Anne Von Bertouch, (29 June 1915 – 31 March 2003) was an Australian art dealer, author, environmentalist and director of the Von Bertouch Galleries in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

, believed to be the first commercial gallery outside a capital city in Australia.

Biography

Born Anne Catherine, to parents Jean (née Duff) and George Whittle on 29 June 1915 in

Eastwood, New South Wales Eastwood is a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Eastwood is located 17 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government areas of the City of Ryde and the City of Parramatta. Eastwood ...

, she was educated at

Sydney Girls High School Sydney Girls High School (abbreviated as SGHS or Sydney Girls) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex school, single-sex Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary school, secondar ...

and Armidale Teachers College. After teacher training her first posting was at Adamstown Infants School in the 1930s. She married Roger Von Bertouch in 1939. In 1941 she was the organiser of a National Fitness Camp for girls at

Broken Bay Broken Bay, a semi-mature tide-dominated ria, drowned valley estuary, is a large inlet of the Tasman Sea located about north of Sydney on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia; being one of the bodies ...

, New South Wales. She and Roger moved to

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, where they taught and she studied at Hobart Technical College. In 1942 she performed modern

interpretive dance Interpretive dance is a family of modern dance styles that began around 1900 with Isadora Duncan. It used classical concert music but marked a departure from traditional concert dance, as a rebellion against the strict rules of classical ballet ...

at a Town Hall concert in Hobart organised by the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is a ...

Patriotic Committee as a fundraiser on Allies' Appeal Day. She danced also in Hobart's Opera And Ballet Festival for International Week in 1945. Intending to develop land and to pursue their artistic interests, they moved to Mungo Brush in the

Myall Lakes Myall Lakes, a series of fresh water lakes protected under the Ramsar Convention, are located within the Mid-Coast Council local government area in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The Myall Lakes are adjacent to the ea ...

, New South Wales, in 1951 or 1954, living a subsistence existence from prawn fishing and trading their home-grown produce, and were appointed Honorary Rangers there in 1955 under the Wild Flowers and Native Plants Protection Act. Anne's 1959 semi-autobiographical documentary novel ''February Dark'' gives an account of their time there. Finding their block unviable, they moved to Newcastle where they renovated a terrace house. An active environmentalist, in the 1970s she famously chained herself to a tree to stop the widening of King Street, Newcastle, through Birdwood Park. In 1987 von Bertouch joined the 1988 Australian Bicentennial First Fleet reenactment, sailing on the ''Soren Larsen'' from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in May 1987 and arriving at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

Von Bertouch Galleries

Anne and Roger von Bertouch opened the von Bertouch Galleries in their home at 50 Laman Street in Newcastle on 9 February 1963 which, as noted by ''The Bulletin'' magazine, was close to

William Dobell Sir William Dobell (24 September 189913 May 1970) was an Australian portrait and landscape artist of the 20th century. Dobell won the Archibald Prize, Australia's premier award for portrait artists on three occasions. The Dobell Prize is named ...

's birthplace and the

Newcastle Art Gallery The Newcastle Art Gallery, formerly the Newcastle City Art Gallery and Newcastle Region Art Gallery, is a large public art museum in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. History Founded in 1945 with an art collection consisting of 123 wor ...

. An annual ''Collectors' Choice'' exhibition with a price maximum of 15 guineas (a value of A$500 in 2022) was established. In 1969, not long after Anne had been injured and suffered a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

in a serious car accident near

Morisset Morisset ( ;) is a commercial centre and suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie local government area in the Hunter Region, Hunter region in New South Wales, Australia. Morisset is a part of the Greater Newcastle area, it is located west of the l ...

the couple separated. She acquired near-derelict Hunniford Terrace, a row of four narrow 1877 houses, opposite hers, on three titles surrounding 61 Laman St. They were threatened with demolition, and she combined and converted them, over five years and with the help of friends, to house the gallery, which opened in 1974, after the couple had dissolved their partnership in the gallery in 1973. Gael Davies became Anne's gallery manager in 1975. Von Bertouch Galleries showed contemporary work by nationally prominent artists, as well as artists associated with the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River (New Sout ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, including still-life painter

Margaret Olley Margaret Hannah Olley (24 June 192326 July 2011) was an Australian painter. She held over ninety solo exhibitions during her lifetime. Early life Margaret Olley was born in Lismore, New South Wales. She was the eldest of three children of J ...

