Johnstone Gallery
Encyclopedia
The Johnstone Gallery was a leading private gallery located in the suburb of Bowen Hills in Brisbane
, Queensland
, Australia
. It was co-owned by Brian Johnstone and his wife, Marjorie Johnstone.
, Robert Dickerson
, Lawrence Daws
, Margaret Olley
, Charles Blackman
, Ray Crooke
, Arthur Boyd
, Donald Friend
and many others to exhibit their artworks at special exhibitions.
The heyday of the Johnstone Gallery occurred in post-war Brisbane. Brisbane was sadly not known for great visual art offerings outside the Queensland Art Gallery
.
Not content with just operating their gallery, Brian and Majorie Johnstone opened their sub-tropical rainforest garden for the staging of the theatre productions. Between 24-27 April 1962, Twelfth Night Theatre, then situated in inner city Wickham Terrace, staged Aristophanes
' Lysistrata
with the set and costumes designed by Quentin Hole. It was a unique moment in the history of theatre in Brisbane.
. Prior to the commencement of the building of the theatre, a production of Under Milk Wood
by Dylan Thomas
was staged in a tent on the site of the future theatre. Building work began in 1969. The theatre opened in February 1971 at the Bowen Hills site under the direction of Joan Whalley
with two productions, A Flea in Her Ear
by Georges Feydeau
and The Rose and the Ring
by William Makepeace Thackeray
. The Johnstones were delighted, as Brian wrote to Sidney Nolan
:
The theatre is still functioning today under the directorship of Gail Wiltshire.
. The Johnstones were ground breakers and Brisbane owes them a great mark of gratitutde for the considerable work that they achieved.
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It was co-owned by Brian Johnstone and his wife, Marjorie Johnstone.
Unique Character
The Johnstone Gallery had a unique character. It was housed in a privately owned, purpose built, Gallery in a large sub-tropical rainforest setting. Owners Brian and Marjorie Johnstone were extremely successful gallery curators and apart from having their own unique collection of Australian and overseas art, they managed to attract leading Australian Artists such as Sir Sidney NolanSidney Nolan
Sir Sidney Robert Nolan OM, AC was one of Australia's best-known painters and printmakers.-Early life:Nolan was born in Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne, on 22 April 1917. He was the eldest of four children. His family later moved to St Kilda. Nolan attended the Brighton Road State School and...
, Robert Dickerson
Robert Dickerson
Robert Dickerson is an Australian figurative painter and former member of the Antipodeans group of artists. Dickerson is one of Australia's most recognised figurative artists and one of a generation of influential artists who include Ray Crooke, Charles Blackman, Laurence Hope, Margaret Olley and...
, Lawrence Daws
Lawrence Daws
Lawrence Daws is an Australian painter and printmaker, who works in the media of watercolour, drawing, screenprints, etchings and monotypes.In the 1980s he started making computer prints, and was probably the first artist to use this medium....
, Margaret Olley
Margaret Olley
Margaret Hannah Olley AC was an Australian painter. She was the subject of more than 90 solo exhibitions.Margaret Olley was born in Lismore, New South Wales. She attended Somerville House in Brisbane during her high school years...
, Charles Blackman
Charles Blackman
Charles Blackman is one of the best known Australian artists still living today, especially for the famous Schoolgirl and Alice in Wonderland series of the 1950s...
, Ray Crooke
Ray Crooke
Ray Crooke , is an Australian artist born in Melbourne. He won the Archibald Prize in 1969 with a portrait of George Johnston.His painting The Offering is in the Vatican Museum collection. Many of his works are in Australian galleries. He is known for serene views of Islander people and ocean...
, Arthur Boyd
Arthur Boyd
Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd, AC, OBE was one of the leading Australian painters of the late 20th Century. A member of the prominent Boyd artistic dynasty in Australia, his relatives included painters, sculptors, architects or other arts professionals. His sister Mary Boyd married John Perceval,...
, Donald Friend
Donald Friend
Donald Stuart Leslie Friend was an Australian artist, writer and diarist.- Early life :Born in Sydney, precociously talented both as an artist and a writer, Friend grew up in the artistic circle of his bohemian mother...
and many others to exhibit their artworks at special exhibitions.
