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Albanese comes to Gauguin with an ‘unusual’ speech

Henri Loyrette in the gallery, director Nick Mitzevich at rear. Photo: Helen Musa

“I’m against cancel culture,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday night at the National Gallery of Australia in one of the more  unusual gallery speeches in a while, as he unveiled Gauguin’s World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao, the first exhibition in this country dedicated to the famous French post-impressionist artist, Paul Gauguin.

The context was, Mr Albanese said, that the best adjective he could think of when considering  Gauguin’s life and work was “problematic”, a reference no doubt to the time that the famous artist spent in French Polynesia in the company of the young women he painted.

It was nonetheless, the Prime Minister said, an occasion for rejoicing, as the extraordinary breadth and depth of the loans – especially from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, and The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas — testified to the importance of our National Gallery, which, he asserted, could only be in Canberra – roars of applause.

Dancers replicating Gauguin’s Trois Tahitiens in the Savage Club. Photo Helen Musa

It had been a day of excitement at the gallery, with dancers and musicians from French Polynesia’s O Tahiti E replicating one of Gauguin’s most famous paintings, Trois Tahitiens, both in the pop-up “Savage Club”, (SaVĀge K’lub Te Paepae Aora’i) a satirical Polynesian take on 19th century European gentleman’s clubs, and in Gandel Hall where the formal reception took place.

On hand for both was the exhibition’s curator and one of the world’s most eminent historians of 19th century art, Henri Loyrette, the former director of both the Louvre Museum and Musée d’Orsay.

Loyrette outlined Gauguin’s dying years in the Marqueasas and praised the both the gallery’s initiatives and that of its Polynesian visitors in creating an expanded and renewed understanding of the Pacific.

The artist’s own introduction to the Pacific, he told those present, had been described as a mythical experience and it was his hope that visitors to the National Gallery of Australia would enjoy the very same experience.

The public opening day, Saturday, will feature more dance performances, SaVĀge K’lub “Acti.VĀ.tions” and a session with Dr Hinanui Cauchois and Dr Marine Vallée from Te Fare Iamanaha – Musée de Tahiti et des Îles – as they discuss the history of the Gauguin Museum and its connections with Tahitian and Marquesan cultures.

Gauguin’s World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao, National Gallery of Australia, June 29-October 7.

 

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Helen Musa

Helen Musa

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2 Responses to Albanese comes to Gauguin with an ‘unusual’ speech

Peter Cranston says: 30 June 2024 at 11:29 am

Gauguin was excellent and will return for a more selective viewing.
But I want to drawn your attention to a NGA exhibition failure for which I can get no response (in person visits or email to management).
Where is David Hockney’s ‘A Bigger Grand Canyon’ ?
I used to take international visitors to the NGA expressly to see this wonderful work, then in early, 2020, just prior to covid the picture was missing (its so large you could not overlook it.). I asked at the desk and no-one was capable of telling me what had happened. Each time I have been back in the now more than 4 years it remains ;missing’ and the staff at reception haven’t a clue. I’ve email the management, nothing.
Yesterday a rather grumpy receptionist eventually conceded that (a) it was not stolen /s, (b) it was not one loan to anywhere else, (c) its previous location to the right of the escalator was not available due to (many) sponsors badges, and it ‘must be’ simply on rotation off display.
Not happy – Australians paid US$14 million for this, one of Hockney’s greatest works, and it has been off display for at least 4 years. DO you agree ? Can you follow up if you do ?
Peter Cranston

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Helen Musa says: 4 July 2024 at 9:11 am

David Hockney’s A Bigger Grand Canyon is currently on loan to the Gold Coast community, on display at HOTA from Jun 2024-Jun 2026 as part of the Sharing the National Collection initiative.
Sharing the National Collection: Hockney for HOTA and Mueck for Maitland – National Gallery of Australia (nga.gov.au)

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