Christine Abrahams

Christine Abrahams (5 March 1939 -15 September 1994)[1] was a gallery director and major supporter of contemporary Australian art in Melbourne from the 1970s.

Life

Artist Lenton Parr said of Christine that she valued art "as a gift to the spirit and a source of pleasure and enlightenment."[2]

She was Manager of Powell Street Gallery between 1976 and 1980 (the lessees were Melbourne solicitor Harry Curtis and a Caulfield doctor, David Rosenthal), and a Co-Director of Axiom Gallery from 1980 to 1982 which was established in March 1980 at 27 Gipps Street Richmond, an inner, once-industrial, suburb of Melbourne, in the same precinct as an increasing number of other commercial galleries, including the long-running Pinacotheca and Church Street Centre for Photography.

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."[3]

Axiom's opening show consisted of large abstract paintings by Sydney Ball, Fred Cress, John Walker and John Firth-Smith, selling at between $700 to $9500,[4] and was followed by a solo of works by photographer David Moore.[5][6]

Other exhibitions included;

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."[39]

In December 1982 Axiom gallery closed, was eponymously renamed the 'Christine Abrahams Gallery', and reopened on 12 February 1983. It showed a broad spectrum of visual arts by contemporary artists, including photography, by architects, and craftspeople including jewellers, and furniture makers.[40]

The building had been converted in 1980 from a clothing factory by the architect of Abrahams' own 1982 Brighton residence,[41] Daryl Jackson, who 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.[42][43] 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.

Exhibitions under the name 'Christine Abrahams Gallery' included;

  • 1984, to May 31: Akio Makigawa solo[44]
  • 1984, to August 30: Victor Majzner, Daniel Kogan [45]
  • 1985, March: Denise Green[46]
  • 1988, to November 3: Maria Kuczynska, sculpture[47]
  • 1994, to June 16: Grass fibre weavings from Ramingining[48]
  • 1994, to August 11: Denise Green[49]
  • 1997, to March 20: Marion Borgelt[50]
  • 2000, to October 12: Mandy Martin, Salvator Rosa Series III[51]

Death, closure

After Christine's death on 15 September 1994,[2] the gallery was operated by her son Guy Abrahams, who had been co-director since 1987.[1]

The gallery was closed after 28 years in November 2008.

