Ron Radford

Ron Radford (born 3 December 1949) has been the Director of the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) since 2004. He was previously the Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide.

He was born in Victoria and studies at Scotch College, Melbourne, Melbourne University and RMIT University. He was an education officer at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1971 and 1972. He was Director of the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery from 1973 to 1980, a position previously held by the founding director of the NGA, James Mollison.

From 1980 to 1988 he was Curator of European and Australian paintings and sculpture at the Art Gallery of South Australia. As Director between 1991 and 2004, he built up the collection of Australian art, particularly from the colonial period, developed a strong holding in Asian art and expanded the Renaissance collection.

He has been described as "a boisterous, larger than life bon vivant with a wicked sense of humour and an easy ability to dissolve potential conflict with light-heartedness". [cite web| title = Smiles all round for gallery boss |url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/31/1093938915606.html?from=storyrhs |work = The Sydney Morning Herald |date = 1 September 2004 |accessdate = 2006-10-17 ]

Radford has announced his intention to lend out old masters (European art, prior to the 19th century) for long-term display to state galleries. He considers the collection of less than 30 paintings, put together by Mollison to give context to the modern collection, as too small to make any impact on the public. He has been quoted as saying that the gallery should concentrate on its strengths - European Art of the first half of the 20th century, 20th-century American art, photography, Asian art and the 20th-century drawing collection, and to fill the gaps in the Australian collection. [cite web| title = Radford to banish old masters from NGA |url = http://www.canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&story_id=472737&category=general%20news&m=4&y=2006 |work = The Canberra Times |date = 12 April 2006 |accessdate = 2006-10-21 ]

Publications

Radford has written a number of books on art, mainly exhibition guides, including: [ [http://www.artgallery.sa.gov.au/pubs.html] Art Gallery of South Australia]
* "Recent Aboriginal Painting incorporating the Maude Vizard-Wholohan". Art Prize Purchase Awards 1988, Art Gallery of South Australia (1988), ISBN 0-7308-0799-1
* "Tom Roberts", Art Gallery of South Australia (1996)
* "The William Bowmore Collection: The Fine Art of Giving", Art Gallery of South Australia (1999), ISBN 0-7308-3059-4
* "Our Country: Australian Federation Landscapes 1900-1914", Art Gallery of South Australia (2001)
* "19th Century Australian Art - M.J.M. Carter Collection", Art Gallery of South Australia (1993), ISBN 0-7308-3008-X

Notes

Persondata
NAME=Radford, Brian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australian art gallery director
DATE OF BIRTH=3 December 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH=Victoria, Australia
DATE OF DEATH=living person
PLACE OF DEATH=