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

Strutt: An art exhibitio A RETROSPECTIVE exhibition of the work of William Strutt opened at the Queensland Art Gallery . Brisbane . last week . Strutt. an interesting and nccomplished artist, remains almost unknown to many Australians. Uhtil recently he has been overshadowed by his contemporaries - the landscape artists, Eugen van Guerard. Nicholas Chevalier und Louis Buvclot - and by the subject painters of a later generation. Tom Robcrt.s and Frederick McCubbin. · Since the 1950s there has been growing awareness of Strutt's importance. not only as 1111 artist who recorded events that captured the essence of colo• niul experience. but as a Victorian p,1inter ol great variety. One of the striking aspects of the exhihition is the diversity of Strutt's work . Apart from his well known colonial paintings. the exhibition includes example, ,,f other aspects of his work - classical and religious suhjccts. animal paintings and portraiturt!. William Strut! . IJOrn in Devon in 1825. trained as un artist in Boulog ne and Paris and in 183':I entered the Ecole des Bcuux Aris. with variety Arriving in Austruliu in 1850. Strun spent 12 years in Australia and New Zealand. His drawings during that time formed a unique record of pio neer lit:e . While hunting for gold at B'allarnt he produced some nrngnificent d rawings nf the frl'crish gold diggers and the no10rious bushranj!crs. One of Strutt's most impressive paintings cnm• plctcd in 1887 was the Bushrangcr. a highlight of the exhibition. llis best known work . Black Thursday. was 1101 included in the exhibition bec.1u,e it was ti,o delicate to travel, but a composition of _sketches _dc\1icting the lllack Thursday hushfircs lias been me udcJ . Slrult rc1urm·d to E nl!land in 1862. lk cunlinucd his active career paint ing colnnial subjects. until his death al the agc nf 81.J in 191 5. The exhibitio n contains more than liU works Jrnwn from public and private collections through• out Australia . New Zealand 1111d the United Kingdom. Th,· exhibitio n is the rcsuh of four years' research hy Sydney ur1 authorit y. I leather Curnow. The exhibition co n1inuc, at the Queensland Art Galler)' until April 26. * * * ALSO on display are the two new ace• 4uisitions by the Queensland Art Gallery. They arc the 17th century po rtrait. the Marchese Filippo Spinola by van Dyck and the Resurrection by 16th century vcnctian painter. Tintoreno (Jacnpo lfobusti). The purchase, of both painting, were negotiated hv the Jircctur ,,f 1h.: Quee nsland Art Gallery. Mr li.1oul Mellish . when he visited London lasl De• cemher. The vnn Dyck and thc Tintorc1to arc two major acquisition, bought with funds donated to the g_allcry _through thll Queensland i\rl Gallery r:ounda11c.111 . The foundation . now in it, second year. has a tarj!CI of S3 millio n to raise for the gnllcry. The Mnrchese Filippo Spinola portrnit measures 218.J cm x 139.6 cm . It was painted in about 1622-1627 during van Dyck's early Italian period. Marchese Filippo Spinola was the son of Ambro• gio Spinola, commander at the surrender of Breda. The painting is an excellent example of van Dyck's Gcnocsc portrniturc. • A great show - and a masterpiece of clever art detection Sydney art expert Heather Curnow · has a not-so-secret passion - for the works of famous. English artist Wil• liam Strutt (1850-1915). In an amazing world-wide search, Heather gathered together 73 paintings and drawings for an exhibition which has been seen in Syd• ney and is now on tour. "You could say I lived and breathed William Strutt day and night for four years," she said. "There could not have been a better feeling thnn fol• lowing a clue and stumbling · upon an original in an ob• scure mining village in England." The exhibition fol• lowed the release of her book, "The Life and Times of William Strutt," a limited edition of 1500 copies at $395 each. "Strutt spent 12 years (1850-62) in Australia and New Zealand," she said. "He is regarded as one of the four top colonial artists of Australienn of that time." Strutt sketched events and people. Two of his more famous paintings ere " Bush· rangers" (1887), depicting n hold-up in St Kilde Rd, Mel– bourne, and "The Burial of Burke" (1911), after news of the failure of the Burke and Wills inland expedition. Next month "The Bui• letin" will offer readers a sot of three William Strutt prints nt $120 a set, from a limited edition of 1000 sets. The three works are the portrait of Robert O'Hara Burke, "The Haunt of the Knnga• roo" and " Stock Closed with Upward Tendency," en emus• ing work showing a girl with a scarlet-coated soldier. TO SEE THE PAINTINGS The exhibition will be ut Quecn11land Art GnllOI"),'. Brisbane. March 26 to April 26: University Art Gallen•, r..fol– bournc Uni\'ersity, May 8 to June 7: t~b~~ri,j~n~ 1 ~6~~jui~dltrt Gnllery, Heather Curnow edJu1t1 Strutt'a "Buehrengera." Picture by Ern McQulll • n ..... THE executive director of Gallery Foundation, Sir Davi Penny Kerrison, wife of the d the new Queensland Art G Resurrection by Venetian pa1 po Rebus The Resurrection measurL was. painted in the earlf 15 Dominating the painting 1 rising almost as an illusion the viewer and turning b awakened guard with a gcsi another soldier continues t,1