Saving face for $25,000

The board of trustees of the Art Gallery of NSW has decided not to revoke the $25,000 Wynne Prize from the winning artist Sam Leach despite public outcry after it came to light Leach "appropriate" his entry from a 16th century Dutch work.

Apparently the board's decision was unanimous and while they noted Leach's painting had the "light and air" of a Dutch 17th-century landscape, they also recognised "its quality and its mysterious implications of the natural world . . . in that sense it is an idealised landscape, one where time and place are indistinct." . . . . never mind that the Wynne Prize is awarded for "the best landscape painting of Australian scenery oils or watercolours or for the best example of figure sculpture by Australian artists completed during the 12 months preceding the [closing] date ..."

I don't know. I think the whole thing stinks of "saving face" and while I concede the trustee boards' decision is final, I greatly doubt if they have earned the trust of the public in the process.

Good luck to them.