"O'keeffe, Preston, Cossington Smith: Making Modernism" Exhibition

EDITED SPEECH OF MR ANTHONY HOWARD QC DELIVERED AT THE OPENING OF

‘O’KEEFFE, PRESTON, COSSINGTON SMITH: MAKING MODERNISM’ EXHIBITION–

HEIDE MUSEUM

Monday 10 October 2016

Mr Steven Skala AO, Chairman of the Heide Museum of Modern Art, and Board members

Mr Robert Kret, Director of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Mr Michael Brand, Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales

Ms Chris Saines, Director of the Queensland Art Gallery

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

I send warmest greetings from my wife, Governor Linda Dessau. Unfortunately she has lost her voice, so the gallery has agreed for me, and it is my absolute pleasure, to launch this beautiful exhibition on her behalf. I only resigned as a judge last week after 10 years service so I could be more involved in our community activities, but did not expect to be thrown in the deep end so soon!

First, in the spirit of reconciliation, I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we are gathering and pay my respects to their elders past and present and to any elders with us this evening.

Your invitation particularly resonated with the Governor and me. We see Heide as bringing together the richness of life in Victoria, as represented tonight by philanthropy, art and the “creative collision” between several artists. And on this occasion, as the first male spouse of a Governor of Victoria, I am especially pleased to be launching an all female exhibition!

Our State would be immeasurably the poorer without the generosity and vision of our philanthropists. It is impossible to stand here without reflecting on that, on the site and in a museum that realised the dream of John and Sunday Reed, two of Australia’s greatest art benefactors, who were Victorians as well.

One of the joys of the Governor’s role and mine is the constant exposure it gives us to that sort of generosity. It affords us the chance to thank people for their giving and their vision, and there is no

1 doubt that a high tide raises all boats. The leadership shown by the Reeds has undoubtedly inspired others, and has been replicated in turn across families and across generations. Many of those with that generous nature are with us this evening.

The Governor particularly wanted to emphasise that one of the other great joys of this role is the privilege of choosing and living amongst some of the exquisite art that hangs in Government House, from the collection of our National Gallery of Victoria. We are indeed very grateful for the generosity of that esteemed gallery, which exposes such works to our community and visitors to Government House.

The Governor noted from a recent media article that much of the art selected by the Prime Minister and his wife, to hang in The Lodge is by Victorian artists, either born or settled here. She said this is the myopic view with which she approaches her reading nowadays! Amongst them were works by: Blackman, Brack, Fred Williams, Streeton, Drysdale, Nolan, Arthur Boyd and Margaret Preston (well, she studied briefly in Melbourne).

When we moved into Government House, we had no complaints at all about the beautiful art from the NGV that graced the walls, including a wonderful collection of Streetons and Bunnys. But we did fear that our works might have left our local and our international guests with the impression that art in this State stopped in the early to mid 20th century.

However, we share the ambition of this Museum of Modern Art to showcase the brilliant works of recent and current artists, and so it has been a pleasure to add Fred Williams and Arthur Boyd, Larwill and Arkley, Blackman, Brack, Senbergs and Brook Andrew amongst many others to our display.

Pertinent to today and this wonderful exhibition, it has also been a pleasure to ensure that, amongst those artists, female artists are also represented on the walls of our State House. We have, for example two Margaret Prestons, “Waratah” and “Banksia and Flannel Flowers”. We have hung an Angela Brennan, have set a large Inge King in the garden, and the dining room is currently hung with 6 Emily Floyds from her series Solve Your Personal Problem Socially. I note Emily Floyd has had an exhibition at Heide, and her sculptures grace the entrance to the gallery here.

Victoria’s status as a creative State, with arts based events, and a thriving industry across all the arts and design, as well as Melbourne’s position as the world’s most liveable city for the 6th consecutive year is, we hope, highlighted by what we are able to show.

After all, our creative industries collectively represent nearly $23 billion, or 8%, of the State’s economy. And our reputation is enhanced by our arts based major events, and the fact that millions of locals and tourists are attracted to the vast array of arts on offer.

It is against that backdrop that we are fortunate to have a thriving gallery and museum culture in Victoria, and Heide Museum of Modern Art is one of the most important. The fact that it showcases not only the modernist artists of the ‘Heide Circle’, but also the work of living artists and emerging artists, places it at the vanguard of our cultural institutions.

This exhibition, which will tour in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and perhaps America, represents a “creative collision” between three artists with a modernist vision. The Governor was particularly taken by the boldness of bringing together the work of these three women. She admits up front the showing of three outstanding women artists does not disappoint her – particularly as the percentage of women hung in museums and galleries still lags drastically far behind the men. It enriches us all when we are able to see more work of what is, after all, half the population.

We applaud those who conceived the exhibition of these different artists, women who worked independently of each other, and in the case of Georgia O’Keeffe, of course, in a part of the world such a very long way away from Australia. It is incredible to note that between the three artists there is a lifetime of 279 artistic years in total – O’Keeffe living to 99, Preston to 88 and Cossington Smith to 92!

Clearly, there is clever curation involved, which highlights the parallels and the differences between the works. There is a connection in subject matter, namely, that of flowers and plants, indigenous and local themes, similarities in light and colour and a modernist approach to the respective locations of the artists. But I will leave it for others to talk with authority about the artists and the themes of the exhibition.

I shall leave them to do what they do best, and shall instead turn to the task I have to preform on behalf of the Governor. That is to congratulate your esteemed chairman, Steven Skala, and his Board; to compliment your director, Kirsty Grant on this outstanding exhibition and indeed, on her body of work during her 2 years at Heide; to acknowledge the sponsors; and of course to congratulate the collaborative efforts of the five curators who have come together from across Victoria, New South Wales and America to make this exhibition possible. And to note - this is the first time a major body of work by Georgia O’Keeffe has been brought to Australia.

Finally, a significant question arises as to how best to launch an art exhibition! I can hardly smash a bottle of champagne against such valuable paintings. I contemplated inviting you all to throw paint against a blank canvas in an attempt to create Blue Poles 2, which might then be sold to enrich the Heide Gallery. But it’s probably best if I just wish you all well, and declare with pleasure the O’KEEFFE, PRESTON, COSSINGTON SMITH: MAKING MODERNISM Exhibition, officially open!