In the MID-1980s, PAMELA BELL became Sydney University’s first art curator – a role she would hold until her retirement many years later. For her son Andrew Bell – at the time in his late teens and early 20s – it was a pivotal moment. “As a result of her work at the university, I came to learn of the works of Jeffrey Smart, Donald Friend, James Gleeson, Lloyd Rees and others,” he tells The Australian Financial Review Magazine. “That was my introduction to art.” Bell, now 57 and chief justice of the NSW Supreme Court, is reflecting on his love of art from his corner office in Sydney’s Law Courts Building. There is little beauty about the building that houses NSW’s top judges – a 1970s brutalist, concrete-clad tower. While it is considered to be of some architectural importance, few would describe it as nice to look at. One architect writing in its defence back in 2012 said it could “only be hoped that if the building survives another 50 years then the original design may be appreciated”. It will need all the time it can get.
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