Andrew Sibley Dr Gertrude Langer

This portrait by Andrew Sibley of art critic Gertrude Langer (1908–1984) is now in the collection of Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.

With the rise of Nazism in Germany and the increasing threat to Jews, Austrian-born Langer fled Vienna in 1938, aged 30, and settled in Brisbane with her husband. She found a remarkably conservative art scene in the city, compared to Europe. With a background in art history, she made it her mission to promote and support contemporary Australian art and artists as well as educate the wider Australian public on art.

Initially conducting private introductory courses on art history and appreciation in her home, Langer went on to become ‘Brisbane’s authority on art’ as chief art critic for The Courier Mail from 1956. Langer’s discerning and encouraging voice did much to foster a fertile artistic atmosphere and community. After viewing Andrew Sibley’s first solo exhibition in 1960, she commented that the artist was ‘a figurative expressionist painter … concerned with the predicaments and anxieties of man in our world’.