(1923–2011), landscapist Shay Docking (1928–1998), mid-century modernist painter and textile designer Mary Beeston (b. 1917),

naïve art Naïve art is usually defined as visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes (in anatomy, art history, technique, perspective, ways of seeing). When this aesthetic is ...

ist Virginia Geyl (b. Holland 1917– d.1999) and the surrealist/religious painter Rona Scott, who created a mural for the film

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tommy (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army * Tommy Giacomelli (born 1974), Brazilian fo ...

when it came to Australia. The ''Collector's Choice'' group exhibition, established in 1969 at the suggestion of Tom Gleghorn, and which opened the renovated space, became an annual fixture important as part of Newcastle's art scene, and spawned street parties. ''The Bulletin'' in 1974 described Von Bertouch Galleries as "one of the most famous in Australia... It's icdirector Anne Von Bertouch has made a great contribution to the life of ewcastleduring the 11 years of the gallery's existence," and quoted her sentiments about selling art;

"I think the gallery has integrity. That is what I have worked hardest to achieve. I have never encouraged the buyer who is only interested in investment. In fact I won't sell to them. I tell them to go and buy real estate. I don't want them to have pictures if they aren't going to appreciate them. It's an anti-art thing...I have never had contracts or ties with any of the artists. Sometimes I've helped people but that is just natural. Artists must create for the sake of creating. They mustn't attempt to please. That can destroy the living quality of the painting. It will always have its own intrinsic value. Commercial gain is really incidental."

The same 1974 issue of ''The Bulletin'' listed selling prices in A$ of a number of exhibitors;

Charles Blackman Charles Raymond Blackman (12 August 1928 – 20 August 2018) was an Australian painter, noted for the ''Schoolgirl, Avonsleigh'' and ''Alice in Wonderland'' series of the 1950s. He was a member of the Antipodeans, a group of Melbourne painte ...

$2400 (equivalent to more than $20,000 in 2022); David Boyd $1150;

Donald Friend Donald Stuart Leslie Friend (6 February 1915 – 16 August 1989) was an Australian artist and diarist who lived much of his life overseas. He has been the subject of controversy since the posthumous publication of diaries in which he wrote about ...

$525; Irvine Homer $300;

Pro Hart Kevin Charles "Pro" Hart, MBE (30 May 192828 March 2006), was an Australian artist, born in Broken Hill, New South Wales, who was considered the father of the Australian Outback painting movement and his works are widely admired for capturin ...

$950;

Reinis Zusters Reinis Zusters (15 October 1919 – 1999) was a Latvian-born Australian artist. Zusters was a prolific painter, working predominantly in oils, painting many large landscapes, including triptychs of the Blue Mountains (New South Wales), Blue M ...

$960; George Lawrence $650;

Lloyd Rees Lloyd Frederic Rees (17 March 18952 December 1988) was an Australian landscape Painting, painter who twice won the Wynne Prize for his landscape paintings. Most of Rees's works are preoccupied with depicting the effects of light and emphasis ...

$6000; Louis James $200; Ray Crooke $4500; Jamie Boyd $330;

Keith Looby Keith Looby (born 1940 in Sydney, Australia), is an Australian artist who won the Archibald Prize in 1984 with a portrait of Max Gillies. Early life and education Looby was raised in the Sydney suburbs of Newtown and Bondi. He studied at Eas ...

