Christine Abrahams Gallery

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Christine Abrahams Gallery, first named Axiom, was a Melbourne gallery showing contemporary Australian art between 1980 and 2008.

Contents

Foundation

Christine Abrahams (5 March 1939 – 15 September 1994) graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Melbourne University in 1961 [1] majoring in Fine Art. She was a guide at the National Gallery of Victoria for several years, then assisted Patrick McCaughey with research at 'Monash University, [2] and was a gallery director and major supporter of contemporary Australian art in Melbourne from the 1970s, [3] after her marriage to husband Daryl (born 1935), with whom she had three sons Guy, Damian and Ari. [4]

Artist Lenton Parr said of Christine that she valued art "as a gift to the spirit and a source of pleasure and enlightenment," [5] while then director of the National Gallery of Australia, Betty Churcher valued her generosity and enthusiasm, saying she "provided Melbourne with a space and an intellectual climate for some of the most interesting contemporary art from both Australia and overseas." [6]

Abrahams was Manager of Powell Street Gallery between 1976 and 1980 (the lessees were Melbourne solicitor Harry Curtis and a Caulfield doctor, David Rosenthal).

Axiom

Until 1982, Abrahams was co-director of Axiom Gallery, established in March 1980 at the address of the future Christine Abrahams Gallery, 27 Gipps Street Richmond, an inner, once-industrial, suburb of Melbourne. In the same precinct an increasing number of other commercial galleries, including the long-running Pinacotheca, Niagara Galleries, Stuart Gerstman, and Church Street Centre for Photography appeared. [7]

Of Axiom, critic and artist Robert Rooney remarked;

"Since opening in 1980, Axiom Gallery, Richmond, has continued to support the cause of modernist abstraction, the house style it inherited—along with artists such as Syd Ball, Fred Cress, Vic Mazjner—and Englishman John Walker, from the old Powell Street Gallery which was run by Axiom's three directors in the late 1970s." [8]

Axiom's opening show consisted of large abstract paintings by Sydney Ball, Fred Cress, John Walker and John Firth-Smith, selling at between $700 and $9500, [9] and was followed by a solo of works by photographer David Moore. [10] [11] By 1982, when the gallery was renamed, Abrahams in an interview proudly detailed its record in supporting women artists;

"Eight out of 16 artists we've shown this year have been women. We don't choose them because they're women but because the work is really exciting." [2]

Axiom exhibitions;

In summing up the year 1980, critic Brigid Cole-Adams described Axiom as a "good more conventional gallery with interesting contemporary work including both abstract and new realist styles." [45]

In December 1982 Axiom gallery closed, and with Abrahams as director, was eponymously renamed the 'Christine Abrahams Gallery', reopening on 12 February 1983. [46] It showed a broad spectrum of visual arts by contemporary, including photography, by architects, and craftspeople [47] and indigenous artists, [48] including jewellers, ceramicists and furniture makers. [49] Stuart Gerstman Gallery opened next door at number 29 in April 1983. [46] [7] [50] In 1987 Christine's son Guy Abrahams joined her as co-director of the gallery.

The building had been converted in 1980 from a clothing factory by the architect of Abrahams' own 1982 Brighton residence, [51] [52] Daryl Jackson, who designed Abrahams own house in Beaumaris, [53] preserved the industrial aesthetic of exposed trusses, bare concrete floors and steel roller-door. Jackson himself exhibited at the gallery in April 1984, showing drawings and models for a 'more humane' neo-industrial style. [54] [55] Critic Robert Rooney described the renovation as "spacious and well-planned, and an ideal setting for...large paintings." The configuration of the gallery with a smaller space to the left of the main gallery allowed for shows of smaller 'works on paper' (usually drawings, photographs, or prints) simultaneously with shows usually of larger paintings or sculpture. The gallery was recommended in 1994 as a favourite by Susan Fereday, then director of the Centre for Contemporary Photography and Merryn Gates director of the Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne. [56]

Exhibitions under the name 'Christine Abrahams Gallery'

Closure

After Christine's premature death at age 55 from cancer [6] on 15 September 1994, [5] [117] [118] the gallery was operated by her son Guy Abrahams, who had been co-director since 1987. [119]

The gallery was closed after 28 years in November 2008.[ citation needed ] The Gallery archive was donated to the State Library of Victoria. [120]

Influence

Christine initiated the influential Australian Contemporary Art Fair (now Melbourne Art Fair) [121] [118] and was a member of its organising committee in 1988, 1990 and 1992. She was on the board of the Fifth Australian Sculpture Triennial (1993) and was a member of the Visual Art Export Group of the Australia Council and the Craft Council of Victoria.

