' FOR PRESS: ~ 2 JUL96 P. M. No. 74/ 1968
INTERIM CCUNCLL FOR NATIONAL GALLERY
Statement by the Prime Minister, Mr. John Carton
An Interim Council has been appointed for the Australian
National Gallery in Canberra. The Council will be responsible for the
new Gallery during its planning and construction stages.
I am pleased to announce that twelve distinguished
Australians have accepted the Government?' s invitation to become
members of this Interim Council.
They are:
Sir Daryl LINDSAY ( Chairman)
Dame Zara HOLT
Dame Mabel MILLER
Sir Henry BASTEN
Professor Joseph BURKE
Mr. W. A. DARGIE
Mr. James 0. FAIRFAX
Mr. Leonard FRENCH
Mr. Kenneth MYER
Sir James FLIMSCLL
Professor Charles F. PRESLEY
Professor Bernard SMITH
I am sure they will make a valuable contribution to the
establishment of our National Gallery. During the design and
construction period, the Interim Council as the client will be
concerned with determining the needs of the Gallery itself, and its
methods of display and operation.
The Interim Council will be associated with the Prime
Minister's Department.
CANBERRA 26 July 1968
BACKGROUND NCTES
CHAIRMAN: Sir Daryl LINDSAY, R. W. S. HON. LL. D. N. U.)
Distinguished artist; Director, National Gallery of
Victoria 1942-56. Chairman, Commonwealth Art Advisory Board of
which he has been a member since 1953; Chairman, National Art
Gallery Committee of Enquiry 1965/ 66; Member, National Capital
Planning Committee, Canberra. Represented in all Australian National
Galleries and Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
MEMBERS: ame Zara HOLT A wide knowledge of art, based on an active interest in
this field over many years.
DameMabel MILLER, LL. B.
M. H. A. for Franklin, Tasmania, 1955-64. Deputy Lord
Mayor of Hobart, 1954-56, 1964-66; Alderman since 1962. Barrister.
Past President, National Council of Women.
Sir HnyAS NC. M. M. A
Chairman, Australian Universities Commission; Vice-
Chancellor, University of Adelaide, South Australia, 1958-68. Member
of the National Art Gallery Committee of Enquiry 1965/ 66.
Professor Joseph BURKE, 0. B. E. M. A.
Professor of Fine Arts, University of Melbourne since
1947. Member, National Art Gallery Committee of Enquiry 1965/ 66.
Assistant Keeper Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1938.
Mr. William Alexander DARGIE, 0. B. F. R. S. A. ( Londj..
F. R. A. S. S. W.)
Distinguished artist. Member, Commonwealth Art Advisory
Board since 1953; Member of the National Art Gallery Committee of Enquiry
1965/ 66; Head, National Gallery of Victoria Art School, 1946-53. Official
War Artist with A. 1. F. Winner of Archibald Prize for Portraiture on number
of occasions. Painted a portrait of H. M. The Queen for the C0orntnorwealrti
of Australia in 1954. Represented in many collections.
Mr. James Oswald FAIRFAX, M. A.
Director, John Fairfax Ltd. Sydney, since 1957. Director,
Amalgamated T. V. Services Pty. Ltd., since 1958 and Director, Associated
Newspapers Ltd. since 1958. Member of National Art Gallery Committee of
Enquiry 1965/ 66. / 2
-2
Mr. Leonard William FRENCH
Distinguished artist. Exhibitions Officer, National
Gallery of Victoria, 1958-60. Awarded many prizes including Harkness
Fellowship 1965, Crouch Prize 1959, Sulman 1960, Blake 1963.
Commissioned to do the stained glass roof in the Victorian Arts Centre
and windows in the National Library, Canberra. Represented in
Australian National Galleries.
Mr. Kenneth MYER, D. S. C.
Deputy Chairman and Managing Director, Myer Emporium
Ltd., Melbourne, since 1960. Member, Council of National Library of
Australia; Deputy Chairman, Victorian National Art Gallery and
Cultural Centre Building Committee.
Sir James PLIMSOLL, C. B. E.
Secretary, Department of External Affairs, Canberra,
since 1965. Australian High Commissioner to India and Ambassador to
Nepal 1963-65. Australian Permanent Representative to United Nations,
New York, 1959-63,
Professor Charles F. PRESLEY) B. A. B. Litt.
Professor Philosophy, University of Queensland, since
1962.
Professor Bernard SMITH, B. Ph. D. F. S. A.
Professor of Contemporary Art and Director of the Power
Institute of Fine Arts, University of Sydney. Member Australian
Humanities Research Council since 1956. Formerly Art Critic of
" The Age" ( Melbourne).