$75–$2400; Rona Scott $50–$7000; John Winch $75–$1200;

$200–$950; Virginia Geyl $50–$280; Lillian Sutherland $85–$450; Rae Richards $175–$350; while at its annual Collectors' Choice works were $75 and under (equivalent to $650 in 2022). Von Bertouch was considered a mentor and fair dealer by her artists; David Boyd remarked that was "the most highly principled person in the gallery world. One could have complete trust in her without having to worry. She was loved very much by all." David Thomas, a previous director (1965–75) of the Newcastle Region Art Gallery remembered her as "tough lady"; "By tough I mean she was of strong character, dedicated to making sure artists were well represented and improving the city's cultural life" On Saturday 9 February 2002, before its closure, Von Bertouch held a party to celebrate the Galleries' 39 years.

Exhibitions at Von Bertouch Galleries

* 1963, February: First exhibition; works by artists born or resident in Newcastle: Tom Gleghorn, Ross Morrow, Jon Molvig, William Rose, John Olson, Paul Beadle,

John Passmore John Arthur Passmore (9 September 1914 – 25 July 2004) was an Australian philosopher. Life John Passmore was born on 9 September 1914 in Manly, Sydney, where he grew up. He was educated at Sydney Boys High School. Sydney High School Old ...

and

* 1963: Shay Docking * 1963, August–September: Louis James * 1963, 18–29 October: Henri le Grand pottery * 1963, 15 November – 3 December: ''Collectors' choice'' * 1963: Tom Gleghorn * 1964, from 1 March: Homer Irvine * 1964, to 28 July: Owen Shaw * 1964, 25 September – 13 October: William Peascod * 1964, to 17 November: Geoffrey Hooper paintings. Studio pottery by Ivan Englund and Carl McConnell * 1964, to 24 December: Fabrics and Jewellery * 1965: Homer Irvine * 1965, 30 July – 10 August: ''Landscapes by 12'' * 1967, 10 February – 28 February: Shay Docking * 1967, 3 March – 21 March: John Coburn * 1967, 24 March – 4 April: Homer Irvine * 1967, 7 – 25 April: Michael Kitching * 1967, 23 June – 11 July:

Noel Counihan Noel Jack Counihan (4 October 19135 July 1986) was an Australian social realist painter, printmaker, cartoonist and illustrator active in the 1940s and 1950s in Melbourne. An atheist, communist, and art activist, Counihan made art in response to ...

* 1967, 18 August – 2-September: ''Paintings of people'': Charles Blackman, Robert Dickerson, Frank Hinder, Louis James, Michael Kmit, Jeffrey Smart, Francis Lymburner. Also ''The Aspendale Papers and Interior'' lithographs by Charles Blackman" * 1967, October: David Boyd * 1967, December: Shigeo Shiga, pottery * 1968, from 22 March:

Frank Hinder Francis Henry Critchley Hinder (26 June 1906 – 31 December 1992) was an Australian painter, sculptor and art teacher who is also known for his camouflage designs in World War II. Early life and education Hinder was the fourth child of Enid ...

* 1968,

Various Tasmanian Series. The Derwent Estuary 1 and 2; The Edge of the Forest, Tasmania; The Stream from the Mountain; Aftermath; Richmond Hills 1 and 2; The River at Richmond 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. * 1969, May:

Desiderius Orban Desiderius Orban, (; 26 November 18844 October 1986) was a renowned Hungary, Hungarian Painting, painter, printmaker and teacher, who, after emigrating to Australia in 1939 when in his mid-50s, also made an illustrious career in that country. ...

* 1969, August:

Norman Lindsay Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxing, boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of hi ...