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References

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  7. 1 2 The Age Tuesday 22 Mar 1983, p.27
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  14. ↑ Robert Rooney, 'Nomadic Hickey's new brush look,' The Age, Wednesday, 24 September 1980, p.10
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  16. ↑ The Age, Friday, 6 February 1981, p.35<ref>The Age, Wednesday, 4 February 1981, p.10
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  18. ↑ Robert Rooney, 'Grandest quest in close-up', in The Age, Wednesday, 25 February 1981, p.10
  19. ↑ IThe Age, Friday, 6 March 1981, p.10
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  25. ↑ The Age, Thursday, 2 July 1981, p.10
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  35. ↑ Robert Rooney, 'Retreat to a timeless land,' in The Age, Wednesday, 4 November 1981, p.10
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  37. ↑ Robert Rooney, 'Crowded view of abstractions,' in The Age, Wednesday, 25 November 1981, p.10
  38. ↑ The Age, Wednesday, 10 February 1982, p.10
  39. ↑ Geoff Strong, 'Photography', in The Age, Monday, 22 March 1982, p.10
  40. ↑ Robert Rooney, 'Inviting Comparison', in The Age, Wednesday, 7 April 1982, p.10
  41. ↑ Robert Rooney, 'A new Italian connection with the old,' in The Age, Thursday, 17 June 1982, p.14
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  43. ↑ The Age, Thursday, 24 June 1982, p.14
  44. ↑ The Age, Monday 29 Nov 1982, p.14
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  46. 1 2 Memory Holloway, The Age Wednesday 9 Feb 1983, p.14
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  48. 1 2 Jenny Zimmer, 'A new opportunity to ponder aboriginal art,' The Age, Tuesday 24 May 1994, p.20
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  68. ↑ The Age Monday 3 Oct 1983, p.14
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  74. ↑ Anna Murdoch, 'Scottish painter sees the light,' The Age Tuesday 6 Dec 1983, p.14
  75. ↑ Norman Day, 'Of furniture and culture,' The Age Tuesday 13 Dec 1983, p.21
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  77. ↑ Sue Cramer, 'Understand the basic elements,' The Age, Friday 25 May 1984, p.14
  78. ↑ The Age Friday 18 May 1984, p.14
  79. ↑ Robyn Clarke, The Age Friday 25 May 1984, p.14
  80. ↑ The Age Tuesday 5 Jun 1984, p.14
  81. ↑ John Larkin 'Artist in search of a workplace,' interview with Tom Fantl, The Age Thursday 7 Jun 1984, p.14
  82. ↑ Advertisement, The Age Saturday 14 Jul 1984, p.170
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  84. ↑ The Age Thursday 16 Aug 1984, p.14
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  86. ↑ Sue Cramer, 'An attempt to bring life back to the abstract,' The Age Monday 15 Oct 1984, p.16
  87. ↑ Sue Cramer, The Age Wednesday 14 Nov 1984, p.14
  88. 1 2 The Age Tuesday 11 Dec 1984, p.14
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  90. ↑ Sue Cramer, ' 'Works on Paper' display,' The Age Thursday 6 Dec 1984, p.14
  91. ↑ Beatrice Faust, 'Mudford proves his art can stand alone,' The Age Wednesday 20 Feb 1985, p. 14
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  93. ↑ Heather Kennedy, 'Artist taught in a hard school,' interview with Helen Geier The Age Saturday 18 May 1985, p.173
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  95. ↑ 'Craft', Katrina Farrell, The Age, Thursday 27 Oct 1988, p.14
  96. ↑ "Galleries". The Age . Melbourne. 11 February 1994. p. 53.
  97. ↑ Heathcote, Christopher (16 February 1994). "Where the wild things are". The Age. Melbourne. p. 15.
  98. ↑ "Galleries". The Age. Melbourne. 18 March 1994. p. 43.
  99. ↑ "Day and Night. A taste of Cress". The Age. Melbourne. 25 March 1994. p. 40.
  100. ↑ "Galleries". The Age. Melbourne. 29 April 1994. p. 48.
  101. ↑ "Galleries". The Age. Melbourne. 3 June 1994. p. 52.
  102. ↑ "Being there". The Age. Melbourne. 28 May 1994. p. 233.
  103. ↑ "Galleries". The Age. Melbourne. p. 49.
  104. ↑ "Openings". The Age. Melbourne. 15 July 1994. p. 15.
  105. ↑ Virginia Trioli, 'Green deeply colours a spiritual canvas, The Age Wednesday, 27 Jul 1994, p.22
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  111. ↑ "Photography". The Age. Melbourne. 7 October 1994. p. 53.
  112. ↑ "Exhibition". The Age. 8 November 1994. p. 19.
  113. ↑ "Galleries". The Age. 23 December 1994. p. 36.
  114. ↑ "Opening". The Age. Melbourne. 5 December 1994. p. 19.
  115. ↑ Robert Nelson, "Mystery in its compelling, minimalist glory," The Age Wednesday 05 Mar 1997, p.41
  116. ↑ Megan Backhouse, 'Art that belongs to the earth,' The Age, Monday 25 Sep 2000, p.44
  117. ↑ Parr, Lenton (26 September 1994). "Chronicles. Obituaries. Christine Abrahams. 55, Melbourne art gallery director". The Age. Melbourne. p. 14.
  118. 1 2 Bunbury, Stephanie (20 September 1994). "LIMELIGHT". The Age . Melbourne. p. 19.
  119. ↑ "Death of Christine Abrahams [gallery director]". Australian Prints + Printmaking. October 1994. Archived from the original on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  120. ↑ "Records of the Christine Abrahams Gallery, 1963-2008". researchworks.oclc.org. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  121. ↑ "Established galleries featured at art fair". Australian Jewish News. 9 September 2008.

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