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30:(1934 – May 2020) with his business partners and friends Geoffrey and Alex Legge. It was influential and well-known, hosting exhibitions and works by some of the most prominent non-mainstream artists in Australia of the 20th and 21st centuries, including
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Before the gallery closed, Watters offered two senior curators from AGNSW to pick any works from his collection that they wanted. They chose 32 works, collectively valued at over A$ 1m, including a huge painting by
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Watters
Gallery finally closed its doors on 24 November 2018, after 54 years, with Frank Watters' collection of around 150 paintings and sculptures to be auctioned by Shapiro Auctioneers in 2019.
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was held from 20 May to 17 July 2020), recognising
Watters' legacy, after he had donated 67 works by 27 Australian artists to the university, which was most significant gift in its history.
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as a teenager, to the end of his career. The gallery supported him through a radical change of direction in style, even when art investors did not.
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316:(Interview). Art Gallery of New South Wales Archive: Balnaves Foundation Australian Sculpture Archive Project. Interviewed by Edwards, Deborah.
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107:, and allowed artists to choose what works to put on show. This was a point of difference from many other galleries.
130:, was held at Watters in 1975. He said that he was "treated fantastically" by Watters. Watters also sold works by
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153:(AGNSW), was a great champion of the gallery, and the final exhibition there was dedicated to his work.
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The gallery moved in 1969 to a former pub in Riley Street, in the heart of what was then the
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For its 50th anniversary, an exhibition was held at the
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This is an edited transcript of a recorded interview.
211:. He also donated his archive to the AGNSW Library.
345:"Vale Frank Watters – a giant with a gentle smile"
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99:It was among the first Sydney galleries to show
58:The gallery was opened on 18 November 1964 in
254:"End of an era as the Watters Gallery closes"
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454:2018 disestablishments in Australia
444:Art museums and galleries in Sydney
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252:Meacham, Steve (29 October 2018).
207:with her genitalia expose, called
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370:"Five Decades at Watters Gallery"
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449:1964 establishments in Australia
280:Goddard, Angela (17 June 2015).
159:Frank Watters died in May 2020.
16:Art gallery in Sydney, Australia
459:20th-century Australian artists
309:Grounds, Marr (30 March 2015).
216:University of Technology Sydney
173:Five Decades at Watters Gallery
81:, that was built in the 1850s.
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343:Fairley, Gina (25 May 2020).
311:"Interview with Marr Grounds"
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118:The gallery also represented
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282:"John Peart 'Shoot point'"
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259:The Sydney Morning Herald
128:Morphological structures
400:"The Story of Watters"
163:Recognition and legacy
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398:McPhee, John (2014).
101:avant-garde sculpture
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183:(aka Reg Mombassa),
171:in Sydney, entitled
122:, co-founder of the
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26:, Australia, run by
318:Balnaves Foundation
374:S.H. Ervin Gallery
322:Art Gallery of NSW
218:Gallery, entitled
209:Five in a Row Show
169:S.H. Ervin Gallery
151:Art Gallery of NSW
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79:red light district
349:ArtsHub Australia
220:The Watters' Gift
214:An exhibition at
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377:. Retrieved
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352:. Retrieved
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314:(transcript)
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292:. Retrieved
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263:. Retrieved
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203:of his wife
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177:Euan Macleod
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143:Tony Tuckson
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120:Marr Grounds
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89:Reg Mombassa
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64:Darlinghurst
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32:Tony Tuckson
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185:Ann Thomson
136:Aleks Danko
105:Bob Klippel
95:, July 2017
48:Garry Shead
433:Categories
379:1 February
354:1 February
294:1 February
265:1 February
226:References
205:Pat Larter
109:John Peart
68:coal miner
66:by former
189:Joe Frost
124:Tin Sheds
147:Spitfire
113:Brisbane
141:Artist
54:History
287:QAGOMA
46:, and
24:Sydney
381:2023
356:2023
296:2023
289:Blog
267:2023
134:and
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