Maudie Palmer, pioneer of Australian art, changed the face of our culture

Pioneering arts leader Maudie Palmer has died after transforming Australia’s cultural landscape through her groundbreaking work at Heide and TarraWarra museums.

Maudie Palmer has died. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Former art gallery director Maudie Palmer has been remembered as a pioneer for women in the arts who changed the face of the Australian cultural landscape.

The inaugural director of Heide Park and Art Gallery (now Heide Museum of Modern Art) and TarraWarra Museum of Art, died on December 3, her family said on Thursday in a statement.

Heide director Lesley Harding said Palmer’s death was a great loss to the Australian arts sector. “When she began her ­career, there were very few women in leadership positions in the arts,” she said.

“She was an exceptional and influential leader in Australia’s cultural sector and an inspirational role model for women curators and directors in art institutions.

“Maudie’s connections, friendships and achievements in the areas of the arts, environment and First Nations advocacy were significant and far-reaching.”

TarraWarra Museum of Art director Victoria Lynn said Palmer’s legacy was far reaching.

“Maudie was driven, passionate and committed, devoting much of her time and energy to supporting artists, often conceiving original and imaginative approaches to raising the profile of art and the environment,” she said. “Maudie leaves behind a legacy of courage, generosity and transformative impact.”

Palmer was for many years a trustee at the National Gallery of Victoria and a vice-chancellor’s professorial fellow at Monash University.

In 2006, she received an Order of Australia, and in 2021 was awarded an honorary doctorate by Monash, recognising her ­career-long contribution to the visual arts.

National Gallery of Victoria director Tony Ellwood praised Palmer’s focus on local art and artists.

“Maudie was an extremely committed museum professional who championed many Australian artists and was greatly ­respected for her contribution to the sector throughout her ­career,” he said.

Palmer held roles at various Victorian arts institutions, including as assistant director and curator at the University Gallery (now Potter Museum of Art), and at the University of Melbourne. But it is Heide and TarraWarra where her legacy looms largest.

She was appointed inaugural director of the Heide Park and Art Gallery in 1981 after the site was purchased by the Victorian government. Comprising three buildings on 6.5ha of heritage-listed gardens and sculpture park, the site is the former dairy farm purchased in 1934 by pioneering artists and benefactors John and Sunday Reed. That pair named the property Heide as a nod to the famous Heidelberg School of impressionism that came to prominence in the late 19th century.

The property arguably is best known for having served as a meeting place for the Heide ­Circle – Sidney Nolan, John Perceval, Albert Tucker and Joy Hester. The collective also formed the nucleus of the Angry Penguins, the modernist movement named for a journal published by the Reeds and Max Harris.

Harding said Palmer’s tenure at Heide – where she held some 100 exhibitions and built its collection from 130 to more than 800 – secured the museum’s reputation as the birthplace of Australian modernism and an incubator for contemporary art.

“Her honouring of the legacy of Heide’s founders John and Sunday Reed and championing of the Heide circle of artists has contributed immensely to the standing of the museum today,” she said.

In 2001, Palmer was appointed inaugural director of TarraWarra Museum, the modernist gallery in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, established by Eva and Marc Besen. The $10m museum officially opened in 2003, with Palmer having worked closely in the years previous with the Besens to develop the institution as a not-for-profit organisation with an independent board and constitution.

As well as overseeing the first almost-decade of programs, Palmer launched the acquisition of First People’s art for the permanent collection. In 2006 under her direction, the TarraWarra Biennial was founded. She resigned in 2008, and returned in 2011 as interim director. She remained an adviser there, and was considered a mentor to many, until her death.

“Maudie was determined to ensure that the legacy of Eva and Marc Besen would be honoured,” said Lynn.

As well as having been an adviser on the McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park development, Palmer held roles with the Moet and Chandon Australian Art Foundation, the Yarra Valley Artists in Residence Program, Herring Island Environmental Sculpture Park, and Melbourne Festival’s Visual Arts Program.

She is survived by her two daughters, Greta and Alice.

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