Bon– nerd collcctlon. The gallery director (Mr. James Wieneke I rlescrlbr.d the otflclal decision to omit. Brisbane from t ho Itinera– ry as "disappointing In the ex~~'."ii;eneke •aid: "It Is becoming & growing re– quirement In all µallcrles to have alr-condl1.lonlng. This would have been a prime consideration when our application wos made to show the Bonnard col– lection." Damage Th e on I y alr-condl· tlonlng In Qucensl1111cl's 70· \ odd-year-old Aallcry wns In the store rooms. It was possible for pnlnt, which had set \'Cry hard over t he yenrs, t,o be dRm – aged If the cnnl'RS ex– panded or contracted be– cause or varying wellther co~~~tl~\~neke said there had been some minor dnm- fli d11~1~d1\f.~t,!a/1~~~~~1t'~: Its at 1hc ARllrry bccau.sc of atmospheric chnn;;cs. Queensland hnc1 nnssen art showlnµs because Ihe gallery lnckcd air conrtl· tlonlng. A s Ix-and-a-halt -ncrc •ltc on the banl:s of the Brisbane Hirer. imrnccllnl~– l~' upstream of 1hr Victnnn Bridge's southern ap– proaches. had been sr , nslde tor a gallery. It wns hoped the new gnllrrv would be opened In nbout f ive ycn rs