Watters Gallery opened in Darlinghurst in 1964, and since then has become one of the leading private galleries on the Sydney art scene. This year, the gallery celebrates its 50th anniversary and cements itself as the nation’s oldest commercial gallery operating today.
Led by Frank Watters, Geoffrey Legge & Alexandra Legge, Watters Gallery has represented significant artists of every era during this time. It has remained at the forefront of contemporary art in Australia all the while refusing to follow art-world trends and adhering to a policy of showing only artists who are totally committed to their practice of art-making.
The long-term alliance between these three individuals is unique but it is underpinned by tolerance, admiration and diversity. The partnership was originally setup with Frank running the daily business of the gallery, Geoffrey as a silent financial partner and Alexandra managing the gallery’s accounts. The realities of the art business were somewhat different from the preconceptions that the Legges or Frank Watters might have had in the beginning and it saw the three individuals band together to work closely with one another to secure and grow the success of their gallery.
They started the gallery with a number of guiding principles. “We started off with the idea that we were going to find new artists, not go around and try and nick artists from other galleries”, says Watters. Of course, over time artists did come across from other galleries for various reasons but Watters Gallery became infamous for its ability to ‘spot talent’ and it built its stable of artists from the ground up all those years ago.
For the most part over the 50 years, Watters gallery has had a steady stable of artists. One of the biggest challenges the gallery has faced is not being able to continue to show new talent – but an ever evolving stable is not a reality anyone could manage.
However, Watters has been keen to follow the changes and developments in their artists’ work and have made a point of being open and supportive of the shifts an artist may choose to make in their work. This has not always been a policy embraced by other art dealers; a shift in an artist’s style might be received negatively by the market which prefers predictable, known product to innovation. In this way Watters Gallery has always stood apart from the mainstream. Some of their longest relationships have been with Richard Larter, Robert Parr, James Gleeson, Robert Klippel, Euan Macleod, Vicki Varvaressos, John Peart, Tony Tuckson, and Chris O’Doherty (a.k.a Reg Mombasa).
While much has occurred in 50 years, Watters Gallery has remained committed to its mission and artists. The strength of the gallery as a business is due in large part to the symbiotic relationship the three directors have showed to one another and to their artists. To mark this milestone, which will also be represented by the introduction of new gallery manager, Damien Minton, the S.H. Ervin Gallery is presenting ‘Five Decades at Watters Gallery’ – an exhibition of work that will trace the developments of the visual arts in Sydney over the past five decades.
The exhibition will feature artists including Tony Tuckson, Robert Klippel, James Gleeson, Richard Larter, Ken Whisson and Euan Macleod – and will argue the importance of Watters Gallery’s role in shaping the landscape and their support of the artists above all else.
S.H. Ervin Gallery
19 September to 2 November, 2014
Sydney
1. Frank Watters with Vivienne Binns painting, 1967
2. Photographer Gerrit Fokkema
Courtesy Watters Gallery, Sydney
