Flashback 1968: The new NGV and the quest for perfection

First published in The Age on August 20, 1968

In the concept and fabric of the new National Gallery there is embodied art that reveals and enhances the art of the works it houses, and subtly conceals its own.

Art there is, in its every aspect, deeply studied, meticulously brought as near perfection as human minds and hands can make it.

The National Gallery of Victoria.Credit: Rebecca Hallas

The synthesis of the works of art and the work of art of the Gallery itself into harmonious entity emerges as the inspiration of the building.

Mr. Roy Grounds, the architect who designed the building and supervised its construction said of it:

“We set our sights very high and took a long-range view.

“It is better to set your sights high and strain for the ideal, even though you know that the ideal is unattainable, than to aim at some lower level of achievement.

“You are more likely to achieve a good result if you aim at the ideal.”

View of the construction at the NGV in 1967.Credit: Fairfax Archives

So, the aims for the new gallery were high from the beginning and they have remained high to the end.

Idealism of a rare order, is evident in a multitude of details, both impressive and pleasing in the vast building.

It inspired not only those concerned with its design, but the craftsmen who worked to bring it into being.

It is evident in the faultless cabinet work and panelling of maintain ash, in turned wooden door knobs, screw heads with their slits precisely aligned, one with another.

There are parquet floors that seem too fine to be trodden by multitudes of feet, desk, drawers and cabinets that, at first sight, seem almost too delicate for hard use.

Workers rigging the scaffolding for the archway at the main entrance of the NGV, 1967.Credit: John Cook

Yet they are strong and durable, designed and built not only for this, the first generation that will use them, but for many others that will follow.

“The specifications did not state and demand work of the standard that has been achieved,” Mr. Grounds said in appreciative acknowledgment of its quality.

“Tradesmen and suppliers realised, and appreciated what we were trying to do and everybody did better than they could – they rose above mundane standards.

“Their concern was with how to do the job as well as possible. People became personally involved.

“Finally they were working as artisan artists. It became possible to think of them in the same terms as the men who built, say, Chartres Cathedral, and to know something of how they felt.

“Throughout, there was more than the usual amount of warm and enthusiastic co-operation from the builders. They understood,” Mr. Grounds said, leaning forward to emphasise his point.

“They were not just men laying stones or running concrete. They were men handling precious materials. They knew what we were trying to do and they were helping do it.”

This unobtrusive background of devoted craftsmanship enhances the enjoyment of the gems of the gallery’s collection – one of the finest in the world – and of the building which it adorns.

It is a building designed for the enjoyment of its visitors.

The opening of the NGV in 1968.Credit: Fairfax Archives

Deep research, and thought born of experience of galleries here and overseas, have been expended on combating the wearisome malaise known to the experts as “gallery fatigue”.

It arises, they believe, not only from the physical tiredness of walking through seemingly endless halls, but also from the sheer tedium of treading the same hard flooring, and meeting through every doorway the same monotonous colours and textures, however great the masterpieces that stand against them.

So, architects, designers, professional officers of the gallery and a cohort of consultants and advisers set about the alleviation fatigue, physical, psychological and visual, that can beset the most conscientious gallery-goers.

Underfoot, the surfaces change from carpet to wood or vinyl and back to carpet almost imperceptibly unless one looks down; colours and wall textures change and blend; subtle nuances in lighting for particular purposes almost imperceptibly relieve the eye.

Everywhere new vistas open. There can never be any sense of being enclosed in the great building with its 20 acres of floor and three miles of display and storage space.

Some freshly contrasting view, some invitation to explore further is constantly appearing before the eye.

In the lordly spaciousness of the Great Hall the building attains its climatic height.

The Hall, 160 feet long and 50 feet wide, crowned 50 feet above its carpeted floor by Leonard French stained-glass ceiling radiating light in myriad colours, is irresistibly impressive without being in any way overawing. Acoustically, it is gently effective.

A boy splashes around in the NGV's exterior pool in 1968.Credit: Fairfax Archives

It is a room for great occasions – State receptions, banquets, gathering of professional organisations, international conventions.

In versatile generosity it can receive them all.

It is a building of light, subtly conceived and contrived for its purpose.

“In art galleries which I visited, all over the world, I found that, very often, I the viewer was being illuminated rather than the works of art,” Mr. Grounds said as he told the story of research and experiment that preceded the decisions on the gallery’s forms of lighting.

“I had never seen an art gallery anywhere in the world which could be translated to the conditions of Melbourne and provide the type of lighting we wanted.

“If we were to approach the ideal we had to start afresh.”

The Leonard French stained glass ceiling in the Great Hall of the NGV.Credit: Craig Abraham

So, experiments and tests began, again with the sights set on perfection.

After exhaustive tests at the Commonwealth Experimental Building Station a report was prepared suggesting that there was on method which might repay further study, but it would have to be built and tested at full size.

“In the process of testing and developing the lighting and other vitally important materials and finishes in the building, I knew that there was to be a fair chance that we would make mistakes,” Mr. Grounds continued.

“I wanted to make the mistakes in a full-scale prototype building.

The National Gallery of Victoria.Credit: Matthew Bouwmeester

“When I recommended that a prototype should be built I told the Building Committee that it was extremely unlikely that we would be successful in the early stages.

“But the longer we spent, the greater chance we would have of correcting errors in the prototype. We would have no chance of correcting them in the finished building.

“The Committee unanimously agree to allocate the $100,000 needed to build the prototype.

“The Gallery represents 10 years work by the Building Committee,” Mr. Grounds said. “Expert advice always had a significant influence on the making of decisions.”

In the prototype building uncounted tests of lighting were made over a period of three years – “tens of thousands” is Mr. Grounds’ rough estimate.

Large crowds in the NGV in 2007.Credit: Joseph Feil

Gallery officers, the CSIRO and lighting consultants all co-operated.

Installed in the new Gallery, the lighting that resulted in this relentless pursuit of perfection illuminates the works of art without assaulting the eye of the beholder.

But Mr. Grounds is modestly cautious about assessing the full merit of the achievement.

“How good the result is we will find out in the next few months when the works of art can be seen in their assigned positions,” he said.

But it is already beyond question among those who have already conceived an affection for the Gallery that its collection can be seen as never before, many of the works revealing scarcely suspected beauty of colour.

Seeing the Gallery’s collection in its new setting will be an experience even for those who feel that they know it well.

The promise of a rich and enjoyable experience is held out to every visitor.