Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

I The beginning Richard Austin was appointed Chairman of Trustees at the Queensland Art Gallery on 23 May 1987. In some of his later speeches, he referred amusingly to possible reasons for his appointment. However, after a distinguished career as a soldier, diplomat, businessman, art collector, and former Trustee and Deputy President of Trustees at the National Gallery of Victoria, he was a most appropriate choice as Chairman, overseeing the progress of -the Queensland Art Gallery inter a new era. A new Director of the Queensland Art Gallery, Doug Hall, had been appointed on 2S January 1987, and had stated a determination to give the Gallery a broader mission in exhibitions philosophy, acquisitions policy and entrepreneurial activity. Richard Austin and Doug Hall were to combine as a formidable team. Though varying in style, they 1 were in accord in their concept of what the Gallery should become as it approached the second century of its history. 'The Austin era will be remembered as a golden period for the Gallery as host of blockbuster and innovative exhibitions, such as the Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art: 1 On the occasion of his inaugural speech as Chairman of Trustees at the Queensland Art Gallery, Richard Austin oudined his vision of the role of a State Gallery and paid tribute to some of his predecessors. 2 Mr Austin made the following fundamental points: First, a State Gallery should be a place of intellectual stimulation and of pleasure, and it should serve an educational role. It should be a keeping place for art of the present as well as from the past and it should be a place of broad-ranging social activity. Second, there was a need for a gallery on the periphery of Asia to take account of countries in the Near North. Third, there was a vital need for private support. The speeches in this volume have been arranged under these themes, except that the second-the need to take account of countries to the Near North-has been placed first. Richard Austin's contribution with respect to Asia provided a catalyst for the transformation of the Queensland Art Gallery into an institution of real international significance and helped shape a revolutionary reassessment in the Australian art world with far-reaching implications. The inaugural speech is here reproduced in full. The occasion was the official opening at the Gallery of the first exhibition of the work of contemporary Australian artists to be sent to an art museum in Japan. The exhibition itself foreshadowed a significant new direction for the Queensland Art Gallery. 3 12