AN EMPTY CHAIR: 10 YEARS OF PAPER

The empty chair of a museum director is the subject of Rew Hanks’ linocut, Krefft’s Chair. Krefft’s Chair recalls the story of the dramatic departure of a museum director - Gerard Krefft, Curator and Secretary of the Australian Museum in Sydney.

Krefft was a dedicated leader for the museum, a respected scientist and writer, who during his curatorship established a highly regarded international reputation for the Australian Museum and was responsible for the considerable growth of the museum’s collection. A colourful character of some repute – his unconventional approach to promotion of the museum involved events such as a snake and a mongoose fight within the museum for the entertainment of VIP guests including the Duke of Edinburgh and Henry Parkes.1

Krefft was also a man of strong opinions, and his ‘departure’ from the museum was a consequence of his many clashes with the museum’s trustees which led to him being dismissed in 1874 under disputed charges ranging from drunkenness, disobedience and allowing the sale of ‘dirty’ postcards. Krefft refused to leave the museum and barricaded himself in his office until a museum trustee “obtained the services of two prize-fighters, who broke into Krefft’s living quarters and carried him ‘bareheaded from the place’, still seated in his chair.”2

In June 2015 we will be farewelling our own director and ‘colourful character’, Joe Eisenberg, in a much more respectful manner and with fondness and appreciation of the legacy of his eleven year tenure – a vibrant and inspiring art gallery. No-one could deny that Joe has been an aspirational and inspirational Director for MRAG who, like Krefft, has built a strong reputation for our art gallery and a strong art collection for the City of Maitland. In the last ten years under Joe’s directorship the art gallery has undergone a major transformation and Joe has been instrumental in the significant growth of the MRAG Collection over this time. Since 2005 the number of works in the collection has grown from 1000 to more than 4000 items. Joe’s departure from the art gallery prompts reflection on the story of the MRAG Collection over the last decade and this exhibition, An empty chair: 10 years of paper, displays just a small selection of the 3000 artworks collected, commencing with the year 2005 in which the new MRAG collection focus to collect works on paper was implemented. So, as per our collection focus, all the works in this exhibition, and almost all of the works featured in the wider Just Paper series, are created on or with paper, representing the many forms of art, mediums, techniques and subject matter that artists can conceive.

The artworks range from examples of the precise and time consuming techniques of printmaking such as Rew Hanks’ intricately carved linocut and the multiplate etchings by Graham Fransella and Marlene and Sally Rubuntja; delicately assembled collages such as those by James Gleeson and Fiona Hall; 3D sculptural pieces such as the hand cut paper carvings by Kylie Stillman and multilayered artist books by Peter Kingston; the direct and descriptive photographs of Greg Weight and Michel Brouet; the haunting paintings, prints and drawings by Sidney Nolan and Adam Cullen, plus Joe’s personal favourites - the spare and scrawling pencil drawings by Ken Whisson.

Many artworks have been acquired by selective purchases funded by Maitland City Council, yet the majority of acquisitions over the last ten years have come to MRAG via the generosity of others. MRAG is very fortunate to have many supporters.

Wonderful donations of significant artworks have been gifted by artists and private collectors, people who are not just benefactors but who are now considered special and treasured friends of MRAG.

Such relationships include those with our Patrons, Ray Wilson and the late James Agapitos, Pat Corrigan and the late Margaret Olley, who have provided support in multiple ways, not only financial. They have served as advocates and promoters of the art gallery, facilitating donations from other sources and introducing MRAG to their own networks. Each of our Patrons has donated artworks from their own personal collections: Ray Wilson parting with some of his and James’ beloved Gleesons, Pat Corrigan boosting our collection of contemporary works on paper and Margaret Olley donating her own favourites as well as negotiating deals and discounts on behalf of MRAG, as only she could.

Other significant acquisitions by benefaction include: a large body of works on paper created (and donated) by Charles Blackman comprising preliminary studies, sketches and completed drawings and paintings created over sixty years of his practice; a rare collection of Asian artworks including centuries old Chinese scrolls; the wonderful Whiteley Wren and the Jenny Sages portrait from Pauline Hunter; Olsens and more from Michael Gleeson-White and the beautiful Days of Summer suite of prints by Salvatore Zofrea, which MRAG toured across the country. Our Aboriginal collection has benefitted from Helen Eager and Christopher Hodges’ passions and Robin Gurr’s love of indigenous art and her enjoyment in giving. International artists now feature more prominently thanks to the goodwill of Hans and Pamela Schuttler and of course Geoffrey Ainsworth, who must also be credited for gifting the largest (and heaviest!) work in the Collection, the magnificent watercolour, Cross, by British artist Jason Brooks.

