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

~RT'S in fashio I111111111IIIlllllllllllll1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111,111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Ii Illllllllllllll11111111111111 in Brisbane no·w 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111' 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111. By JOHN ATHERTON 8 private galleries where 2 struggled WITH two new private galleries opened In Brls• bane In the last few weeks, It might seem that art, llke June, is busting out all over. In the early 1950's the city's total was Just two prl– vat• galleries; both struaaUna. Today it has eight; only some of them struggling. Add to this the gal- fg~'';;';!is~ntn\='a!~;.e~nd away lerles In major stores, With its delightful garden and Brisbane has up to ,er.Ling, it is, In ract, one or a do>,en dilfr.rr.nL and varied the most appealirr11 p rivate an exhibitions each week, galleries in Australia. ranging through pottery, For presligP, it wins hand~ ceramics and handcrn!Ls, to down. Its major exhibitions way-ouL nbsirncls or tritely attract re1:11lar sort les ol ln- pr·edlcLable gum trees. terstat,e buyers, both In- And oome of the offer- \'esLOr-type and collector- ln11 • re In world clau, type. even If oome others • re nol Perhap• more Indicative In any class al all. lh • n, • nylhlDI' else of Bri,- A prideful, glowing record, bane• art awareness Is the one coulrl say far a city ol fact that the Johnstone ,ome ti00,000 ' people which Gallery'• 1960 00 1ea10n_" ha• long ago learned to accept ILs cau,t"d frcater cros."i•cur- reputaLion as a cultural Si- rent• o lntur,t In the berio. •outh tha n here on 111 One COULD sav It Not home ground, manv art professlo·nels do. The exhibition artists are Disregarding those who from Sydney, Melbourne and find IL roshlonable and' re- London, as well es top spectably "hip_" to sneer at Queenslanders Nr.•llle Mat– Brisbane's arts ltll'olvement thcws, .loy Ro1n:cnk11mp und m 1111 y conce rn c d people llfax llurle~·. Pot_tcr l\llllon claim that the city and the l\loon showed untrl Mnrch I. State are merely following Lawrence Daw, came nlong' rather sluggishly with to Brisbane from London !or the Great Australinn Art h_ls March 31-Aprll 12 exhl- Kick. bt~no~\~l~ 1 t ~~~1tiW~>,;; will Include ones by Arthur Boi•d and J,aurence Jlope, both no,•; living In London: Bob Dickerson, Keith r.ooby, 1,:– naclo Marmol, Carl Plate and potter Peter Trul,, nil or Sydney: Anne Graham, To lunch Art Is in fashion. Tnke an art.lsL to lunch and all thnL. lL mighL even be all right If your daughter wants I o marry one. Syclney has more than 30 privnte galleries: so has Mel– bourne. On a strict populalion ra– tio, lhls Is lair enough, but r~~i~~ a°!. ~~isu 5 :i~\1~•;gd 1~}: lurntlal ones, and, 111 simple terms, bigger, "'1·;~t'• ef;gr 1 s 0 n 1i~i1 e! 1: 1 s~~~: i~~~ ti'•~r- :r.rl ':;.r:J\~~ ~~o 0 ~e '81:,~~r:~ 0 ~0.,~h~,Jfhher;,; usually are selllng very or- dl~1"~J'~nJ~'~f'i,r the Brt., - bane buying Is not too selec– tive or lnformt'd, 0 $1111 1 