Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

It is my own good fortune that five members of the old Council remain on the new Board-Rod O'Loan, Ken Goodwin, Bill Palmer, Lawrence Daws and Rod Arnott; and that the new Trustees-Mrs Jenny Manton, Ian Callinan, QC, and the new Director, Doug Hall-are all people in whom I have every confidence. I am happy to say, and I know that you will all be equally happy to hear, that Mr O'Loan has graciously agreed to continue as Deputy and thus to give us the benefit of his long and valuable experience in the days to come. For this the new Board is greatly in his debt. A Gallery, in my view, has several roles to play-all inter-connected and yet sometimes in competition. It should provide intellectual and aesthetic stimulation and pleasure--that is its primary role; it should have an important educational function; it should act as an historical keeping place for the art of the present as well as of the past; and, finally, it should be a centre of social activity in the broadest sense, a place where all those interested in the arts-be they patrons, collectors, connoisseurs, artists, art students or simply (so to speak) voyeurs-can meet on terms of relaxed equality. We are lucky to be assisted in the fulfilment .of these. various roles by three organisations, with whose members I look forward to working closely and amicably and for whose past contributions I am most appreciative: the Gallery Society for its generous assistance both on the social side and also with acquisitions; the Volunteer Guides for their invaluable assistance in the field of Education; and, finally, the Foundation for its help financially. 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. 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 $S7.S million, the problem we face is self evident. Moreover, for a Gallery on the periphery of Asia and which, therefore, should take account of the art of what is still called the Far East (but which is, for us, very much the Near North) it is daunting, to say the least, that Chinese ceramics have already broken through the million dollar barrier. There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, attributed to Picasso. At dinner one night he effectively disarmed a woman who was gushing to him about his paintings, by saying: 'Madam, if you wish to have a meaningful conversation with me, let it be about money. If you wish to talk about art, I suggest you turn to the man on your other side. He is my banker'. 14