Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 8 : Pressclippings, 1977-1981

Trout art exhibition "l'ORTRAITS from the Collection of Lady Trout," the current exhl– bltlon at The Queenaland Arl Oallery, v.111 be on , 0 1ew until D p.m. on Fri– days throuahout Warana from tonl11ht. The exhibition, 'mhlcb Include& WOrl<a by Dobell, Lindsay, Daralt1, Roberta and Lalnbert, ,..._. made avall&ble by Lady Trout for the Waran• Futlval. ·Gallery 'is tops' The QuuMl • nd I.rt Gallery director (Mr. Raoul Mellish) yeste,doy defended the ~••Illy al works in hi, 1olltry, ~we don't have tD hold our heads down nnd take the mud being thrown at us from the' South," he said. "Our works are or a fine quality and when the new gallery opens on the south bank we will have one or the he t col– lection., In the world," ho said. Australian Nation•! Ga 11 er y director (Mr. Jame s Mollison) said In Adelaide on Tuesday that the Brisbane gallery had few works or signifi– cance, save one Picasso. Mr. Mellish said )'CS• terday that the Brisbane gallery had works by many leading artl, ts, In• cludlng 1' Dobells and three Plcaasos. Wanted: paintings for a culture centre NINETEEN years ago, aplan was mooted By DIANNE BYRNE' to build a 'hall of pion- plans tor a real cultural eers' in the Botanical centre and coat Queena– Gardens. There was to J:,dJt.:~r:aJuable ral· be space for business It would be nice then, conferences and for ad-' tAl breathe a self-aaUa- tled slah and conalder vertlslng displays, and · how thln111 have chan- pushed into one corner, ged. The complex Is aJ. a place for the State's' most a tact and the pow– art collection era-that-be know more The Idea f~ out, ~~ IA> pick a good bUt not before It upset But th~L much Is still , wantln1r, was clear· tAl anyone who visited the Queenland art 1rallerys 1978 acquisitions. The line-up ranged from an Oawald Brierly water– color to Brett Whiteley's I 'PortralL of Arthur Rlm- 1 baud' a bill' expensive , picture, as dull as Its I patches of mock-aien- nese 1rold leaf. Now In a short time. It will be 1980 and too late tAl do anythin1r about it. So what ls happening in Brisbane at the moment, and what will the next. tew montha accomplish? Apart from a couple or Lourln1r exhibitions, the state 1rallery has initi– ated few original shows, unless one counts ~uch minor entertainments as 'The child In Art'. The most ambitious project on the aaenda Is the · new, IIIW1trated cata10- 111e, a llat of everything from the wonderful Rubin, Picasso to John Rlgby"a collected works. regard to the purchase or about 150 other ltema. Only contemporary art Is considered, and where possible, very new things are bouaht reasonably. This ;vear, however, works o., paper have been a i . ,orlty, Includ– ing a Tony Coleln1r and collaaes by Mary Mac– Queen. The adventurous ma– terial, remains the pre– serve of the smaller In– stitutions, of the Univer– sity Art Museum and the Institute of Modern Art. The I.M.A. Is currently featuring a tine Installa– tion by Madonna Staun– Lon. and a popular ar– tist-In-residence programme. In early OcLober, Olen O'Mal– iey's photographs will go up. He Is In the process of editing a plle or black and white prints from OladsLone, Julia Creek and Tully. Recently, Orlttlth Uni– versity Issued Invitations to an exhibition of graphics, acquired by Its works of art committee. It served as a reminder or the worthwhlle things that resld•i In Brisbane's less vaunted permanent collections. Orlftlth Possesses vin– tage pieces, (like a lovely Whisson and a large Loob)I but It also runs a sensible policy with As tar as the commer– cial scene Is concerned, an lntereatlna develop– ment, seems to be the trend In subject-matter - the sort of things that are belnll' painted - rather than who Is doing what In the 1rallerles. The Rod Withers show, recently at Ray Hughes, saw lots of Jewel-<:olored paint, caked and splashed on canvas. His series of lar1re works were lush Impressions or stretches like the La– mlngton Plateau, ab– stracted portraits of landscape. In the same way, Davida Allen uses her backyard and the area around Boonah tAl make her tense, personal pic– tures. It may be the be– ginnings or a welcome new strain of specifically Queensland lmlll!'es. Galleries criti(:;;e over art ADEL.t.lDE. - The <1u • llty of polntln1s In the lrlll,one, Adeloldo end Perth art gallui11 was criticised yosterdoy h the Australian Notlonol Gel– lory director (Mr. Jo111H Malll,onl. In the Brl hnne Gal– lery there was only one Picasso. nothing or sig– nificance In Perth and Adelaide only hod porce– la in and sll1•er or any qunlll,)'. hr said, The lnrk or quality e•• plrtincd the publlc'• Te• luctance to visit galleries. Mr. Mollison was In Adelaide YCftcrdny !or the oncnlng or an exhlbl• lion, Genesis or a Gallery Part 2, It ls an ollerlng from t.he A11sLrallan National GPllery's most reocnt ac• quis!Uons, nnd Includes works b)' Picasso. Modi• gllanl, Toulousc-Lautrec, David Hookney Streeton, Do b e i I nnd Leonard French. Mr. Mollison said Pach Item bought by the Na– Uonal Gnllcry wns Lhe fl• nest available or Its type in the world. Unless exhibit.• were of I the hl~hest quallty, there w a a no reason why people should 110 to gal– lerlea. Queensland Art Gallery Portratta from !fie Collectlon Of Lady Trout 21 September - 20 October 1979 As a special feature !or this year's Wa'raoa Festival, slxly-one portraits nave been kindly made available by Lady Trout. The exhibition Includes such eminent artists as Joseph Hlghmore, George Romney, Tom Roberls, George Lambert, Rupert Bunny, Charles , Conder, Sir William Cobell and Sir William Dargie. Brltl • h Ceramic• 3 January - 3 February 1980 This exciting exhibition surveys the diversily and scope of current activlly In the field ot conlemporary ceramics. The Von Thy1 • -n Collection 12 February - 30 March 1980 A.collection of excepllonalquallly and diversity which follows a cenlury or creative development In lnternalional art movemenls leading up to presenl times. The exhibllion is one ol lhe most Impressive to be presented in Auslralia and includes master works by Bellini, Van Eyck, El Greco, Rubens, Velasquez, Rembrandl, Guard!, Canalelto, and Goya. Education Programme Aclivllles include guided tours, lectures and lilm showings !or school, tnrtlary and adull groups. Bookings may be made by conlacling the Education office. FIims OUHnoland .t.11 Gallery Society Films during lhe Warana Feslival Wednesday 3 Oclober 12.t O pm and 1.1 o pm The Fallcacie• or Hope Wednesday 17 October 12.10 pm and 1.10 pm The Precursors: Var, Gogh, Cezanne and Gauguin Regular aclivilies include leclures, lllm seminars and social evenls in support of lhe Gallery lnterestea persons mayconlact Ute membership secrelary, Mrs Irene Amos phone 36 5889. (-icil :pr \ Ht liJ' S '.' ' '-!,' ,.t' ;' 1 !·,' Adm,ss,r,ri frpp \