Ideas about Australia — its cultural, artistic and social stories — are reflected in an extensive new display from the Queensland Art Gallery’s own Collection. Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said the new display presented art works dating from the European occupation of the continent to the 1970s.
“The display begins with art of the colonial period, and continues chronologically,” Mr. Ellwood said. “It occupies a series of magnificently refurbished galleries, which until recently had shown the exclusive-to-Brisbane exhibition, ‘American Impressionism and Realism: A Landmark Exhibition from the Met'”.
Doritt Black, (Australia 1891 – 1951), “In the Foothills”, 1941. Oil on canvas, 45.6 x 61.5 cm. Purchased 2009 with funds from the Bequest of Grace Davies and Nell Davies through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation. Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
Mr. Ellwood said the recent refurbishment, funded by the Queensland Government, was the first of its kind since the acclaimed Queensland Art Gallery building opened 27 years ago. “These new gallery spaces, and innovations in the works’ display, ensure the Australian collection will be seen to its best ever advantage,” he said.
Mr. Ellwood said the new hang, which includes painting, sculpture, decorative arts and furniture, reflected the multiple and sometimes contradictory stories of Australian art.
“Far from being one grand story line about Australia, this display reveals different perspectives, personalities, landscapes and cities, and it also integrates several significant works from the Indigenous Australian collection,” he said.
An innovative display will exhibit more Australian furniture collection than ever before, including a beautiful colonial table made of Queensland timber, which hangs alongside several timber shields from the Rainforest region of North Queensland, on loan from the Queensland Museum. New acquisitions also feature, including an elaborate 1864 silver presentation vase, acquired through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation’s 30th Anniversary Appeal, and an important painting by George Lambert.
Mr. Ellwood said display highlights included Symbolist paintings, works from the immensely popular Heidelberg School, and post-war painting which reflected the battle for dominance between figuration and abstraction. ‘There are also some wonderful Queensland stories within the display, with a selection from the Gallery’s important holdings of Ian Fairweather paintings and works by Sidney Nolan, drawing on his fascination with the story of Eliza Fraser,’ he said.
Also opening on Saturday 24 October 2009 is ‘Artists’ Choice’, a selection of works from the Collection, curated by senior Queensland painter and printmaker Lawrence Daws. ‘Artists’ Choice’ shows in the Xstrata Coal Queensland Artists’ Gallery until 26 January 2010.
