The University of Queensland Art Museum is celebrating the generosity of one of the state’s most remarkable philanthropists with its latest exhibition.
Opening on May 14, The Behan legacy: The Stuartholme-Behan Collection of Australian Art showcases almost 100 artworks assembled by the late Dr Norman Behan (1908–2000).
A graduate of The University of Queensland and a medical practitioner, Dr Behan’s collection ranges from colonial works of the mid-nineteenth century to those dating from the mid-1960s.
The works represent major artists including Louis Buvelot, Conrad Martens, Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubbin, Rupert Bunny, Max Meldrum and Jon Molvig.
“The Behan legacy provides visitors an opportunity to view the collection of 96 works in its entirety, alongside several pieces gifted to the University by Dr Behan,” Art Museum Director Nick Mitzevich said.
“Dr Norman Behan was passionate about art and wanted young people to benefit from its presence in their lives. That impulse motivated him to gift the collection to the Society of the Sacred Heart and the Stuartholme School in the 1960s, and was the reason why he was pleased for the collection to come to the University on permanent loan in 1975.”
Dr Behan was inspired by the Howard Hinton Collection at the Armidale Teachers’ College, both in the concern to create a representative collection of Australian art, and in locating the works in a context where they could fulfil an educational aim.
The exhibition is curated by Bettina MacAulay and Desmond MacAulay, who have not only brought new research to individual works and identified thematic links, but also examined what inspired Dr Behan to collect and who he looked to for advice.
Accompanying the exhibition is an extensively researched and illustrated catalogue which includes essays by the curators.
“The exhibition has provided a wonderful opportunity for new research on the works in the collection as well as providing the impetus for conservation work on a number of the paintings, works on paper and sculptures, and even frames,” Mr Mitzevich said.
The quality of this collection is demonstrated by the regularity with which works from it are requested for inclusion in significant national exhibitions, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ current touring exhibition Rupert Bunny: Artist in Paris.
Key works in the collection have left a deep impression in the imagination of gallery visitors over the years.
Many former UQ art history students, for instance, will have fond memories of works such as Girolami Nerli’s Le chapeau de Paris 1900 (also known as The Paris hat) or Max Meldrum’s Frosted poplars – Pacé, Brittany c.1910.
Dr Behan’s early training in pharmacy is remembered in the naming of the Norman Behan Chair in Pharmacy at The University of Queensland.
The Behan legacy: The Stuartholme-Behan Collection of Australian Art continues until September 12. The UQ Art Museum is open free to the public daily from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.
Media: Nick Mitzevich (0434 361 383, 07 3365 3046, n.mitzevich@uq.edu.au) or Cameron Pegg at UQ Communications (07 3365 2049, c.pegg@uq.edu.au)