more ptoplt 11rc hui·ln~ pictures, mranln~ that somr arll,r. must be 1•~~•~rm ~11qf~: th~t_.. of It, Mr. Cooper. who 110\\· oper– etes a gn llery nt thr Gold Co11st 1 rounded Brlsbnne·s Morr. .on Galler~' when ho loft the Air Force in 1945. He sold It In l950 lo Mr. ~am~ fltllPke Quccnsle.nd rt ual crv dh1 'cl.or who still ye.s, stnooWlfflC Defore the Morelen, the ~n~~ ~lon~ 1~erri~Fi~ 6 ~io,:~~ ~~~~/~g~_ :;;,. ~~~d 1r•;~:,~ the begmnlng or Wor·ld War 11 Mr. Cooprr likes to r•call Sidney Nol" r.·s first malor exhibition, held 111 the Moreton in 1948. The\· w re consenintlvr llme5. T ilt' r rlt ~ lcs v. 1 er11 oold: 1.t1r pn11umqs \\·ere prlcrd rrorn $40 tn !60: 6n1y one wn~ ~old $5000 .................... It " 'a!I ~111d •~·aln a r,w )·ear~ R1ro, The price was SS~~~srlng allerlrs now nre the ,Jnhnsfnne, ln Cini ra Rond Bo"•rn Hills: The rrt'• ent I~-oprned GRlfory One Elevrn, In Mu~grnvr Rond. Reel Hll,: Ih,· r;rand Crnlral In Queen s1 rrrt.: 111" i\lorr– lon In Fdwart1 R1n 1 et: the tW~lgn i\rl~ ('t•nlrr 111 F.111,a– bC'lh Strt•et: Ilic• l\trlnnrs Gallrr)' In Adrlnlr!r f;r r~rt. 1he 1:ran1. nrnk-(,ow f,al – lrrlr!' t formrrl.v the K t'n– nlgn1 In Kcnnh.to ~trcrl, s 11rlng HIii : n11d 1hr 11ew 1'om ,IOt1M Onllrry on Petrie T~{~~ceino!.t Important, by '\t;hatr,·rr· criterion. 1, t1H, .Johnsto11e Oaller·i-. It also ls Lh r lur~cst laho11t 5000 squnrc reel or exhlblllon :."n~on\V~~':t•i·ori!:!n'f.h.'{.~Wf~ all of Melbournr. Mr. Brinn Johnstone, a former professionnl soldier and Utmt roon graduaLe, was A.D.C. to the State GO\•ernor, Sir John La\'arack, when he Y~k8d for a gallery career In Th e presen t Johnstone Gallery llt Bowen HIiis WIIS opened in 1958 - the first in Australia to venture Into the suburban garden-gallery concept. "M,· wife Marjorie and I dldn'i make the ha.sic wafe for our first t1, 1 e years n art," Mr. ,Johnstone retlllll!!. "f still wonder how \\'e ,:ot by. $10,000 , ......................... "I rrmemoer \t. r had An early Art.hur Roni exhibi – tion O f c1, 1 11 t-.e, hr ·· t.. .in'I, ac– ceplnbl~ then . anct not a sl\1gle ptctur• we.. sold. "RecPntly, one of hi.I pie• tur•s brought $1 0.000." A Boyd ·exhibrr ion " ' th• Johnstone two yea!·~ ago ren• Used about $30,000. I.he bl~- 1est succc~s o! t 1e artlAL lo that time. It "-'LS ccllpserl ehout nine months later when • Boyd exhibition In Adelalde sold for about $60,000. Mr. Johnstone believes the contcmpornn· n.rt eccne in Brlsbn11e probably was more excit ing 10 yPl\rs ngo than 1oct11v. with the State ex– rr1.1ti, n good denl or 111- fh rcrwr I hro11gh paln trrs like ,l011 Molrlg . and Charle• Blnckmnn. Man y !n tcrst ale arl.ist.~ prcrrncd to exhibit here - pnrtly. perhaps lo escape the :,~~a:::1 ~t!lb~~~-~tr~l'.,~:d· Q1Jeenslnnd toda~•. he fer.ls/ Is su ffer!n g from the lack o a real rocu!1i !or art interest - In partlr.ular the lack or a Stnte gallery which Is held In respect by professionals. "There Is no renlre 10 set t1H!' ~tnndard Jn Q urensland", ~\~e~;Yhn~F~~t 8 ~~~~1er!'1~~!:~11 art ed11rntlon In the schools." Quer.nslnnd ll11lrrr~tty ~.11·;u~eOLR~lt';~·f" t~O~~r,nr~~!Cli! under constdrrnt Ion. Queenslrrnd·• regular art buyrrs RPL cinwn 1 o &. 