National Gallery of Australia announces Renaissance: 15th & 16th century Italian paintings

CANBERRA.- The National Gallery of Australia today announced that it will present the first ever exhibition in Australia dedicated to Renaissance paintings. The exhibition is titled Renaissance – 15th & 16th Century Italian Paintings from the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, it will be the Gallery’s major summer exhibition, opening on 9 December 2011. Everyone understands that the Renaissance was a golden age in which learning and the arts flourished as never before. The exhibition will feature more than 70 paintings including works by Italian [...]

Dusseldorf’s Quadriennale 2010 Opens with Joseph Beuys Exhibition

DUSSELDORF.- By effecting an inextricable unity of artistic thinking and action, Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) became one of the most charismatic creative personalities of the 20th century. His multifaceted oeuvre — which continues to exert an influence on contemporary artistic production — is still featured and discussed under the most diverse aspects. Through ten major installations and large-scale sculptural works, the exhibition “Joseph Beuys. Parallel Processes” (Sept 11, 2010 – Sept 16, 2011) at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen am Grabbeplatz in Düsseldorf [...]

New Exhibition to Return Artist to Proper Place in Australian History

CANBERRA.- The first retrospective of Australia’s first major colonial trained professional artist, Robert Dowling (1827–1886), opens today at the National Gallery of Australia. “This exhibition, organised by the National Gallery of Australia, aims to place Robert Dowling in his proper place in Australian cultural history. When he first advertised himself as an artist in Launceston in 1850, he became the first locally trained Australian artist and went on to be the first to achieve success overseas. He was Australia’s most [...]

Groundbreaking Program to Boost Indigenous Australian Numbers in Arts Leadership Roles

CANBERRA.- The National Gallery of Australia today launched a 5-year initiative to boost the number of Indigenous Australians in professional roles in the visual arts. Ron Radford AM, Director of the National Gallery of Australia, said the Wesfarmers Arts Indigenous Fellowship has been established to develop the next generation of Indigenous Australian leaders in the visual arts sector. “While Indigenous Australians play a prominent role in the creation of visual art, they are not similarly represented in the management of [...]

Toledo Museum of Art Names New Director Brian P. Kennedy to Lead Museum

TOLEDO, OH.- The Toledo Museum of Art announced today that Brian P. Kennedy, director of the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, has accepted the position as the Museum’s ninth director with a start date of September 1. Board Chair Betsy Brady and George Chapman, head of the search committee, made the announcement this morning at the Museum. “The Museum conducted an international search for its next director. We were pleased to have an exemplary group of candidates presented [...]

Au revoir to Masterpieces from Paris, the Most Successful Exhibition in Australian History

CANBERRA.- The National Gallery of Australia exhibition Masterpieces from Paris, showcasing 112 Post-Impressionist works from the Musée d’Orsay, closed today with over 476,000 visitors, easily breaking the attendance record for any exhibition in Australia. After over four months on show, including an extended season in response to overwhelming demand, the exhibition closed today after staying open for 32 hours straight. Arts Minister, The Hon Peter Garrett AM, MP said, “This stunning, record-breaking exhibition gave Australians a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see [...]

Nolan’s Ned Kelly Masterpiece Breaks Australia’s Auction Record

SYDNEY.- “First Class Marksman” broke the Australian auction record for a painting on Thursday at Menzies Art Brands, when it sold for AUD $5.4 million dollars ($4.9 million). “The painting was put to auction on 25 March at Sydney, with an estimated auction price of $3 million to $5 million,” said Mr Rod Menzies, Chairman of Menzies Art Brands. “We were thrilled to be entrusted with the sale of this important iconic work, which we believed would set a new [...]

250,000 and Counting! Masterpieces from Paris Breaks National Gallery of Australia Attendance Record

CANBERRA.- Masterpieces from Paris: Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and beyond today welcomed its 250 000th visitor, breaking the National Gallery of Australia’s previous exhibition visitation record of 241,770 set by the Rubens and the Italian Renaissance exhibition in 1992. “We are thrilled to have achieved our visitation target for Masterpieces from Paris. We have seen an average of 3000 people a day experience the exhibition,” said Ron Radford AM, Director of the National Gallery. “With 6 weeks remaining until the [...]

Art Gallery of New South Wales Exhibition Focuses on Six Photographers

SYDNEY.- In May 1955 a group of six Australian photographers showed some 200 photographs in an exhibition held at David Jones Gallery in Sydney. The artists were Gordon Andrews, Max Dupain, Kerry Dundas, Hal Missingham, Axel Poignant and David Potts. It was a key exhibition in representing a shift away from the traditions of pictorialism to the recording of contemporary life. These photographers were not overtly politically, but primarily engaged with the documentary mode for the fresh approach and vision [...]

New Permanent Galleries and Display Spaces at the National Gallery of Australia

CANBERRA.- The Hon Peter Garrett AM MP, Minister for the Arts today officially opens a suite of new permanent display spaces and galleries at the National Gallery of Australia dedicated to the display of works from the national art collection and bringing to completion the Stage One renovations and improvements to the original 1970s building. “It gives me great pleasure to open these new exhibition spaces, the culmination of a four year refurbishment program of the interior of the National [...]