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

· · '- C I \ Norm~n Behan. art Collector extraordinaire. Art collection Or NORMAN BEHAN, art collector c~lraordinairc, is not a bad conversation– alist either. A •imple inlcrview aboul hi• colleclinn ended up a rambling discourse on lhe history or Au,1rahan painting. wi1h a bit about the history or Behan thrown in. hir 1he interviewer ii consisted m11,1ly or listening. trvin~ 10 keep u11 wi1h 1he barra~e or foci, nnd wi11icisms and wildly enterlaininJ dig!eS5ions. This, for ins1ancc. un Samuel Thomas Gill "hn 11:oin1cd during 1hc tmld ru,h crn: "lie died on lhc slcp, ur the S)dney Post Offkc. drunk . Oh, he "'as a hl\'cly pain I er - he just became an alcoholic." Occasionally there was a pause in the middle nf ii all and he apologised for having veered off lhc subject. The e,planalion: "I'm French and Irish and lhal's a terrible genetic chemistry, Gullic and Gaelic. But it's never dull." L>r Behan, who most certainly is nol dull, is 1hc vicc-prcsidcnl or the Queensland Art Gallery Board or Trustees. ... lle i• also, and rerhaps, more imporlant, lhe man behind the Behun tollcc1ion, whicli hang, on public e,hibi1ion al the Queensland University Arl Mu,eum. ('omprising lll0 paintings, drawinps and pieces ul' sculpture, the collection ha• been valued at around SJ00,000. Dr Behan, who ,ays he has never been a rich man, 1avc ii all away. The e,traordinary story of the collection begins in the 1950. al S1uar1holme, a convent of the Sacred Hearl order, sit1in1 high on a hill above Brisbane. "Thef decided up at Stuartholme to build • new char.cl .' Sllid Dr Behan. "The old chat>_CI became amiable, and they decided to turn 11 into an Australian Room." Four Behan daughters were educated al lhe school, one later joining the order, and he thought he would like to do •omething to help. "I mentioned to the Reverend Mother that I could give a few pictures to fill the walls." He gave a few more, than a few more. "The ct'llcction grew, and I became interested lhcn. Finally I 101 to lhc point of no return.'' By this time the walls or the old chapel were chock-a-block, crowded wilh one of the mo,t comprehensive chronological collection• of Au1lr1lian art in the country. "The nuns got quite itpprehcnsivc about the cost, for sccurily reasons," he said. And it seemed a shame 10 keep the paintings hidden rrom public view. They approached Dr Behan about having them moved. The newly opened University Arl Museum was of a lifetime the obvious place, and in 1976 Stuartholme gave the Behun Collection lo the university on permanent loan. For Dr Behun the collection ha, become a magnificent obilcssion. He is utrcmely proud or it: "It wouldn't, I suppose, bcal the National Gallery',. but ii would compare very fovorably." Al 1he same time he can comment wryly on the hold ii hu on him: "I've gone into debt for it, • nd 111y wi~~ has ~one into ol11very. Collcctina i1 a disease. It crcpl UJI on him araduull)', s1arlin1 in the I '130s and ~Os when he wus an enthusiaolic amateur wi1h nol much spare c • ah attending uln in Sydney 11nd Melbourne. "I bouJht them all at auctions,'' he said. "I would pick oul a Wainewriaht - I've alway11 h • d a good eye for a picture." ... Jn thm.e days, even 1llowin1 for innation, they were nothina like their present market value. "Now e,·erybody wants early Australian,. I was fortunate enough to get them when I hey were settable." The Waincwri1ht, for example, had cost him 100 puincus. "It'd be worth $20,000 now, because it'1 historically important." It was a watercolor or Sir John Franklin, lieutenant aovernor of Ta,mani • for si• years from 1837, and there was a aood atory behind it. "Wainewriaht w&11 the darling or English Edwardian society. He married into the ari,1ocracy, and insidiously introduced arsenic into his wire', diet. She died.' Then he started lo work on ,his mother-in-law, because she had the big boodle." Eventually the long arm of the law c:au1h1 up wilh him and he was deJ!Orted to Tasmania, where he again wormed his way into prominent circles. llence the painlinp of Sir John. Dr Behun hus II special rascinution wilh Waincwrighl. but can speak with authority about any one of the painlcrs represented. And most of the bis names arc there - Bunny, 8uvelol, Conder, Gill, Heysen, Lambert, McCubbin, Rea, Roberts, Streeton. Over the ln•t 40 years he has met and become friend• with many of the modern names, people like Drysdale and BoJ,d and Percival. "I've bouaht their beers,'' he 11id. We've drunk toSCthcr and lauahed together." ... Queensl~nd University has recently been approved for inclusion in a Federal Government scheme to develop Australia's public museums, librarieo and art 1alleries. Under the scheme, Dr Behan will be able to claim his m01t recent sift 10 the museum, a John Glover watercolor valued at around S2000, 11 a tu deduction. "It's a super added incentive to be more 1enmiu1," he 11id. He hoped othen would take his lad and 1ive paintinp, or books or rare objects. In ·IIIOlt caaes they OOllld claim their fall 1111rket nlue u deductions. Thil pvc • 11 added rina or tnth to what Homer aaid about no - beina the poorer for what he J•v • away. But quite • pan from financial considcrat1on1, Dr Behan h • d never felt • sense of loss • bout 1ivin1 away his collection. He w11 quite content to visit it occa1ion1lly. "You 1ive a thing a cenain inte,rity once you pan with it," he 11id. He h • d men,lioned in pauina that Sir Willl • m Dobell had been :a arcat friend of his. "He altetched and painted me -r • I times. He once uid, yo11 .,. an unu1111l animal, Norman." I • area wltll Dobell.