5tnn11 ha.rd core or url lover~. And wit ,, Hrl~bonc·s brnnch– orfwc bRr kirround. t.here 1.1 illtl~ corporn Ion or "bonrd– room" bui~ng. There ·nrc few "~r rlmt!!" rollcctors of no1c - µcr·hap~ hail a dozen. There are no arL auctions. But there I• a growing number or peosie wit.11 taste ;i,~~~te:fi~c~\ -fia:~•v~~~l',,;; they can aliord to buy pic– tures lhev like. And they jo not buy them for social pres– tige. but for genuine enjoy– ment. ..~~~i1eriu~:f11 ~tm· ore:;i buying a., prohlbltl\'ely ex– pensive. or course. It Is rath– er more costly than collec– ting stamps or rnn:ch-box covers. But prices are not usually ~~ 1 t,~ie~/n~ orfJk:ta:~•;~ 1 II~~ L•wrence Daws: Hiil larger works were pricer! hrre at around S1250. but picl.Ures 22 inches by 22 inchc.s were ~n ofler here !or S250 nnd smaller ones tor around $135. The new ·oallery One Elrv– en, In Red Hill. could capture a good deal of attention. lL apparently is setting its sigh!., high, with exhibitions t h a t include top-ranking i~~\\~~• J~~fa;~;~ko1c~'l:~~ chrr ,John Aland, Slanl•- 1"!J.'heR~f?,~·nPweomer. the Tom Jones Gnllery. is not In the same ieaBue and prob- f~1fs d.:,e;n:~n ~~!t!i~ptot~:i Just sctapes In !or the title "gallery." The Moreton today has a ~/~?i~f. l•:~~111 o\~e th~·o\\~~/; whether Sidney Nolan would do much better there In 1969 than he did in 1948. BuL it remains a major ft~~ek~m a¥glb~~. ~:t~~1 quite deserrn the ort.en – heard but, trrossly unfair la– bel of the last citadel of the gum-t,ree school. The Grand Central Oal- 1, r y sometimes produces prestige exhibitions, mostly ~1 /!~u~\\e r~IJouhf~t'1~ecJi~~; :;_:n°~w?i~rsyg//~~· t~~~dft"e'.i ~~;:~e f.\'tt 1 :1fe ~~~mc~~~ 1 t~~~ liRn art-dealing scene of the eurly 1950's. ' The Grand Cenlral Is even hett<?r known as the major·, source or paintings by buah• man - turned - artlsL, Hush Sawr•y. He can t.urn them out like chocolate box•s from an assembly line - which Is _,. LAWRENCE DAWS . .. world stature. ",1hnt mnnv critics claim the-v are. l\lr. Sawrey • hould ure, !~I~ ~~1c::;ur2\'tili"h:dp~~~r~; more, and there 1eem.lii no •hortalfe of buyrn who know what they like; or an,·wa)', llke Whal the, know. The Design Arts Centre Is an imaginatl\'C little gnllery showing a variety ol hand crults as well as pict ures thaL often win more than modest acclaim. For the rest of the galleries ~'i,~~~:'~F,h\~~s~a~t.the empo- Occnslonal exhibitions capture critical Interest: others are by keen, keen amateurs verging on the pro- fesstonal - and nol. neces– •arlly any the worse for that. They do not, howe\'er, set the world on flr•e. The Brisbane art scene, el~ht gallerlc• and alli prob- f.~~y "i!i~~f~~C:\P.~ 0 01 i~~~~ lean interior decorators. saw things in the 1930'•· flhe told a dr•pnndrnt !'n? 011T'fi'r~~•~y•hniie ~i!:.':;! wlll be people who buy third - rate examplea of fin& - rate painters, and tint - rate examplea of third - rate palnten." wl~hesro~r~e 'l[,~~~d fp1f c~~! Brlabane is more prone LO the latter caleKory.