* 1970, 6 – 23 March: Laurence Hope * 1970, April: Judy Cassab * 1970, June: Virginia Geyl * 1971 Shay Docking * 1971, from 10 to 23 December: Sculpture by Lenore (BOYD); includes biographical note by the sculptor: folding card invitation. * 1972, from 1 March: Memory paintings of days on the track * 1972, 28 June – 15 July: House show * 1973, 3 August – 27 August: Ray Crooke * 1973, October: Rae Richards * 1973, November – December: ''Collectors' Choice'': painting, graphics, sculpture, pottery and jewellery. Coburn, Cassab, Crooke. James, Hinder, Gleghorn, Kmit and others. * 1973, to 24 December: Lillian Sutherland, ''Recent Paintings from Lighting Ridge'' * 1974, February: Robert Campbell Retrospective * 1974, to March 11: Print Prize Exhibition and Piers Bateman solo show * 1974, 18–28 August: House show * 1974, 10–30 November: Newcastle artists: Gavin Crichton, Garry Jones, John Martin, Christine Ross * 1975, to 28 April: Maximillian Feuerring, paintings and drawings * 1975, 22 August – 14 September: International Women's Year – Newcastle artists: Norma Allen, Mary Beeston, Rosemary Coote, Joy Foster, Rachel Frecker, Virginia Geyl, Judy Hepper, Madeleine Scott Jones, Marilyn McGrath, Elizabeth Martin,

, Rae Richards, Christine Ross, Rona Scott, Coughtrie Thurlow, Pauline Tickner * 1978, 28 July – 13 August: Silver Ware, Kelims and carpets from Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey and Russia collected by Jeffery Kitto of Sydney * 1980 : Shay Docking * 1981, 10 April – 26 April:

; ''And Yet Australia Calls You Back Again'' * 1983, 11 February – 6 March: Twentieth anniversary exhibition to commemorate the inaugural exhibition of February 9, 1963: Paul Beedle,

, Thomas Gleghorn, John Molvig, Ross Morrow,

John Olsen John Wayne Olsen AO (born 7 June 1945) is an Australian politician, diplomat and football commissioner. He was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001. He is now President of the Federal Liberal Party, Chairma ...

, William Rose, Charles Lewis, Kay Campbell, Francis Cetlan, Cheryl Cusick, Marion Ermer, Andrew Ferguson, Graham Gilchrist, Ronald Hawke, Gail Johns, Ted Prior, Gordon Rintoul, Christine Ross, Philip Samuels, John Wolseley * 1983, 1 July – 24 July: ''Blue Days on the Derwent''. Tasmanian Exhibition by Lloyd Rees. * 1984, 17 February – 1 March: Twenty first anniversary exhibition: Charles Blackman, Nancy Borlase, Frank Hinder, Margel Hinder, Louis James, Michael Kmit, Robert Klippel, Alun Leach-Jones, Desiderius Orban, Matthew Perceval, Brett Whiteley, Aldona Zakarauskas * 1985, 15 March – 7 April: Lloyd Rees – Sandy Bay Set * 1987, 3 – 26 April: Lloyd Rees: Paintings and Graphics * 1991, 12 – 28 July: David Middlebrook: paintings and wood blocks * 1991, 2 – 25 August: Jamie Boyd: paintings, pastels, graphics. * 1991, 30 August – 15 September: Graphics by the famous : etchings, lithographs, screenprints * 1992, 28 February – 22 March: David Preston : hand coloured linocuts * 1992, 24 April – 17 May: Madeleine Winch : paintings * 1993, 19 March 1993 – 12 April:

Arthur Boyd Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd (24 July 1920 – 24 April 1999) was a leading Australian painter of the middle to late 20th century. Boyd's work ranges from impressionist renderings of Australian landscape to starkly expressionist figuration, ...

; Paintings, Collographs, etchings * 1998, 20 March – 12 April: ''Sixties reviewed:''

Nancy Borlase Nancy Wilmot Borlase (24 March 1914 – 11 September 2006) was a New Zealand-born Australian artist, known for her landscape-based abstract paintings and portraits, and as an art critic and commentator. Her work is displayed in the National Ga ...

, Shay Docking, Robert Grieve, Louis James, Elwyn Lynn,

Guy Warren Guy Warren of Ghana, also known as Kofi Ghanaba (4 May 1923 – 22 December 2008), was a Ghanaian musician, most notable as the inventor of Afro-jazz — "the reuniting of African-American jazz with its African roots" — and as a member of The ...

