Tony Tuckson's story is not a simple one. He was an artist, arguably
Australia's most significant abstract expressionist painter, but he also
played a crucial role in shaping the modern art museum in Australia.
This new book looks at Tuckson through the many and varied prisms that
reveal his critical role in and to art in Australia. Tuckson had been
painting long before his first solo exhibition in 1970 and although he
was a dedicated and serious artist he was a very private one who
exhibited rarely. Tuckson began his 23 years at the Art Gallery of New
South Wales in 1950 as an attendant. He quickly moved to assistant to
the director Hal Missingham, and then to deputy director. For ethical
reasons he kept his artistic practice separate, even secret. When his
curatorial responsibility shifted to Aboriginal and Oceanic art, he
began exhibiting. His first solo exhibition was in 1970 at Watters
Gallery in Sydney. At the Art Gallery of New South Wales he introduced
dedicated spaces for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art; electric
lighting; a program for the care and documentation of the collection;
the ability to show new media art; and spaces for education and general
visitor programs, amongst many other things. Once of his greatest
legacies is challenging the accepted thinking of the day to see
Aboriginal art as 'art' and bring it into the Gallery. With Dr. Stuart
Scougall, Tuckson spent time in Yirrkala and on Melville Island with
Aboriginal artists resulting in the acquisition of a major work ‐‐ the
pukamani poles ‐‐ which laid the foundation for the Art Gallery of New
South Wales's collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.
