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The Queen opens
National Gallery
$27m for
purchase
of art
works
By JOHN BRYANT
The Queen officially opened the
Australian National Gallery last
night before an audience of about
900 distinguished Australians re
presenting the arts, government and
business.
A round of applause came from them
when the Prime Minister, Mr Frascr,
announced that the Government would
give S27 million for the purchase of art
works by the gallery over the next five
years.
He said the collection would be
known as the Bicentennial Collection, in
celebration of Australia's bicentenary
in 1988.
Mr Fraser also announced that three
of the galleries in the Australian
National Gallery would be named after
three Australian artists who had given
outstanding service to the gallery in the
past, Mr Fred Williams, Sir William
Dargie and Sir Darryl Lindsay.
The Queen, splendidly regal in an
evening dress of aquamarine silk taffeta
and wearing a diamond tiara, diamond
nccklace and diamond earrings, so ob
viously enjoyed her tour of the gallery
and talking with guests that her pro
gram ran 35 minutes over time.
She said that as Queen of Australia
she had visited all parts it, and "I have
seen a country moving confidently into
the future, secure in the knowledge that
a people rich with talent and full of
enterprise and industry, together with a
land abundant in resources, form an
unstoppable combination".
Of the new gallery, the Queen said,
"The establishment of a National Col
lection is also the establishment of a
national identity ....
"The artist has a central place in
society ... It is not only in painting and
sculpture that this country has been
revealing its potential. Australian
singers, dancers and a fast-growing film
industry are exciting audiences all over
the world ...."
She said the gallery "was a most
imaginative project which has met with
the success it deserved and will give
lasting enjoyment to Australians for
years to come".
The chairman of the Australian
National Gallery, Mr L. Gordon Darl
ing, said the occasion was one for cele
bration, thanksgiving and dedication.
The gallery was, he said, a place for all
people and all seasons.
In his speech the Prime Minister
made reference to the building having
an imposing entrance.
He added that "some may judge that
Picture: MARTIN JONES Fireworks burst over the National Gallery last night during a display marking its opening. The display was sponsored by the National Gallery and The Canberra Times. Help
Picture: MARTIN JONES
Fireworks burst over the National Gallery last night during a display marking its
opening. The display was sponsored by the National Gallery and The Canberra Times.
from ccrtain angles it is not the most
beautiful building in the world, but
when the trees already planted around
it grow the lines of the concrete will
soften".
"I would also like to make the point,
Your Majesty, that this building has
been designed so that disabled people
in wheelchairs are able to enjoy the
building and share the value of this
collection .. he said.
"This is a young gallery, but it is
undoubtedly going to become one of the
great galleries in the world."
During the opening ceremony, which
was held between 9pm and 11pm in the
gallery foyer, there was a spectacular
display of fireworks over Lake Burley
Griffin, enjoyed by the crowd of more
than 1,000 people who had waited out
side the gallery for the arrival and
More pictures, reports
- Pages 12 and 13.
departure of the Queen and Prince
Philip with their entourage.
The crowd gave the Queen and
Prince Philip a warm reception. People
were lined up three deep on the con
course opposite the main entrance and
along the footbridge between the High
Court and the gallery.
The Royal couple arrived amid
cheers and applause and were greeted
by the Minister for Home Affairs and
Environment, Mr McVeigh, and Mrs
McVeigh.
They were then received by the gal
lery chairman, Mr Darling, and Mrs
Darling, the gallery director, Mr
Mollison, the Prime Minister and Mrs
Fraser, the Leader of the Opposition,
Mr Hayden, and Mrs Hayden, and the
Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Anthony,
and his daughter, Miss Jane Anthony.
On her tour through the gallery to see
the works of art the Queen stopped to
talk with artist Sir Sidney Nolan and
his wife and to look at the Ned KeMy
series painted by Sir Sidney. She also
talked and joked with the artist Albert
Tucker and his wife in front of several
of Mr Tucker's works.
A man of the original Australians and
an artist represented in the gallery, Mr
George Garrawun, was presented to the'
Queen and discussed Aboriginal art
with her.
When I spoke to Mr Garrawun after
the Queen had departed he said, "I told
the Queen how my father had taught
me the old art."
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