nary russians nary O i T lu O ev r • CT ed Obje T The Craf artonview issue no.47 spring 2006 artonview ISSUE No.47 SPRING 2006 NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA A R T A R T I O N S E X H I B I A A L I T R A U S Principal Sponsor plastered, painted and gilded linen Collection Musée du Louvre Photograph © Georges Poncet, Musée du Louvre, Paris Louvre, du Musée Poncet, Georges © Photograph Louvre du Musée Collection linen gilded and painted plastered, Djedkhonsouioufankh of Cartonnage BCE) (1069–715 dynasties 21st–22nd Period, Intermediate Third SIGHTS MICHAELRILEY UNSEEN 14 July – 16 October 2006 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Imants Tillers installing Terra incognita 2005 at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2005 nga.gov.au Michael Riley Wiradjuri/Kamileroi peoples Untitled from the series cloud [cow] 2000 printed 2005 chromogenic pigment photograph National Gallery of Australia, Canberra © Michael Riley, Licensed by VISCOPY The National Gallery of Australia is an Australian Government agency. contents artonview Publisher 2 Director’s foreword National Gallery of Australia nga.gov.au 4 Egyptian antiquities from the Louvre Editor Eve Sullivan 8 Revolutionary Russians: Commemorating the centenary Designer of Shostakovich Sarah Robinson Photography 16 The crafted object 1960s–80s Eleni Kypridis Barry Le Lievre Brenton McGeachie 24 The Gallery of Southeast Asian Art Steve Nebauer John Tassie 28 New acquisitions Designed and produced in Australia by the 42 James Turrell changes the shape of the sky National Gallery of Australia Printed in Australia by Pirion Pty Limited, Canberra 45 Travelling exhibitions artonview ISSN 1323-4552 46 Abracadabra: the magic in conservation Published quarterly: Issue no. 47, Spring 2006 50 Tribute: Gela Nga-Mirraitja Fordham c. 1935–2006 © National Gallery of Australia Print Post Approved 52 Tribute: Micky Garrawurra 1940–2006 pp255003/00078 All rights reserved. Reproduction without 54 Development office permission is strictly prohibited. The opinions expressed in artonview are not necessarily those of the editor or 55 Access services: Making a difference publisher. Submissions and correspondence 58 Faces in view should be addressed to: The editor, artonview National Gallery of Australia GPO Box 1150 Canberra ACT 2601 [email protected] Advertising (02) 6240 6587 facsimile (02) 6240 6427 [email protected] RRP: $8.60 includes GST Free to members of the National Gallery of Australia For further information on National Gallery of Australia Membership contact: Coordinator, Membership GPO Box 1150 Canberra ACT 2601 (02) 6240 6504 [email protected] front cover: Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh, India Lakshmi Narayana 10th–11th century sandstone National Gallery of Australia, Canberra director’s foreword The Gallery is beginning to look different. And we will see more Behind the scenes, we are working on the reconfiguration changes over the next six months. Last month we finished the of the main level gallery spaces opening in late October as a first complete cleaning of the building’s outside walls. Ugly chronological survey of late nineteenth-century and twentieth- stains have been removed and the building looks immaculate. century international art focusing on the School of Paris, Dada Inside, we have commenced a relighting program that will and Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism eventually show all of our display galleries literally in a new light. and Conceptual Art. These movements are of course crucial Old, unsightly and inconsistent fittings will be replaced under to the careers of many noted Australian artists whose work the supervision of George Sexton, the world’s leading museum will be presented in context here for the first time. The new lighting expert. international displays present a broad range of media – paintings, On display in the Australian Galleries are two major new sculpture, prints, drawings, illustrated books, photography and additions. One is Australia’s first Symbolist painting, Charles the decorative arts, including our Ballet Russe costumes. It is Conder’s intriguing Hot wind 1889, an important painting hoped that these displays will generate a new interest in, and thought to be lost. We are grateful to the Sarah and Baillieu understanding, of our collection strengths. Myer Family Foundation for helping us purchase the work. Meanwhile, our temporary exhibitions program continues The other is Sydney Long’s Flamingoes c. 1906, a decorative unabated, with the extraordinary contemporary survey exhibitions art nouveau painting acquired with the generous assistance of of Imants Tillers and Michael Riley (on display until 16 October). donors through the Masterpieces for the Nation fund. The exhibitions are supported