Generous artists Tony Ameneiro, Marion Borgelt, Judy Cassab, David Fairbairn, Mark Kimber, Ildiko Kovaks, Marco Luccio, Alexander McKenzie, Timothy Maguire, Max Miller, Nell, Deborah Paauwe, Dick Watkins… and many more have all contributed to the chapters that make up the MRAG Collection story so far.

Today the MRAG Collection consists of 4095 items valued at over $7.1 million. Starting in 1957 with the purchase of a small watercolour on paper by Brian Cowley, Maitland City Council launched a vision to create a cultural legacy for Maitland with a city art collection. Joe and the many gallery staff along the way have taken this vision to heart and the MRAG Collection is now an inspiring (and significant) asset for Maitland, housed in an award winning art gallery – how far the Collection has come and how exciting its potential! Just paper is the first time so much of the art gallery’s collection has been on display at one time. This exhibition is the culmination of a civic dream which started

with such small beginnings in 1957 and now has 4000 narratives - due largely in part to the generosity of donors, artists and the unique vision of the man in the director’s chair over the past decade.

There will be no heavyweights hired to remove him, rather a heavy weight in our hearts as we farewell him, as Joe leaves as Cultural Director of Maitland Regional Art Gallery. The director’s chair may be empty but the thirteen Whissons (plus much, much, more) remain as a reminder of his stay.

(above left) Alexander McKenzie, Study for the arborist’s garden, 2012, pencil on paper, 79 x 79 cm donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2013 (above right) Fiona Hall, Rolling in Clover, 2004, gouache on banknotes, 39.3 x 32.5 cm donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Patrick Corrigan, 2009

(left page) Kylie Stillman, Little Wattlebird, 2011, paper carving: printed paper A4 ream, 42 x 32 x 6 cm purchased by the Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2011 ENDNOTES

1 Martha Rutledge and G. P. Whitley, ‘Krefft, Johann Ludwig (Louis) (1830–1881)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of

Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/ biography/krefft-johann-ludwig-louis-3972/text6271, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed online 3 March 2015.

2 ‘Gerard Krefft, Curator and Secretary, 1861-1874’, The Australian Museum, (website), http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/gerard-krefft-curatorand-secretary, accessed online 3 March 2015.

by Cheryl Farrell Collection Management Curator

(left) Nicholas Harding, Study of Margaret Olley, 1997-1998, ink, chalk, and correction fluid on paper, 51.2 x 42.8 cm donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Geoffrey and Vicki Ainsworth, 2009 (right top) James Gleeson, Untitled, 1976, collage on book lithograph, 15 x 21.5 cm purchased by Maitland Regional Art Gallery Members, 2009

(right lower) Wendy Sharpe, Mona and Stephane, 2007, gouache on paper, 36 x 28 cm donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Pauline Hunter, 2013 (right page) Charles Blackman, Male portrait, c.1986, felt tip pen on paper, 75.8 x 56 cm donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Charles Blackman, 2012

(above) Evan Salmon, Valve radio, 2010, wax resist, ink wash and pastel on Arches Aquarelle paper, 28.5 x 38 cm purchased by Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2010

(left page top) Cressida Campbell, Trout remains, 1995, unique woodblock print on paper, 29.2 x 34.2 cm donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Robin Gurr, 2012 (left page lower) Sidney Nolan, Untitled (carcass), 1952, mixed media on paper, 24.5 x 29.5 cm purchased by Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2012

(left top) Ken Whisson, Motorcycle, 1985, pencil on paper, 49 x 69 cm donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Patrick Corrigan, 2009 (right lower) David Aspden, Untitled, n.d., gouache on paper, 25 x 25 cm gift of Stephen Hesketh, 2014

(right page) Marlene Rubuntja and Sally Rubuntja, Woman, 2013 multiplate etching on paper, 60 x 60cm, 15 x 15cm (each panel) purchased by Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2014

THE MAITLAND WONDER

THE MAITLAND WONDER: LES DARCY