Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

Monsieur Baude is also a good friend of the Gallery. He paid us a visit soon after his posting to Canberra began. He spoke with eloquence and erudition at the opening of the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition in 1991, and only last week he helped to launch the Renoir exhibition by speaking at the press preview. On that occasion, he said that nowhere in Australia had the cause of French culture been served as well as in the Queensland Art Gallery. We are certainly committed to the cause of 'connecting cultures', as he put it, and who can blame us for putting France at the top of the list? France has, above all others, upheld and propagated the values of European culture and civilisation throughout the world for centuries. It is a country where there is much to admire, much to envy, much to emulate, and, indeed, as the title of this exhibition would suggest, much to love. From one of my early excursions into French literature, I vividly recall a poem by Alfred de Vigny that also began with the words, j'aime, 1'aime le son du cor, le soir, au fond des bois' and I have been thrilled ever since by the sound of a hunting horn in the depths of the forest. But sound is not all France has to offer. There is something special there for the other four senses as well. Who can forget the taste of a classic Chambertin, the aroma of a freshly excavated truffle, the sight of Rouen Cathedral and Monet's many renderings of it, and the soft enchantment of a length of silk from Lyons? Who can forget the combination of courage and belief in its culture that caused France to expel the Ministry of Finance from a building it had long occupied in order to provide, at vast expense, the new Richelieu Wing of the Musee du Louvre. But, as De Gaulle said, 'France is never her true self unless she is engaged in a great enterprise'. In Australia, too, we need a real commitment to big achievement, not meaningless talk about the big picture. Here in Queensland we look forward to the advent of a Mitterand of the South to provide the new wing which this Gallery so badly needs, if it is to realise its full potential. But I am digressing and it is time for me to call upon the French Ambassador to address us and open the exhibition, and this I have much pleasure in doing. Ladies and gentlemen, the French Ambassador. 23 Speech to introduce Mr Ken Cowley, AO, Chairman and Chief Executive, News Limited, at the opening of the Cowley Outback Collection, 16 May 1994 NOTE: THIS COLLECTION OF FIFTY WATERCOLOUR PAINTINGS OF AUSTRALIAN FLORA AND FAUNA, BY ADELAIDE ARTIST ROSEMARY WOODFORD GANF, WERE DISPLAYED AT THE GALLERY FROM 14 TO 29 MAY. THE EXHIBITION WAS OFFICIALLY OPENED BY THE PREMIER OF QUEENSLAND MR WAYNE GOSS. THE COLLECTION WAS COMMISSIONED BY MR KEN COWLEY, CHAIRMAN OF THE AUSTRALIAN STOCKMAN'S HALL OF FAME AND OUTBACK HERITAGE CENTRE AT LONGREACH, TO ILLUSTRATE A LIMITED EDITION BOOK OF AUSTRALIAN POEMS 91