The head of Swimming Queensland has defended a campaign that saw Olympic champions lobby the National Gallery of Australia to take down portraits of their patron, Gina Rinehart, because they were deemed “offensive”.
An acrylic colour portrait by Vincent Namatjira of Australia’s richest woman was the target of the campaign along with a second black and white portrait by Namatjira in ink and pencil.
The colour piece – arguably an unflattering picture of the mining magnate – is one of 21 portraits of prominent Australian and international figures that make up the artwork titled Australia in Colour.
Rinehart’s company Hancock Prospecting is a major sponsor of Australian Olympic sports – funding sports bodies as well as individual athletes.
The sponsorship is often conditional, however. In 2022, Rinehart withdrew a $15m sponsorship of Netball Australia after the Indigenous netballer Donnell Wallam asked for her uniform not to carry the Hancock Prospecting logo.
Rinehart later set up a $3m fund to reward athletes who won gold medals or set world records in swimming, artistic swimming, rowing and volleyball.
Hancock Prospecting has sponsored Australian swimmers to the tune of $40m.
The Swimming Queensland chief executive, Kevin Hasemann, coordinated a group of Australian athletes – including Rio Olympic freestyle gold medallist Kyle Chalmers – to request the portraits be removed.
Hasemann wrote a letter to the director of the national gallery, Nick Mitzevich, which he said was sent “on behalf of members of the Australian swim team”.
“Two portraits of our patron, Mrs Gina Rinehart AO, are of deep concern to us because they are offensive to Mrs Rinehart,” he wrote in April.
“Through her philanthropy, Mrs Rinehart has proven herself to be a great Australian, and we respectfully urge you to reconsider the inclusion of these portraits in your galleries.”
Hasemann told ABC radio on Friday that the debate over the portraits had “evolved into something I could never have imagined”.
“Art is certainly not my forte,” Hasemann said.
“I’ve never been to a gallery, I’m a sports administrator. I don’t know why we have to defend ourselves. We simply, privately, did what the gallery actually encourages. It says it likes debate. It encourages that. [We asked] ‘pretty please would you mind taking it down?’ If they don’t, that’s their right.”
Hasemann said Rinehart had been the saviour of swimming “and Kyle Chalmers is pretty much saying the same thing”.
“There are about 100 swimmers that receive funding from Mrs Rinehart. There’s great affection for Mrs Rinehart in swimming. She’s a champion to us.”
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Rinehart herself demanded the Australia in Colour portrait be removed from the gallery, it was revealed earlier this week.
The national gallery rejected requests for the pictures to be taken down but said it welcomed public debate on exhibitions.
“We present works of art to the Australian public to inspire people to explore, experience and learn about art,” the gallery said in a statement.
Western Aranda artist Vincent Namatjira, an Archibald prize winner and the great-grandson of famed watercolourist Albert Namatjira, is renowned for his portraits of famous figures.
He has defended his works as being representative of his worldview.
“I paint the world as I see it,” Namatjira said on Thursday.
“People don’t have to like my paintings, but I hope they take the time to look and think, ‘why has this Aboriginal bloke painted these powerful people? What is he trying to say?’ I paint people who are wealthy, powerful, or significant – people who have had an influence on this country, and on me personally, whether directly or indirectly, whether for good or for bad.
“Some people might not like it, other people might find it funny, but I hope people look beneath the surface and see the serious side too.”
Rinehart was contacted for comment.