Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

so-called Ince-Hall Madonna and Child-turned out not to be a van Eyck at all, but a later copy of a lost original. So much for professionalism! When it comes to modern art, of course, the problem is compounded today by a breaking down of the barriers, not only between what is good art and what is bad art, but also between what is art and what is not art. Picasso had an early hand in producing this dilemma. He put a turned up bicycle handle on a turned down seat and called it Toro which, as you know, in English means bull. Picasso was an artist of transcendental genius, but he was not indifferent to the things that money could buy, and I have a sneaking suspicion that, on this occasion, he was laughing on his way to the bank. I think Trustees should constantly be asking themselves and the professional staff, 'Are we being taken for a ride?'. Not only is art of the past beyond the reach of most galleries today, but so also is much of the art of the present. It means that those concerned with the buying of works of art now and in the future will need to have very sensitive antennae indeed. For, in the end, unfortunately, it really comes back to money. No matter how beautiful a Gallery building may be----and this one is, in my view, exceptionally so---it is what the building contains that really matters. As I said in my inaugural speech as Chairman of Trustees at the Gallery, acquisitions policy, like politics itself, is the art of the possible. To those who view with envy the collections in Melbourne and Canberra, let me just say that at the beginning of this century, Melbourne had the Felton Bequest, the income from which could have bought in those days almost any painting in the world. Canberra had a massive injection of funds by the Commonwealth Government, which enabled it to put together, in a comparatively short time, what I once heard described as 'the personal collection of an eccentric billionaire'. Brisbane has not been so fortunate. By comparison, this Gallery has something like $300 000 a year to spend on acquisitions. When you consider that the going price these days for a bunch of sunflowers in a vase----provided, of course, they have been painted by the right hand-– is $57.5 million, the problem we face is self evident. In recent months we have been evolving a new acquisitions policy which takes account of some of these problems. The policy will give the Gallery a new direction by focusing the development of the Collection on a number of identified strengths in areas of its present holdings. It makes good sense to buy fewer things of significance in clearly defined areas, which make an impact on the Collection, rather than spend a lot of money on works that other galleries already have. The Collection will be developed within the broad parameters of Australian · painting, sculpture and decorative arts after 1900, including Aboriginal and Islander arts, Queensland-based art and Australian prints, drawings and photographs from the time of European settlement. In addition, international works in all media will continue to be collected, principally post 1850, with, if possible, some relationship to the Australian collection. In addition, we must look at our present holdings in storage----in other words, our collections 'downstairs' to see how much can be brought 'upstairs'. And finally it means encouraging sponsorship both by corporations and by individuals. We already rely heavily on the generosity of some outstanding donors, of whom Lady Trout and the late Sir Leon Trout, are pre-eminent. At my first Trustees meeting, we were given 102