Influence

Christine initiated the influential Australian Contemporary Art Fair (now Melbourne Art Fair)[52] 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
  1. "Death of Christine Abrahams [gallery director]". Australian Prints + Printmaking. October 1994. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  2. Parr, Lenton (October 1994). "Obituary". Art Monthly Australia. p. 40.
  3. Robert Rooney, 'Six young moderns from Sydney,' in The Age, Wednesday, February 24, 1982, p.10
  4. Robert Rooney, 'Fascination out of obscurity', in The Age, Friday, May 9, 1980
  5. Advertisement, The Age, Saturday, May 31, 1980, p.20
  6. Tony Perry, 'Moore wins recognition,' in The Age, Monday, 23 Jun 1980, p.10
  7. Robert Rooney, 'A Colossus revisited,' in The Age, Thursday, 03 Jul 1980, p.10
  8. Robert Rooney, 'Rocky's abstracts go the distance,' The Age, Thursday, July 24, 1980, p.10
  9. Robert Rooney, 'Nomadic Hickey's new brush look,' The Age, Wednesday, September 24, 1980, p.10
  10. Advertisement, The Age, Saturday 13 December, 1980, p.25
  11. The Age, Friday, February 6, 1981, p.35<ref>The Age, Wednesday, February 4, 1981, p.10
  12. Robert Rooney, 'Greeted by Eric Thake', in The Age, Wednesday, February 11, 1981, p.10
  13. Robert Rooney, 'Grandest quest in close-up', in The Age, Wednesday, February 25, 1981, p.10
  14. IThe Age, Friday, March 6, 1981, p.10
  15. Anthony Clarke, 'Images of Freund', in The Age, Thursday, April 16, 1981, p.10
  16. Tony Perry, 'The graphic master', in The Age, Wednesday, May 20, 1981, p.10
  17. Rita Erlich, 'Roy Churcher's view,' in The Age, Tuesday, June 9, 1981, p.10
  18. Robert Rooney, 'Community mural in the making,' The Age, Wednesday, June 17, 1981, p.10
  19. The Age, Tuesday, June 16, 1981, p.10
  20. The Age, Thursday, July 2, 1981, p.10
  21. Anthony Clarke, 'Pioneers of the pictorial,' in The Age, Friday, July 3, 1981, p.10
  22. Robert Rooney, 'Patterns of Arkley,' in The Age, Wednesday, July 15, 1981, p.10
  23. Robert Rooney, 'Between wall and window,' in The Age, Wednesday, July 22, 1981, p.10
  24. The Age, Thursday, July 30, 1981, p.10
  25. Advertisement, The Age, Saturday, August 15, 1981, p.26
  26. The Age, Tuesday, August 18, 1981, p.10
  27. Robert Rooney, 'The quaint, curious and the informative,' in The Age, Wednesday, September 16, 1981, p.10
  28. Jane McCredie, 'Adrift in the world of art,', in The Age, Wednesday, October 14, 1981, p.10
  29. Judy Newman, 'The surreal art of Smart,' in The Age, Tuesday, November 3, 1981, p.19
  30. Robert Rooney, 'Retreat to a timeless land,' in The Age, Wednesday, November 4, 1981, p.10
  31. The Age, Friday, November 6, 1981, p.10
  32. Robert Rooney, 'Crowded view of abstractions,' in The Age, Wednesday, November 25, 1981, p.10
  33. The Age, Wednesday, February 10, 1982, p.10
  34. Geoff Strong, 'Photography', in The Age, Monday, March 22, 1982, p.10
  35. Robert Rooney, 'Inviting Comparison', in The Age, Wednesday, April 7, 1982, p.10
  36. Robert Rooney, 'A new Italian connection with the old,' in The Age, Thursday, June 17, 1982, p.14
  37. Robert Rooney, The Age, Saturday, June 19, 1982, p.14
  38. The Age, Thursday, June 24, 1982, p.14
  39. Brigid Cole-Adams, 'Looking back to a year of browsing in art', in The Age, Tuesday, January 20, 1981, p. 17
  40. Jenny Zimmer, 'Access to the global village reflected in crafts,' The Age, Tuesday 02 Jan 1996, p.13
  41. Greenwood, Helen, 'The Hide-Art', Plenty, vol. 5, November/January 1990 pp.42-44 (Abrahams House, Brighton, photographs by Ashley Evans).
  42. Murdoch, Anna (1984) 'Dealing with other people's truths'. In The Age Thursday April 5, 1984, p.14
  43. Holloway, Memory (1984) 'Stimulating architecture'. In The Age, Wednesday March 28 1984, p.14.
  44. Sue Cramer, 'Understadn the basic elements,' The Age, Friday 25 May 1984, p.14
  45. Sue Cramer, 'Raw rejection of formal skills,' The Age, Friday 10 Aug 1984, p.14
  46. Heather Kennedy, 'Green taken in by the US,' The Age, Saturday 09 Mar 1985, p.171
  47. 'Craft', Katrina Farrell, The Age, Thursday 27 Oct 1988, p.14
  48. Jenny Zimmer, 'A new opportunity to ponder aboriginal art,' The Age, Tuesday 24 May 1994, p.20
  49. Vriginia Trioli, 'Green deeply colours a spiritual canvas, The Age Wednesday, 27 Jul 1994, p.22
  50. Robert Nelson, "Mystery in its compelling, minimalist glory,' The Age Wednesday 05 Mar 1997, p.41
  51. Megan Backhouse, 'Art that belongs to the earth,' The Age, Monday 25 Sep 2000, p.44
  52. "Established galleries featured at art fair". Australian Jewish News. 9 September 2008.

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