Hal Missingham

Harold "Hal" Missingham AO (8 December 1906 – 9 April 1994) was an Australian artist, Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1945 to 1971,.^[1] and president of the Australian Watercolour Institute from 1952 to 1955.

Biography

Born in Claremont, Western Australia, Missingham was educated at Perth Boys' School, and later undertook an apprenticeship to the process engraver J. Gibney and Son in 1922. He studied drawing at Perth Technical School, attended art schools in both Paris (1926) and London (1926–1932).

From 1927-1928 Missingham worked in Canada as a freelance artist and teacher. Before World War II he studied in Perth, Paris and London, where he became friendly with a number of leading artists and developed an interest in photography. He returned to Sydney in 1941 and after serving as a Signalman in the Second Australian Imperial Force helped to found the Studio of Realist Art. In 1945 he succeeded Will Ashton as the Director of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, a post he retained until 1971. His time as Director witnessed the renaming of the gallery following the "Art Gallery of New South Wales Act 1958" and the Gallery's name was reverted to "The Art Gallery of New South Wales". He also oversaw the expansion of the gallery including the construction of the Captain Cook Wing from 1968-1970. His collection policy made an outstanding contribution to Australian contemporary art and he was responsible for bringing a number of influential international exhibitions to the country. His memoirs, "They Kill You in the End", were published in 1971 ^[2][3]

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia on 26 January 1978 for service to arts, particularly as Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.^[4]

He retired to Darlington, in the hills east of Perth, where his personal collection of paintings and photographs was destroyed by fire in 1986.^[5] He was survived by his wife Esther (née Long) 1911- whom he was married to for over 50 years.

References