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

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1980 Ill IB ffi TI ill illill ill W [vJ ill ffi ill~~ill~ '.AUST=IA'S "NATIONAL COL– LECTIO by Clem Lloyd and Peter Se . less (Cassrll Australia; 535) Rcvic,vcd · bv PHYLLIS WOOLCOCK• EVEN if "Aus1rali.1"s Na1ional Collections" by Canberra journafists Clem Lloyd and Peter Sckulcss dl'cs not live up to lhc publi ·lier's expectations 11.5 "one of the most saleable books of the decade," it is likely to have big sales. The well-clad hardback, nearer coffee tablosizc than a snug fit in a small book shelf, is beamed at the catalogue collector in 1111 of us. It 1s a very good ·guide to where-to-see-what in some of •our national collections and tells how these came into existence and have grown. · The authors have taken the dclinition formulated liy the Commillec of Inquiry on Museums and National Collecuons, chaired by P.H. Pigott (1975), of a national collection as the definition applied in this book: "Any collection of merit which is funded predominantly from public funds - federal or state or municipal - should be regarded as a national collection." This definition places a necessary limit on the authors' investigations. Jt also saves them from the critics' more hazardous forays into the commercial galleries and from other venues where antiquities and memorabilia are for sale. Where to Aside from describing and illustrating collections, the book indicates some of 'their problema and suggests some '10lutions. A more complementary and co– 'ordinatcd policy for acquisitions by national collections and. more regular' :travelling exhibitions arc among the latter. . . The chapter 'OD the Australian National Gallery, Canberra - "one of the last of the ¥4Prld's great collections, to be formed" - is particularlr well · illustrated. Although the painting is represented by a two-page color photogrnph, both text and illustrations show that we can expect to sec a great deal more than Jackson Pollock's "Blue Poles" when the Gallery opens in 1983. see what pie not followed by his illustrious successors. · The author~ point out that science museums-and state libraries came before art galleries. In Australia's early days, educational needs !'receded cultural. Although there may be aome disap– pointment that the names of many celebrated Australian painters arc 'absent from the text and their works not illustrated, thia is unavoidihlc with the. wide coverage of collect.ions other than art. work by the artists ·George Lambert, lvor Hele and Sir William Dargie. Also, looking at the Ou nsland Art Gallery section, with the survcr ap• proach in mind, while l could think of works I'd like to have seen illustrated. I found it difficult to decide which. it any, of the paintings included could have been left out. The book is crammed with interesting information and lillle known facts. In the account of the Australian Archives, we learn that Lord Bruce. Prime Minister from 1923 to 1929, not only presented his documents but all official gifts given him lo the archival collection. l-lis be~ucst also included his golfing plu, .fours. For instance, not c\;cryone would know that the Australian War Memor– iah which is not an art museum, contains the nation's. largest holdings of From his personal papers and diaries in the National Library of Australia, Canberra. we learn that an earlier Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin, frequently cycled lo Cabinet meetings in Melbourne - a t~rifly, healthy exam- •pJ,yllil Wnolc'o<I,. of Brl,ban~, .1p,<'lali1tJ in .. ,,;,tnw about an Jo, Awstro1fa11 and, o,•tr.rtas Journals. • Plct•rr: The ,- C. 1928. llie• l'rn<:tor (11179-1977) A111tralla wooilcu1, •• colorN, Art Gallery of New Solltlt Waln. THROUGH the Queens– land Art Gallery Founda– tion, Dr Gertrude Lanier 11u donated Nleholu Pope'1 Plumllne to the rallery In memory of her husband Karl, who died in October 1969. Dr Lanpr, Tht OoUrler-Mall art critic, Hid: •He loved wood and adored treee. Thla aeulpt.ure loolu like a tree re-uaembled Into an art form. "There·• a lovrly reeling or growth and aaplratlon. and It'• very aublle In Its almpllclLy. I know Karl would have loved It.." The IRle Dr Karl Langer, an •rchllect, was president or Lhe Queensland Art Gallery Society !or two terms of lwo years evch. Dr Ocnrude Lnnger ••Id or Plumllne: "It consl•U or nine In• denendenl pieces or slender, sll~htly-µurrcd posts or plum– wnod, which lean LoRcthor wllh· out •uppnrtlng ono another. "lt has • very subtle balance and IA typlc•I or the classic Pope sculpture. lta acalc echoes his hel~ht. reach and strength. "The humAn scale appealed Lo Afll me, the leantnr torether II a ,roup, without each or the J)llltl IQ1ln1 !ta own Individuality and each or them 111pporttn1 ltaelf. "In ract, the more often I look at this •culpture the better I like It. And I reel It Is a good tttlnl that the Queen•land Art Gallery ahould h~ve auch a rtne piece or oontemporari• ae-Jlpture by a prominent youn11 British sculp– tor." Nicholas Pope wu bom In Syd. ney In IMO, of British parent.a, and 1 works In the United Kln1dom. He cre&ted Plumllne In 1979. U II 280 cm hlRh, Pope hM exhibited widely and In 1979 toured this country lec– turing ror the Australl• Council. Dr Gertrude Lanser attended one or hla ltcturea at the Institute or Modern Art. He 11 rep,-nted In such pub• lie collectlona u the Arts Connell or Great Britain, the British Council, the Calouaf.e Oulbenkllln Found11.Uon, the T•le O•llery and the Solomon Guggenheim Museum In New York.