* 1998, 4 – 27 September: Works on paper:

Sidney Nolan Sir Sidney Robert Nolan (22 April 191728 November 1992) was one of the leading Australian artists of the 20th century. Working in a wide variety of media, his oeuvre is among the most diverse and prolific in all of modern art. He is best known ...

, John Coburn,

* 2003, to 9 March: Judy Cassab

Awards

Honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

master's degrees from the universities of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

and

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

* 1979:

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

"for services to the visual arts" * 1987
Newton-John alumni award
* 2001: Centenary Medal "for service to the community" * 2002: The University of Newcastle honorary

doctorate of letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

* 2002: Recognised in Newcastle as a Freeman of the City

Author

Von Bertouch's 1959 novel ''February Dark,'' runner-up in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' Literary Award, was based on her experience of life in Myall Lakes. It was reissued by Hunniford's Lane Press in 1982. Her other published works include ''The Ride Home'' and a 1000-copy limited-edition monograph on sculptor Guy Boyd, described by ''

Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...

'' reviewer Glenda Alexander as a "delightful story, if touched with the hint of sentimentality which the Boyds always seem to attract."

Publications

* * * * * * *

Archival resources

* National Library of Australia : iographical cuttings on Anne von Bertouch, author, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journalsbr>Bib ID: 2085354
* National Library of Australia, Manuscript Collection : Papers of Anne von Bertouch, circa 1960-circa 1999 anuscript c. 1960 – c. 1999
MS Acc03.266
* Newcastle Region Library : Diary, correspondence and memorabilia anuscript 1975 – 1978, Call number: 910.4/VON; Anne Von Bertouch travel documents and diaries anuscrip

Death and legacy

Following a severe stroke, Von Bertouch died on 26 April 2003. Her funeral at Christ Church Cathedral with a eulogy by

Newcastle Region Art Gallery The Newcastle Art Gallery, formerly the Newcastle City Art Gallery and Newcastle Region Art Gallery, is a large public art museum in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. History Founded in 1945 with an art collection consisting of 123 wor ...

director Nick Mitzevich was attended by 500 mourners. Shortly before her death Von Bertouch bequeathed a total of 136 works from her personal collection to the Newcastle Region Art Gallery, the biggest art collection bestowed to it in 58 years and valued in the millions of dollars; they were exhibited there in March 2003. In November 2005 350 artworks still in her gallery were auctioned as required by the Uncollected Goods Act of 1995. After her death manager Gael Davies attempted to hold a 41st Collectors' Choice exhibition on October 31, 2003, and the remaining scheduled shows for 2003, but an estate dispute was underway and the shows could not go ahead; consequently the gallery remained closed. Von Bertouch left her estate to her then 23-year-old great niece Cassandra Bird and to Davies. In March 2004 Bird sought to buy Davies' share and to reopen the gallery. Davies rejected the offer as unviable and proposed instead a new, smaller gallery be built on a parcel of land in Laman Street from the sale of surrounding land. The dispute became litigious with the outcome being its sale in 2007 by Supreme Court-appointed trustee Ferrier Hodgson. The terraces were purchased by Dick Lees for #1,420,000 in 2007, and in 2010 were listed for sale at A$1.6 million. The four terrace houses sold together for a fourth time in 2015. Matt and Marilyn Sainsbury, new owners of the gallery buildings, with Matt's sister Helen Griffin, commissioned Newcastle sculptor Graham Wilson, an exhibitor at the gallery, to carve a bust in

Wollombi Wollombi ( ) is a small village in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is within the Cessnock City Council LGA, situated southwest of Cessnock and north of Sydney. To the south is the village of Laguna, to the east, the villa ...

sandstone honouring her memory and her place in Cooks Hill life. Installed in 2019, it stands outside the former gallery on Laman Street.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Von Bertouch, Anne 1918 births 2003 deaths Directors of museums in Australia Australian curators Australian writers People from Newcastle, New South Wales People educated at Sydney Girls High School Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian women curators