Present Tense

This vivid and revealing account of thirty-five years of art and history revolves around the locus of the internationally renowned Anna Schwartz Gallery and its eponymous founder.

Beginning in St Kilda with United Artists, visionary gallerist Anna Schwartz relocated to City Gallery at 45 Flinders Lane before Anna Schwartz Gallery found its current location at 185 Flinders Lane in 1993. Present Tense captures Schwartz, known for her steadfast promotion of the contemporary and the challenging, alongside the inimitable roster of artists that her gallery represents, and the key figures of Australian art and culture.

The visually stunning volume combines historical vignettes, interviews, and hundreds of archival photographs and artworks. Told with wit and verve, it reveals a story that arcs from the journeys of immigrants who make up Australia’s rich cultural life to the local artistic scenes of Melbourne to the global stage of the art world.

Present Tense is an elegant cloth-bound volume featuring full-colour images throughout and a magnificent portrait of Anna Schwartz by artist Jenny Watson on the spine.

About the Author

Doug Hall is a writer, critic and member of the Order of Australia. Between 1987 and 2007, as director of Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), he initiated the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art and GOMA. He lives in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood.