Summary

The Martin Gallery was established in July 1972 by Ralph and Margaret Martin behind Ralph’s pharmacy at 475 Flinders Street, Townsville. The gallery was small in area and modest in ambition but took great courage to start as art galleries in Townsville had a generally short-lived track record.

The gallery was fired by a love of art that grew from Ralph’s school days. He had self-taught skills and a deep appreciation of art works in all forms. He exhibited paintings and prints; pen and ink sketches; ceramics; leather work; metalwork; and woodwork by local, national, and international artists. By Ralph’s own admission, the gallery was never meant to be a money-making venture but rather, a place where people could look at art and perhaps buy and thereby encourage a novice artist’s belief in their own creative worth.

When Martin Gallery closed in 1988 its loss was much mourned by the Townsville and wider artistic community.

The contents of the Martin Gallery Archive includes more than 800 photographs, exhibition ephemera, correspondence, receipt books, newspaper clippings, as well as 192 files on artists whose work was represented by Martin Gallery.