The heyday of the Johnstone Gallery occurred in post-war Brisbane. Brisbane was sadly not known for great visual art offerings outside the Queensland Art Gallery
Queensland Art Gallery
The Queensland Art Gallery is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre, and is located nearest to Brisbane River at South Bank...
.
Not content with just operating their gallery, Brian and Majorie Johnstone opened their sub-tropical rainforest garden for the staging of the theatre productions. Between 24-27 April 1962, Twelfth Night Theatre, then situated in inner city Wickham Terrace, staged Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
' Lysistrata
Lysistrata
Lysistrata is one of eleven surviving plays written by Aristophanes. Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC, it is a comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War...
with the set and costumes designed by Quentin Hole. It was a unique moment in the history of theatre in Brisbane.
More Than Just a Gallery - A Unique Cultural Complex
Brian and Marjorie Johnstone were not content with just operating their gallery. They truly wanted to establish a unique suburban artistic precinct in Brisbane. With this in mind they planned as early as 1966 to form a committee to establish a theatre on part of the ground the gallery occupied. This would later become the place for the building of the current Twelfth Night TheatreTwelfth Night Theatre
thumb|250px|Twelfth Night TheatreThe Twelfth Night Theatre is an established Australian entertainment venue located in Bowen Hills, in Brisbane, Queensland. Australian actors such as Rowena Wallace, Sigrid Thornton, Judith McGrath, Jon English, June Salter, Penny Downie, Carol Burns, Kate Wilson,...
. Prior to the commencement of the building of the theatre, a production of Under Milk Wood
Under Milk Wood
Under Milk Wood is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, adapted later as a stage play. A movie version, Under Milk Wood directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released during 1972....
by Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
was staged in a tent on the site of the future theatre. Building work began in 1969. The theatre opened in February 1971 at the Bowen Hills site under the direction of Joan Whalley
Joan Whalley
Joan Whalley, OAM, was the artistic director of Twelfth Night Theatre in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 1960–1976....
with two productions, A Flea in Her Ear
A Flea in Her Ear
A Flea in Her Ear is a play by Georges Feydeau written in 1907, at the height of the Belle Époque.-Plot:...
by Georges Feydeau
Georges Feydeau
Georges Feydeau was a French playwright of the era known as the Belle Époque. He is remembered for his many lively farces.-Biography:Georges Feydeau was born in Paris, the son of novelist Ernest-Aimé Feydeau and Léocadie Bogaslawa Zalewska. At the age of twenty, Feydeau wrote his first comic...
and The Rose and the Ring
The Rose and the Ring
The Rose and The Ring is a satirical work of fiction written by William Makepeace Thackeray, originally published at Christmas 1854...
by William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
. The Johnstones were delighted, as Brian wrote to Sidney Nolan
Sidney Nolan
Sir Sidney Robert Nolan OM, AC was one of Australia's best-known painters and printmakers.-Early life:Nolan was born in Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne, on 22 April 1917. He was the eldest of four children. His family later moved to St Kilda. Nolan attended the Brighton Road State School and...
:
- "...with the new half-million dollar theatre next door, the establishment is now nicely rounded off, so perhaps one of these days Marjorie and I will be able to play ladies and gentlemen of the art world!"
The theatre is still functioning today under the directorship of Gail Wiltshire.
Legacy
Although the Johnstone Gallery closed in 1972, the artistic vision of Brian and Marjorie Johnstone lives on not only in the memories of those who knew them personally, the artists who held exhibitions at their gallery and the many people who visited as patrons but also by the extensive Johnstone Gallery Archive held in trust for the people of Queensland at the State Library of QueenslandState Library of Queensland
The State Library of Queensland is a large public library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988...
. The Johnstones were ground breakers and Brisbane owes them a great mark of gratitutde for the considerable work that they achieved.
External links
- Johnstone Gallery Archive Provides a comprehensive history of the Johnstone Gallery and Twelfth Night Theatre - using primary sources from the time.
- Twelfth Night Theatre website Official theatre website.