Official opening of 'The Verlie Just Collection'

Chief Justice of Queensland Catherine Holmes; Honourable Justices; The Honourable George Fryberg QC; Ms Jeraldene Just; exhibition curator Mr Michael Phillips; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen,

Kaye and I are delighted to be here this evening with so many of our fellow Queenslanders – and may I add, so many members of the legal profession – to celebrate the marvellous contribution that Verlie Just made to the artistic life of our State.

I am honoured to have been invited by Verlie’s family, her daughter Jeraldene and son-in-law George, to open this exhibition of works by more than 70 of the Australian and Japanese artists whom Verlie represented during her legendary thirty-year tenure as the owner of the Town Gallery and Japan Room.

Those of us ‘of a certain age’ well remember that gallery in its four different incarnations, each one carefully designed by Verlie’s architect husband, Arnold.

Their exceptional partnership and unwavering commitment to their art principles ensured the gallery, from its opening in 1973 until Verlie’s death in January 2000, was trusted not only by clients but by the artists she represented.  She may have sold their works, but she was never a dealer; she was an artist, an educator, and an advocate.

Her artists were as committed to her as she to them, so it was no surprise that they lent their support to a nomination for an Order of Australia honour for her in the early 1990s. Verlie was awarded an OAM in 1992 “for service to the arts, particularly as Director of the Town Gallery, Brisbane”, but, for her, that medal and citation were not a source of personal pride; they were a tribute to the many artists who had enriched her life and helped make her gallery the longest-running private gallery in Brisbane.

Verlie’s deep knowledge and understanding of the works and artists she chose for the gallery meant her advice was respected and trusted. As a result, many of her clients acquired important works that have maintained their artistic and investment value well into the twenty-first century and have become treasured family possessions.

I congratulate everyone involved in curating and presenting this exhibition as well as the lovingly prepared display of ephemera that invites us into Verlie’s personal world.

Verlie’s elegant style, including the ever-present amber necklaces, was unique and unmistakable and, for her, the gallery was never just a business or a workplace; it was a home.  

Just months before she passed away, Verlie told a Courier-Mail reporter: “I will be here until I leave this planet”. She was — and that magnificent spirit lives on in this exhibition.

It now gives me great pleasure to declare the Verlie Just Collection open.