 | Traits of Success: Louis Stern Fine Arts By Catherine Wagley 02/11/10 Read More >> Similar Articles >> |
| The first time I visited Louis Stern Fine Arts, in autumn 2007, I was on my way somewhere else. I intended to look quickly then slip out, but I stayed for nearly half-an-hour, charmed by how comfortable paintings by hard-edge godfather Karl Benjamin looked above the gallery’s polished wood floors. I was equally charmed when gallery director Marie Chambers engaged me in conversation, asking if I knew of Benjamin’s work. I did but said I didn’t—rediscovering him with the help of someone vested in his oeuvre of geometric shapes and deliberately placed colors seemed too good an opportunity to pass up.
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The advance publicity campaign for this blockbuster exhibition branded it as the most expensive ever mounted by the Australian National Gallery. In this land of football, where vast amounts of money are spent promoting games, players and special events, it is very interesting to watch the effect on the public of a major art event being advertised across main stream media. The response since it opened from a public that is queuing on a daily basis long before the gallery doors open at 10.00am, argues that beneath the sporting culture of the nation, there is a yearning for cultural breadth that comes via popularising art, music and theatre.
