The National
Gallery of Victoria chose the optimum time of the week for breaking bad
news. Late last Friday afternoon the NGV released a statement
announcing that senior curator Geoffrey Smith had been stood down
pending the outcome of a formal inquiry into possible conflict of
interest. NGV director Gerard Vaughan said that the initial investigation
into Smith’s activities had “established there is a case to be
answered”.

The investigation was launched after revelations by The Herald Sun
in early July
of the
sensational legal battle between Smith and art dealer Robert Gould for control
of artworks and property they acquired during their 14-year relationship.
Smith claimed in an affidavit filed in the Victorian Supreme Court that he had
worked “assiduously” to promote Gould Galleries.

Smith’s suspension from duties comes less than a fortnight before the
opening of the big Charles Blackman retrospective that Smith has spent two years
putting together.

Gerard Vaughan said in the statement released on Friday that the next stage
of the investigation would involve a “formal internal Inquiry where Mr Smith
will be given an opportunity to respond to allegations resulting from the
investigation”. The inquiry will be conducted in secret.

Questions have already been raised about the appropriateness of the NGV conducting this investigation. Those
questions are all the more pressing now, given that Smith’s career and
reputation hang in the balance as the inquiry enters this new and critical
phase.

This saga is not just about the extra-curricular activities of one curator.
There is also concern about how the NGV has managed and guarded against
conflict of interest. There appears to be a strong case for an independent inquiry, not only into
the business affairs of Geoffrey Smith but also into the way the NGV oversees
the conduct of its staff. The gallery deserves to be under as much scrutiny as Geoffrey Smith.
Instead it is conducting a secret probe in which it has assigned itself the
roles of investigator, prosecutor and judge. Smith, who is due back from an
Italian holiday this week, is entitled to question the fairness of this process.

Meanwhile, in a strange twist, supporters of Smith’s ex-partner Robert
Gould have come out defending him today.

Speaking to The Herald Sun, leading Melbourne artist David Larwill and artists’ agent Ken McGregor dismissed
as “absolutely ludicrous” an anonymous and highly defamatory newsletter doing
the rounds of the Melbourne art world. Crikey has been aware of this newsletter for over a week but we’re still
waiting to see a copy.

Bizarrely, by coming out attacking the newsletter, McGregor and Larwill
have brought attention to allegations that would have otherwise not been
reported by the mainstream media. The newsletter is said to make the allegation that Gould used an NGV
exhibition to sell work of the late painter John Perceval.

The Hun reports: “Ken McGregor, who took care of Perceval in his home until his death in
2000, denied that art dealer Robert Gould lent paintings to the NGV then took
clients to see the works with a view to selling them.”

Allegations like that have been circulating for weeks, but because they
haven’t been substantiated, we haven’t reported them. Gould’s friends aren’t
doing him any favours by bringing attention to them.