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

1~- -S~TURDAY, JANUARY 5, _19~£. t the gallery, now for the art ,c announcement that ·la nd Art Gallery is on time in June, 1981, ns 1979, of course. arc h Npec,al interest. ,, large sums arc being spent d its equipment, as well as on : but all this must be made rtant collcclion. e probably is unawHre of lhe he present collection becuuse ,11\cd a fuller display, and n 1101 been a\'ailabk. a lonK period acquisitioM and ha,c a rair, kno11lcdgc or the ed~. And what I list one could r,c, always have been. .,nd nrr cubic fu1ure. quite inadequate nul works of art we nil would 11st be said lhat lack of funds use .for missing out). ,ere mostly acquired throuah ART with OR GERTR UDE LANGER Queensla nd never hod the ~ond for1unc of large bequests like the Fellon in Victoria. lfowcvcr. there is hope 1h,11privalc srclnr support may come good. now that the new art gallery should inspire the ncccssury enthusiasm. In 1977,' I :111endcd a ronfercnce of !he lntcrnalional Association of Art Critics in Swilzerland. The conference Iheme was "Financial Support for lhe Arls•Public and Privale Sewn". Switzerland. our ho,1 country. was a shining exam pie of priv<, tc supporl. I ndccd. not one ,,f the several wonderful Swiss art museum. ,ould pos,ibly be wlrnl it is wi1hou1 incredibly generous a ,-ell a, enlightened private supporl. In December last. an announcement was made in Brisbane of lhc forma1ion of lhc "Que.cnsland ,\n Gallcrv Foundation" intended to a11rac1 financial suppor1 (tax deductible and free of gift and probate duly) from corporations and -individuals. The foundation protidn for thl'ff classH of memwrsbip. laquirles 111ay lie directed to tlle Director, Quttnsland Art Gallery. The present C\h1h11ion "Sclcc1cd .<\,qul\ttton, 1Q7C)" (which is ~m,n to make room for the nc'<I cxhihilion ••Conti:rnpor:iry Ca;-imic'i in Hrilain'". opening Januarr 11) :ogain includes <ptilc a nu111bcr of gifls, acknowledged in lhc catalogue. One fca1urc of lhcsc were gifts bv some .r1i,1s. including one b:,, Ray Crooke of a pur1rai1 of hitnsdf. p:1intcd by l\c\ 1 in Connor. one of Australia'< forcmo;\I c:1:prc"lsionist painters anrl l\, kc winner of the: Archiba ld . Amon~ r,urch:u,e~· mn~t numerous ,\ ere '-'Ofk( on paper. that is pri111> and drawings. Supplemented br many fine gifl in thc<c art for111,. our collection of graphic., has been quot,• enrich •d. Among pain1ings purcha,cd (apar1 from lho,c ~elected in lhe Tru,1ces Prize. and mentioned by me al the time). The mo.,1 aurac1ive arc "Mediterranean" {as good as a fi~c Kandinsky, who comes to mind) by Alnn Leach-Jones. "Untitle<l" by Ma~ Miller, and "'Seated Figure" by Brian Dunlop. I cannllt get cxcotcd aboul the phnto~rAphic Ski r;,,1 by Scou McDougall, nr Fi,hcrmcn :o nd Rr11hcfJ ~• .Jn,hua Smith ·;, · There i, nothllll! wron~ wi1h 1h, ror1r:oit•1by Rum,;1). except lh:ot the Gallery i, served well alr+dy with µnod c1amplcs or his ar1, and so n111d1 d. i, needed . t, On• is Kl•d th•t fflOr~ ~mphasi• is ~in& pl1rtdt'• on rnntrmporary sculpturt. A majur Klippel (2 m high) has been purchaicd, bu1 "'"' n111 on view because of repair needed for ~me damage in transport: Michael Cooper's Mania M$, tis ""s highly accla imed by me before; Olil'c Bis 1,s cernmi< shirts llhrv were included in 1hc Sy cv llicnnial) h;11•c been acquired. as well as no fe,.cr ~•n "' s.·ulplurcs by gilled young Au,1rali:tn arii,t ~oel l:lcnbcrg. who li1·es and works in Carrara. "·her<' he ~cl> hi while marble. . ~; Elcnbcrg's "Totem" , a highly r.ni, hcd !nd poli,hcd construction of car1·cd while marble I nd porr.rico inlays. combines mechanic :o nd hun,a · id connoiations, and parl of its . auraction jl. its elusi\'cnes~. , Four disk-shaped bronze masks ' (they re donated) with minimally indicated fea1ures, sho be inOuencc of Brancusi and Primitive Ar1. · 1 •