Realities Gallery
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Art gallery |
| Founded | 1971 |
| Founder | Marianne Baillieu, Ian Baillieu |
| Defunct | 1992 |
| Headquarters | Melbourne , Australia |
Area served | Australia, Pacific region, international |
Key people | Marianne Baillieu (director 1971–1980), Pauline Wrobel (owner from 1981) |
| Products | Australian and international art exhibitions |
Realities Gallery was a Melbourne-based art gallery that exhibited Australian creations rooted in both western and indigenous cultures, alongside works from the Pacific region and international artists. It operated between 1971 and 1992.
Ross Street 1971–75
In 1970, Marianne Baillieu (1939–2012), originally from Denmark, began importing art pieces for commercial purposes. Together with her husband Ian Baillieu, a solicitor and businessman, they acquired and refurbished a retail space in Ross Street, Toorak, launching Realities gallery there in April 1971. The Bulletin described the Toorak Village gallery as resembling "a gleaming white eggshell," with nearly every surface coated in white glaze, including the floor, which required visitors to wear special socks resembling those of the Abominable Snowman to walk on it.
In October 1974, the gallery showcased rare old master drawings, watercolours, and prints seldom available for sale in Australia. Sourced from London, Boston, and New York, the exhibition included Italian, Dutch, and French artworks dating from the 16th to 18th centuries. Highlights featured Annibale Carracci’s Head of a Boy Wearing a Flat Cap priced at A$12,500; Giovanni Battista Tiepolo drawings valued at A$7,000 and A$8,000; and Jacob Jordaens’ The Martyrdom of St Sebastian at A$7,500. Another early milestone was Baillieu’s successful sale of artworks to the Sydney Opera House during its construction phase.
Realities attracted both students and general visitors. Baillieu prioritized presenting a wide array of media—ranging from dolls and weaving to electronics and traditional art—by curating exhibitions with clear thematic intentions designed to provoke emotional engagement. She articulated:
“My goal is to create exhibitions that serve a purpose. I prefer to organize rather than display items randomly. I aim to assemble formal surveys that elicit emotional responses from the community by focusing on one aspect of an artist’s oeuvre, a trend or movement. For example, I have curated shows juxtaposing an artist’s current work with pieces from twenty years prior."
Jackson Street 1975–1992
The early 1970s experienced a significant rise in demand for Australian-made art, coinciding with an international art market boom that continued into the early 1990s. Prominent state galleries—including Victoria’s National Gallery and New South Wales’ Art Gallery—expanded their Australian collections and hosted major international exhibitions. Art increasingly became recognized as a sound investment vehicle, supported by incentives introduced under the culturally progressive Whitlam government.
In 1975, Baillieu redirected Realities’ focus exclusively toward Australian artists and relocated to larger premises at 33-35 Jackson Street, Toorak. This new location spanned 1,117 square metres and incorporated historic buildings that architect Ross Ramus of Gunn Hayball Pty. Ltd. renovated and integrated as an example of heritage building adaptation. The entrance was marked by a sculpture from George Baldessin, while the inaugural exhibition showcased works by Roger Kemp. By 1980, the gallery was renowned for its expansive and well-lit spaces ideal for displaying large-scale contemporary artworks.
Interest in Aboriginal art surged dramatically; in August 1977 Baillieu hosted Paintings by the Desert Tribes of Central Australia, Realities’ first commercial exhibition featuring Papunya Tula artists. Among sales was Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri’s Warlugulong (1977), purchased by the Commonwealth Bank for A$1,200. This piece later resold multiple times before achieving a record-breaking auction price of $2.4 million in 2007 for Aboriginal art.
Realities was one of the few contemporary galleries that embraced photography as an emerging collectible medium, presenting works by photographers such as Bill Henson, Mark Strizic, Grant Mudford, Leigh Weiner, and Joyce Evans.
In 1981, Gough Whitlam launched a biography of Melbourne artist Clifton Pugh at the gallery, making light of Pugh’s controversial portrait of Sir John Kerr displayed there. That same year saw a joint exhibition featuring Pugh alongside Frank Hodgkinson’s Arnhem Land pieces sell out before opening for $100,000—all acquired by millionaire former car dealer Dennis Gowing.
Baillieu adopted a discreet approach toward sales; he never actively promoted purchases but waited for buyers to express interest. Artwork prices were neither shown on pieces nor included within catalogues.
Administration
Baillieu held the position of director from 1971 through 1980. In 1976, Evi Robinson and Rhonda Senbergs, both partners of artists represented by the gallery, joined the administrative team. Following the passing of her mother, Baillieu sold the gallery to Pauline Wrobel for $365,000 (equivalent to $1,574,000 in 2019) and moved to Williamstown in 1981 to dedicate herself fully to painting. Baillieu achieved recognition as a finalist in the 1988 Archibald Prize with a distinguished semi-abstract portrait of filmmaker Paul Cox.
During the tenure of Wrobel and Robinson, the gallery maintained the majority of its artist lineup. Because many works exhibited were large in scale, the primary buyers were institutions such as museums, public galleries, banks, and corporations rather than individual collectors. Notable acquisitions included purchases by government agencies like the Department of Home Affairs and Environment, which bought artworks valued at $3,500 and $6,150 in 1982, and New South Wales Artbank, which acquired pieces worth $11,900 in 1988 and $2,950 in 1989.
Closure
The gallery ceased operations in July 1992 as a result of the economic downturn. Luba Bilu, Chairperson of the Australian Commercial Galleries Association, remarked that "significant developments had occurred at Realities," which contributed to its esteemed reputation for "honesty and integrity." The property was sold for $840,000 in November 1992.