AGNSW_AnnRep_00 full.pdf - Parliament of New South Wales ...
AGNSW_AnnRep_00 full.pdf - Parliament of New South Wales ...
AGNSW_AnnRep_00 full.pdf - Parliament of New South Wales ...
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Ian Fairweather, The pool 1959<br />
synthetic polymer paint on cardboard on hardboard, 96.5 x 117.8 cm<br />
Purchased with funds provided by the Cezanne Dinner Fund 1999<br />
canvas and punch him on the nose. A good omen for a<br />
winning portrait painting we all felt.<br />
In the meantime the new format for the presentation<br />
<strong>of</strong> our Annual Report permits this review to consider less<br />
the detail and more the principles and momentums that<br />
determine the Gallery’s progress. However, the details and<br />
activities <strong>of</strong> the Gallery in the 1999-2<strong>00</strong>0 year may be<br />
summarised in the achievement <strong>of</strong> staging some forty<br />
exhibitions all but three <strong>of</strong> which were curated and<br />
organised within the Gallery; in purchasing $3.6 million<br />
worth <strong>of</strong> works <strong>of</strong> art without a cent <strong>of</strong> Government<br />
funding for acquisitions and receiving through gifts<br />
further works <strong>of</strong> art to the value <strong>of</strong> $2 million; publishing<br />
ten major catalogues among which were the very<br />
successful and substantial Michelangelo to Matisse:<br />
Drawing the figure and Jeffrey Smart books; delivering<br />
over 150 public lectures in addition to a non-stop range<br />
<strong>of</strong> public and family programmes; hosting over 260<br />
evening events; achieving a record $4 million turnover in<br />
the Gallery shop <strong>of</strong> which $1.2 million was in sale <strong>of</strong> Art<br />
Gallery publications; lending 290 works <strong>of</strong> art to<br />
exhibitions throughout Australia and around the world;<br />
substantially enhancing the building with the opening <strong>of</strong><br />
the Dorothy Street Galleries <strong>of</strong> Twentieth Century<br />
Australian Art and the new Gallery shop; expanding our<br />
conservation activities through private support and,<br />
finally, once again sustaining a membership <strong>of</strong> the Art<br />
Gallery Society in excess <strong>of</strong> 30,<strong>00</strong>0 members.<br />
The challenges, though, remain much the same and<br />
fundamentally revolve around maintaining such levels <strong>of</strong><br />
activity without prejudice to the content and quality <strong>of</strong><br />
the Art Gallery’s activities. The political and economic<br />
climate in which we now operate is very different from as<br />
recently as 15 or 20 years ago when art museums such as<br />
this were naturally assumed to be wholly government<br />
responsibilities and we relied upon government for the<br />
vast majority <strong>of</strong> our capital and recurrent funding. Our<br />
situation, <strong>of</strong> ever-increasing financial self-reliance, is<br />
paralleled in the experiences <strong>of</strong> other State art galleries.<br />
However, there are substantial levels <strong>of</strong> government<br />
investment in permanent resources and we are only too<br />
aware <strong>of</strong> the commitments <strong>of</strong> around $1<strong>00</strong> million plus to<br />
the National Gallery <strong>of</strong> Victoria for the refurbishment <strong>of</strong><br />
the St. Kilda Road premises, <strong>of</strong> the $1<strong>00</strong> million for the<br />
Queensland Gallery to extend its building facilities and<br />
the $60 million for the National Gallery. So far as this<br />
Gallery is concerned I am delighted to report that the<br />
government will be providing the funds for the next stage<br />
<strong>of</strong> the development <strong>of</strong> this building which will include the<br />
construction <strong>of</strong> a new conservation centre, an expansive<br />
new upper level gallery, a second gallery for Asian art and<br />
a relocated restaurant, all for a more modest $15 million.<br />
Expenditure on such infrastructure and permanent<br />
facilities such as buildings is, as these figures demonstrate,<br />
as substantial as it is welcome, but as we all know the<br />
recurrent funding to ensure the viability and growth <strong>of</strong><br />
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