Wieneke Archive Book 2 : Queensland National Art Gallery (Director: James Wieneke) 1950-51 Presscuttings

Could put us on art man QUEENS LAND could make a wonderful con- tribution to Jubilee Year by building a new Art Gallery for this State. "In Brisbane you have a world famous Town Hall and a magnificent new University, but the Art Gallery.. .," observed Mr. Haines, when I saw him in his attic -studio looking office at the National Gallery of Victoria. There is a new broom atmo- sphere about Mr. Ilaines-a kind of evangelistic seal /or sweeping away the cobwebs with which the man in the street associates with art galleries. He Is vital, enthusiastic, and meticulous, and at 38 is Australia's eoungest art gallery director. His conception of his work, which is also his hobby, is this: "Art is not something you hang on a wall, it can as easily be some- thing you drink out of-it is not something you look at occasion- ally, it is a part of life." "In Australia we are just be- ginning to develop some sort of culture of our own. Everywhere there is tremendous activity," he says. "National ballets, orchestras, and theatres are springing up, and culturally the people are in a very receptive state.' BIG CIIA1ICE "BRISBANE has a wonderful oppor- tunity to establish itself as an art centre by building a new gal- lery-not a monumental building but something quite different from anything existing in Australia," said Mr. Haines. Mr. Haines sketched a rough plan, from which The Courier - Mail artist created the above im- pression of what the Queensland' Art Director -elect visualises. "This type of gallery could be built wing by wing," he says. "With Brisbane's varied and luxurious vegetation and won- derful climate, for eight months of the year, such a gallery could show sculpture In a setting that could rival those whI,11 have made the gardens of I Aly fam- ous, and could show paintings under conditions that would at - Greek head and a seas_ , ligure by Lyndon Dadswell, of Sydney. Mr. Haines owns about 50 paint- ings, mostly by Australian artists. One of his favourite possessions is drawing of a girl by Rodin which he found in a small London gal- lery. Rodin gave it to Bernard Shaw's wife and it was sold after 1111111111111111111111111I111111111111111111111111111111IIII1111111111111111111111111111111111' By JACK O'CALLAGHAN Courier -Moil's Melbourne Representative innumninnimmannininninnannnimmunnanillininfinininnilad tract every visitor to Brisbane to the gallery. "But the new gallery should be closer to the city. Now it is just a little too far away for people to come during their lunch hours to talks and lectures, or just to look. "The old Government House site near the Botanic Gardens would be ideal." ART BIS LIFE MR. Haines describes himself as "not a serious painter, but one who paints for his own amusement- chiefly still life and landscapes,' and as one who learnt painting to understand some of the problems of the artist. While he was a student at Mel- bourne University, he took night classes under Bernard Hall and McInnes. Later he studied with Max Meldrum. Art, he says, is his life, not his Job. He does not believe that a gallery director starts at 9 a.m. and finishes at 5 p.m. From his own personal environ- ment and from his social contactel a man who hopes to raise the ar- tistic standards of the community can, and should, have an impact on his associates, he says. He has "a fairly catholic taste" in his own collection. It includes English oak furniture of about 1600 and contemporary pieces; made of Queensland black bean and New Guinea walnut; he has FIL fourth century B.C. sculptured THE COURTED-31AM. MONDAY, MARCH 19, 1951.1 Museum of art A small art museum far art objects such as furniture, silver, glassware. ad rcelai would be set upn in theQueens- land National Art Gallery in the next few months, the Gal- lery director (Mr. Robert Haines) said last night. 1 Addressing the Lyceum Club i on the part an art gallery es,ej should play in civic life, Mr. Haines said a print room would' be built up with engravings, etchings, litho prints. drawings, and a number of reproductions of Old Masters and contem-, pnrary artists. THE COURIER -MAIL, THURS., JUNE 21, 1951. ---. her death with the rest of her effects. Mr. Haines' four most absorb- ing interests are Australian paint- ing, Chinese art, sculpture, and furniture. Of these he says:- Australian painting: Every Aus- tralian gallery should try to show a chronological survey of Australian painting from the early artists to those of the present day and should include a section showing the bark paintings of the Australian aboriginal. Some contemporary Australian work compares very favourably with that of othe- countries, but I feel we are too much influenced by contemporary English artists who lack the charm and colour found, for instance, in French paintings. Chinese art: Australians should take more interest in the whole of the East as much for our material as for our artistic bene- fit. The more we know of Oriental peoples the better we will understand them and they are our neighbours. PUBLIC DUTY "AUSTRALIAN furni- ture design is often bad, consisting of copies (no very exact) of 'period' designs, c. poor quality modern design, of bombastic shapes, in putty and plywood, covered with French polish," he says. "We have magnificent woods in this country, and there are a few furniture makers using them, but the woods are too little known and are seldom seen In the shops." [Mr. Haines has been lecturer '- furniture at the Melbourne Univer- sity School of Architecture.] In 1949, Mr. Haines won a Britis' Council scholarship and spent sl'. months at the Courtauld School of Art, London University. There lie specialised in Chinese art, and the care, cleaning, and restoration of paintings. This was followed by a six months' tour of the continent -- three months in France, and three in Italy, where he studied the col- lections, and e squired into the ad- ministration and display of world famous galleries. Mr. Haines believes that an art gallery is not a storehouse. It is an educational institution, with a duty to the public. which has a duty to it. ., age to a museum. MI. BAINES He says that what a gallery can do for a community will depend on its scope, but its success will hinge largely on how it goes about. its work. Mr. Haines knows that people cannot be driven to culture, so they must be enticed. Too few will come to gaze at the same old statues and paintings. Exhibits must be changed, illustrated talks given, clearly descriptive cata- logues prepared, photographs of exhibits must be made available to the public ART ALONE "OUR galleries are art galleries, not pic- ture galleries," Mr. Haines says. "Talks and lectures on, for in- stance, furniture, pottery, glass, silver, and design are important, and are an integre` part of a gallery's function. They do an enormous amount to raise public taste and to encourage Australian art. "Even in the Victorian era galie"ies were still just homes ickplled :,rt treasures. t teeel is towards ors..dead nei iso- , them with pr i e purpose of le educate the s says taste he atio.e.akelttearsri3 galleries are gait. of a State, not of a 'metre pe , yet thousands of Ails- tralain, never seen un orig- inal pai,, GIVES TALKS "THERE should be ex - 11 hibitions to all parts of the country." says Mr. Mr. Haire .s. "In Victor'a the Na- tional Gallery has sea,: travelling exhib.tions to many country towns, and the education officer spends most of his time travelling to these towns and giving talks on the ex- hibitions. The response has been astounding." Brisbane will get to know Mr. Haines much better through one of the first decisions he will have to make. What will become of the popu- lar but artistically despised "Evic- ted" under the new director? You'll have to wait, and see, because Mr. Haines has never seen it.