Hassall Writers Fellowship: Quentin Sprague

The ANU Drill Hall Gallery, in partnership with Geoff Hassall OAM, is proud to announce the inaugural Hassall Writers Fellow Quentin Sprague. The now Canberra-based writer’s first book, The Stranger Artist, won the 2021 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for non-fiction. For his second book Sprague teamed up with Drill Hall Gallery Publishing to produce a landmark monograph on artist Ken Whisson published in 2023. Ken Whisson: Painting and Drawing is a unique representation of Australian art produced at an international standard. The book sets the bar for artist monographs in Australia. It highlights a gap in Australian art publishing, a gap that the Hassall Writers Fellowship, in conjunction with Drill Hall Gallery Publishing, will seek to redress. Quentin Sprague discusses this and more in conversation with Hetty Gascoigne:

Hetty Gascoigne: You’ve recently published an epic monograph on Ken Whisson. It’s a breathtaking book both for the quality of scholarship and publication values. Such a book is rare for Australian art. Tell me more about the project.

Quentin Sprague: Thanks for the kind words! Monographs like the Whisson book, which really aim to place  an artist’s work in its historic context through long-form writing, are still rare in Australia. One motivation behind the book was a realisation that over the last decade here there’s been a growth in the capacity of museums to publish significant exhibition catalogues, which has been fantastic. I’ve written for a number of those kinds of publications, and always enjoy it. But one thing shouldn’t replace another: those books are curatorial projects. They bring together a multitude of voices, covering a certain period in relation to a physical exhibition. What that leaves out is the single-authored artist monograph. We don’t have that so much in Australia, but the number of artists who merit a monograph like that is phenomenal. And that’s really the opportunity that this Fellowship aims to build upon.

The other great gap is recognition of the mid to late career period of practice, which is something else that really interests me. It’s probably true to say that for a lot of artists their best work is made mid to late career. But it’s also when a level of institutional visibility can begin to drop off, especially if an artist has enjoyed an early flush of success. Elsewhere it’s at this stage that things like monographs are produced: later career artists have a body of work, their level of commitment is clear, their consistency is clear, it’s when the quote-unquote ‘real’ artists come out of the woodwork. In Australia a lot of our art scene arguably depends on the capacity of young artists to take on risk and insecurity, but the longer-term projection can falter. What’s more, if we rely solely on institutions to create major exhibition catalogues as a stand-in for monographic study, or for artists to self-fund publications, then it’s going to be a very selective process. Important artists will be left unrepresented. The Australian art historical narrative will suffer.

HG: What’s left is an incredibly imbalanced representation of Australian art and visual culture.

QS: Absolutely. 

HG: Is there a model, perhaps internationally, that you have in mind for the Fellowship?

QS: With the Whisson book I simply looked at big monographs from overseas. There was a big Guston book that came my way, a big book on Gabriel Orozco, and others. That was the dream – what if we could do that? The Whisson book was a test – what if we took this major, late career artist who doesn’t have a book and do the equivalent of an international monograph?

HG: As Drill Hall Gallery director Tony Oates has said, if we believe our art is of an international standard then it deserves books of that calibre. That’s where the idea for Drill Hall Publishing came from.

QS: It’s such a great opportunity. Again, this is the difference between Australia and say, America. If you’re trying to figure out a significant artist from the last half century in America, you go and get the book and you look at it. But in Australia the information often just isn’t there, or if it is, it’s far more piecemeal. And if an artist practiced before the internet you’re in double trouble.

HG: How will the Hassall Writers Fellowship help address this?

QS: That’s an evolving process. Initially, it’s built around a series of projects, one of which is a monograph on Robert Rooney. Beyond that, there’s scope for other projects that pick up threads of the Australian art historical narrative, or related themes, that may otherwise be left aside. And at a practical level, it’s an opportunity to do the work without constantly looking over my shoulder. I’m still pinching myself about that!

HG: What’s the role of philanthropy in projects like this?

QS: Strategic philanthropic support is a very powerful thing to wield. And it means that some of these gaps can be filled. It’s very difficult to find a mainstream publisher to financially support a major book on an artist, simply for economic reasons. But the right kind of philanthropy means it can be done anyway.

HG: The much-celebrated curator and art historian Daniel Thomas has said that the role of a curator, particularly for a national collection, is to represent the important artists whose stories aren’t being told. The Drill Hall Gallery has developed a reputation for just such sorts of curatorial projects. It’s so exciting that Drill Hall Publishing, along with the Fellowship, can go further to enrich the Australian art historical narrative.

QS: The Drill Hall has a long history, as you know as well as anyone. I worked here after art school in Canberra, and still often think of a big show of Juan Davila’s they held in 2002. It was so fantastic. Even back then Drill Hall Gallery was producing these sorts of exhibitions, filling in these gaps of history. It’s hard for an artist to get a book, and it can be hard for mid to late career artists to get the sort of comprehensive exhibitions that Drill Hall Gallery delivers. The Drill Hall performs an important role. It’s a natural fit with Hassall Writers Fellowship.

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Photo: Ross Coulter