Watters Gallery
Watters Gallery (1964–2018) was a private art gallery in Riley Street Sydney, Australia, run by Frank Watters (1934 – May 2020) with his business partners and friends Geoffrey and Alex Legge. It was influential and well-known, hosting exhibitions and works by some of the most prominent non-mainstream artists in Australia of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Tony Tuckson, James Gleeson, Richard Larter, Robert Klippel, and Garry Shead.
History
The gallery was opened on 18 November 1964 in
The gallery moved in 1969 to a former pub in Riley Street, in the heart of what was then the
It was among the first Sydney galleries to show
The gallery also represented Marr Grounds, co-founder of the Tin Sheds in Sydney, whose first solo exhibition, Morphological structures, was held at Watters in 1975. He said that he was "treated fantastically" by Watters. Watters also sold works by Imants Tillers and Aleks Danko.[3]
Artist
Watters Gallery finally closed its doors on 24 November 2018, after 54 years, with Frank Watters' collection of around 150 paintings and sculptures to be auctioned by Shapiro Auctioneers in 2019.[1]
Frank Watters died in May 2020.[4]
Recognition and legacy
For its 50th anniversary, an exhibition was held at the
Before the gallery closed, Watters offered two senior curators from AGNSW to pick any works from his collection that they wanted. They chose 32 works, collectively valued at over A$1m, including a huge painting by Richard Larter of his wife Pat Larter with her genitalia expose, called Five in a Row Show.[1] He also donated his archive to the AGNSW Library.[4]
An exhibition at University of Technology Sydney Gallery, entitled The Watters' Gift was held from 20 May to 17 July 2020), recognising Watters' legacy, after he had donated 67 works by 27 Australian artists to the university, which was most significant gift in its history.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Meacham, Steve (29 October 2018). "End of an era as the Watters Gallery closes". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ Goddard, Angela (17 June 2015). "John Peart 'Shoot point'". QAGOMA Blog. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- Art Gallery of NSW.
This is an edited transcript of a recorded interview.
- ^ a b c Fairley, Gina (25 May 2020). "Vale Frank Watters – a giant with a gentle smile". ArtsHub Australia. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ "Five Decades at Watters Gallery". S.H. Ervin Gallery. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
Further reading
- McPhee, John (2014). "The Story of Watters". Watters Gallery.
External links