Vale Nick Waterlow

It was with immense shock and distress that the UNSW community heard news of the death of Nick Waterlow, Director of COFA's Ivan Dougherty Gallery.

Joanna Mendelssohn pays tribute to her friend and colleague.

Nicholas (Nick) Waterlow
Born 30 August 1941 Hitchin, UK – Died 9 November 2009 Randwick, Sydney

Nick Waterlow was one of the great enablers of Australian art. He was best known to the public as the inspirational director of three Biennales of Sydney, but his generosity of spirit led him to be the mentor to generations of students both in his teaching and as Director of the Ivan Dougherty Gallery at the College of Fine Arts UNSW. He continued to watch over the careers of students and junior colleagues for many years after graduation.

Nick Waterlow was born in Hitchin, in Hertfordshire, educated at Harrow School and studied French history at the University of Grenoble, before travelling to Florence where he studied Renaissance art at the British Institute. His first job was as a gallery assistant at the Afred Brod Gallery in London, which specialised in Dutch and Flemish 17th century art, but his interest was always in the contemporary. By 1964 he was writing for the Arts Review, London, which led to opportunities to write art criticism for Nation, The Sun and The Bulletin when he made his first visit to Australia in 1965 to marry Rosemary (Romy) O’Brien, who died in 1998. They returned to London in 1966 when he was appointed Prints Curator at Editions Alecto, and the following year he became Director of the Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford, a position he held until 1972. From 1973 to 1977 he worked as Senior Arts Officer for the Milton Keynes Development Corporation, nurturing a creative culture in a new city.

Waterlow’s English experience stood him in good stead when the family returned to Australia in 1977. After a short stint as a lecturer at the Alexander Mackie CAE (now College of Fine Arts, UNSW) and some freelance writing for Art and Australia and Nation Review, Nick Waterlow was appointed Director of the 1979 Biennale of Sydney. The theme was “European Dialogue”. It became clear right from the start that this Director believed in dialogue. Local artists wanted greater participation, women wanted a more equitable gender balance, and many artists still had their eyes firmly focussed on the USA as the major centre of culture. Nick discussed, negotiated, compromised and the final exhibition was the stronger for it. His reputation as an honest broker led to his appointment as Director of the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council in 1983, but his ability to work with artists and create an inclusive vision meant that he directed the 1986, 1988 and chaired the international selection panel for the 2000 Biennales of Sydney.

Read the full obituary in The Australian.