Realities Gallery facts for kids

Realities Gallery was an art gallery in Melbourne, Australia. It showed many types of art, including Australian art (both Western and Indigenous), and art from other countries. The gallery was open from 1971 to 1992.

History of Realities Gallery

Early Years in Ross Street (1971–1975)

In 1970, Marianne Baillieu, who was born in Denmark, started a business selling artworks. With her husband, Ian Baillieu, they bought a small shop in Ross Street, Toorak. They fixed it up and opened Realities Gallery there in April 1971.

A magazine called The Bulletin described the gallery. It said the gallery in fancy Toorak Village looked like a "sparkling white eggshell." Almost everything was white, even the floor. Visitors had to wear special socks to walk on it!

In October 1974, the gallery showed old master drawings, watercolours, and prints. These kinds of artworks were rarely sold in Australia. They bought these pieces from London, Boston, and New York. The exhibition included works from the 16th to 18th centuries. Some famous artists featured were Annibale Carracci, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, and Jacob Jordaens.

During this early time, Marianne Baillieu also sold artworks to the Sydney Opera House. The Opera House was still being built then.

Realities Gallery attracted many students and people from the public. Marianne Baillieu loved showing a wide range of art. This included dolls, weaving, and electronics, not just traditional paintings. She once said she liked to create exhibitions with a purpose. She wanted to group things and make people feel something. For example, she would show an artist's new work next to their old work from 20 years ago.

Moving to Jackson Street (1975–1992)

The early 1970s saw a big increase in sales of Australian art. Art became a good investment. The main state galleries, like the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, were collecting Australian art. They also hosted big international exhibitions. The government at the time, led by Gough Whitlam, also encouraged culture.

In 1975, Baillieu decided to focus on Australian artists. She moved Realities Gallery to a bigger location at 33-35 Jackson Street, Toorak. The new place was much larger, about 1,117 square meters. It had old buildings like a schoolhouse, a church hall, and a small cottage. Architect Ross Ramus renovated and combined these buildings. This renovation was seen as a great example of reusing historic buildings.

The first exhibition at the new location was by Roger Kemp. A sculpture by George Baldessin was placed at the entrance. Brigid Cole-Adams described the new space in 1980:

"It is housed in an old church covered in morning glory which once echoed to the dibbing and dobbing or small scouts. Now the wooden ceilings have been opened with skylights and the white walls will take even the largest modern paintings. The main hall is used for exhibitions and a second room, through the office, displays work in stock…Off this room Is a small courtyard with [a sculpture of a woman in her bath] in polyester and epoxy resin by Port Fairy sculptor Don Stewart."

Aboriginal art also became very popular. In August 1977, Realities Gallery held an exhibition called Paintings by the Desert Tribes of Central Australia. This was the first time art by Papunya Tula artists was shown in a commercial gallery. The gallery sold Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri's painting Warlugulong (1977) for A$1,200. This painting was later sold for $2.4 million in 2007, setting a new record for Aboriginal artwork.

Realities was one of the few modern art galleries to show photography. Photography was also becoming very popular to collect. Some famous photographers who showed their work there included Bill Henson, Mark Strizic, Grant Mudford, and Joyce Evans.

In 1981, Gough Whitlam launched a book about artist Clifton Pugh at the gallery. He joked about having to speak in front of a portrait of Sir John Kerr, who was a controversial figure. In the same year, an exhibition by Pugh and Frank Hodgkinson sold out before it even opened. All the works were bought by one person for $100,000.

Marianne Baillieu was private about money. She said, "I never try to sell paintings, people have to ask me to buy them." Prices were not shown on the artworks or in the catalogues.

Gallery Management Changes

Marianne Baillieu was the director from 1971 until 1980. In 1976, Evi Robinson and Rhonda Senbergs joined her. In 1980, Baillieu sold the gallery to Pauline Wrobel for $365,000. She then moved to Williamstown to paint full time. She became a finalist in the 1988 Archibald Prize with a large portrait of filmmaker Paul Cox.

The gallery continued under Pauline Wrobel and Evi Robinson. Most of the artists stayed with the gallery. Many of the paintings were very large, so they were not usually bought for homes. Instead, museums, public galleries, banks, and companies bought the artworks. Government departments also bought art from Realities.

Gallery Closure

The gallery had to close in July 1992 because of an economic recession. When the closure was announced, Luba Bilu, who led the Australian Commercial Galleries Association, said that "important things had happened at Realities." She said the gallery was known for its "honesty and integrity." The building was sold for $840,000 in November 1992.

Exhibitions

Exhibitions at Ross Street, Toorak

Exhibitions at Jackson Street

Exhibitions Under Pauline Wrobel