by the new National Gallery of We are now seeing the beginning of the reconfigured displays Australia Council Exhibition Fund, led by the enthusiastic and of the permanent collection – the Indian Gallery opened late last tireless advocate Rupert Myer, Chair of the Gallery Council. We month and the Southeast Asian Gallery opens in September. also thank the Michael Riley Foundation for assisting with the While highlights from the Indian subcontinent include newly research and organisation of the Michael Riley exhibition and acquired second-century Gandharan work from Pakistan and publication, and the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative for Afghanistan, and sculptures from Nepal and Bangladesh, most assistance with research and loans. of the art on display is from present-day India, with spectacular Michael Riley: sights unseen and Imants Tillers: one Buddhist, Jain, Hindu and Islamic works. More than half of the world many visions present two very complementary points sculptures and architectural elements have been acquired in the of view. Acclaimed Indigenous photographer and film-maker past eighteen months and some have not been shown before. Michael Riley’s searingly poetic images present an alternative The collection of Indian sculptures and architectural structures, to conventional icons of Christianity, reflecting what he has textiles and paintings is the largest and most important in our described as the ‘sacrifices Aboriginal people made to be region outside India. This display includes a marvellous sixteenth- Christian’. In contrast, Imants Tillers, a second-generation century Deccan canopy from the facade of a building (its purchase Australian artist of Latvian descent, perhaps more than any generously assisted by Margaret Olley AC) and the Lakshmi other Australian artist living today, demonstrates the cultural Narayana featured on the cover of this issue, an excellent example legacy and condition in which locality fails to entirely address of the kind of figure imagery that adorned medieval temples in what constitutes our cultural identity. central India. Narayana (which means ‘universal abode’) is one of This issue of artonview launches The crafted object the many emanations of Vishnu, the ‘preserver’ and maintainer of 1960s–80s and the dynamic Revolutionary Russians, featuring cosmic order, an appropriate icon for these unsteady times. works from the collection across a broad range of media, The new Southeast Asian Gallery emphasises our strengths and also previews our major summer blockbuster exhibition, in sculpture and textiles from Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Egyptian antiquities from the Louvre: journey to the Malaysia, Indonesia, and other Asian neighbours. It also features afterlife. The coming months will be very exciting for the new major acquisitions, particularly early ancestral animist works. Gallery as we redirect attention to the exceptional strengths of On show in our old downstairs Asian Gallery is the rare and the National Collection and our ongoing program of changing wonderfully preserved early sixteenth-century Japanese painted major exhibitions. folding screen from the Muromachi period, a recent gift of Andrew and Hiroko Gwinnett and the National Gallery of Australia Foundation. As outlined in my Vision for the National Gallery of Australia (available at nga.gov.au/Vision), while the arts of Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent are the main focus of the national Asian collection, we are also committed to developing Ron Radford a small but high quality North Asian collection. Director 2 national gallery of australia credit lines Donations Grants David Healey Kenneth Taylor AM and James Andrew Australia Council for the Arts Elisabeth Heard MH Taylor Roslynne Bracher Visions of Australia Shirley Hemmings in memory Sue Telford Charles Curran AC of Anthony Reis Noel Tovey Masterpieces Ashley Dawson-Damer Janet Hine HN Truscott AM David Adams Penelope Evatt-Seidler Keith Hooper Morna Vellacott Ross Adamson Richard and Maryan Godson Claudia Hyles Elizabeth Ward Antoinette Albert Andrew Gwinnett Father Jack Joy Warren OAM Robert O Albert AO Lee Liberman Susan Jardine Gough Whitlam AC QC Robert Allmark Myer Foundation Christopher Johnson and Margaret Whitlam AO William Anderson Brian O’Keeffe AO and Judith Johnson Stephen Wild Susan Armitage Bridget O’Keeffe AM Pamela Kenny Yvonne Wildash Stuart Babbage The Sarah and Baillieu Peter Kenny I Wilkey Peter and Dorothy Barclay Myer Family Foundation Richard Kingsland AO CBE DFC Muriel Wilkinson Peter Boxall Margaret Hannah Olley and Lady Kingsland Lady Wilson Robert Brennan Art Trust Judy Laver Robine Wilson in memory Christine Burgess Roslyn Packer Paul and Beryl Legge-Wilkinson of Donald Edward Wilson Esther Constable Maxine