Publications | Robert Hirschmann

Australian Art Collector

Issue 47 January -March 2009

pp 90-91

The Two Roberts by Courtney Kidd

Robert Hirschmann and Robert Linnegar have been artist and gallerist for 20 years. Courtney Kidd discovered that such ‘marriages’ survive only through subtle processes of negotiation, plus a healthy dose of mutual respect for each other’s skills.

Robert Linnegar is the name and the backing behind Sydney’s King Street Gallery on William, previously on Burton Street in Darlinghurst and originally on King Street in Newtown, where it first opened in 1982. Its most recent incarnation on William Street is appropriately next door to Money Lent, where Linnegar has bailed out more than one artist caught hocking the family jewels.

Robert Hirschmann, a painter of striking abstract landscapes, met Linnegar while studying at the National Art School. Linnegar liked Hirschmanns “precocious, albeit student, paintings… and the way he carried around a big bag of … magic stones he’s collected while walking across New Guinea with Jesuits. That really appealed to me.” While Linnegar was watching the fledgling artist, Hirschmann was watching dwindling finances. The chrysalis for the relationship formed when Linnegar found work for Hirschmann as a gardener at his father’s home. The friendship among the three men flourished for a couple of years until the artist was discovered cutting up costly marine ply from the garden workshop to use for his paintings. “And when he ‘harvested’ the passionfruit, it left Dad speechless,” muses Linnegar.

But both Roberts liked each other and were struggling to get themselves established, so Hirschmann started working in the gallery, which by now had moved to Burton Street, in exchange for the use of the vast upstairs laundry which Hirschmann refurbished into a studio and living space. That was in 1990. It enabled Hirschmann to buy time to paint, resulting in Terracollaboratis in 1992, his first exhibition with the gallery. Hirschmann, still in his mid 20s, had by now won the Gruner Landscape Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and was becoming noticed by collectors. “I think ultimately we trusted each other’s eye, each other’s judgement. We shared an understanding,” says Hirschmann, who is deeply appreciative of Linnegar “bank rolling” him.

The relationship, like any, had its defining moments. The next was during the 4th Australian Contemporary Art Fair. Police arrived to let Linnegar, an only child, know that his father was dying and so Hirschmann was entrusted to manage their stand at the fair and then, back in Sydney, the gallery. It was a strained time, demanding, as any gallerist knows, judging artists’ needs. “Other artists were getting in my ear about things,” says Hirschmann, “the gallery was really working like a family with its ups and downs, but I don’t recall anything particularly disturbing about it like some relationships that you constantly hear.” The conflict between making money and buying time, however, was disturbing Hirschmann, who soon decided to bite the bullet and work on his practice full time. “It’s been wonderful sticking with King Street. From day one, Rob struck me as having enormous respect for art and the artist and to this day he has left me to paint the way I want.”

The hands-off approach can mean that the world f the artist is out of sync with the world of commerce. Both Roberts cite this as the main sticking point of the relationship, noting the frustrations the other experiences when the gallery is itching for more paintings or catalogue images, where printers or clients have to be stalled, and all because the artist has a way of working that just can’t be sped up.

Surely, the marketing of artists, particularly in the current climate, is of primary concern? Linnegar is circumspect, scoffing at the New York model of artist promotion , where he suggests the personality of the artist is privileged over the content and quality of the work, which he feels should stand alone. “We do a lot of drinks with artists and clients. It’s a great way of promoting the art but on the artist’s terms, so that the client can engage at a more immediate level. In this way the artist chaperones the reception of the work, a process that has more of an integrity about it.”

Clearly the importance of ‘family’ – the way it is a foundation – buoys both artist and gallerist. King Street opened on William Street with Hirschmann’s sixteenth solo show. “Artists, friends, other galleries were there, and it felt like a huge family. They’re just so welcoming, and … that generosity is what keeps it all thriving. Mutual respect is, I guess, really the key to any good relationship.”