Georges Mora - Tolarno Galleries

Tolarno Galleries

In 1969, to avoid bankruptcy, Mora sold the Tolarno hotel and leased out the restaurant and gallery. In the early 70s he separated from Mirka. In 1979, Georges sold the restaurant to Leon Massoni and relocated the Tolarno Galleries to River Street, South Yarra. The opening show there included lithographs by Renoir secured through his work as a dealer for Daniel Wildenstein. Georges travelled to the USA and Europe promoting the international reputation of Australian art, and selling European, American and Australian art into his adopted country's national, state, regional and corporate collections, lending work for a very significant Bonnard exhibition touring Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth state museums in 1971. Exhibitions in the first years (1967–69) of the new gallery also presented radical hard-edge abstractions by Dale Hickey and Robert Hunter and sculpture by Ti Parks. William Mora joined his father in running the gallery before setting up his own in the city. Jan Minchin, who came from a position at the National Gallery of Victoria, was Georges co-director from 1989. Throughout its career, Tolarno Galleries supported challenging contemporary art, including eight shows of highly-charged politico-sexual imagery by Juan Davila.

In 1985 Georges married artist, Caroline Williams when their son, Sam, was born. Georges was made a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres by the French Government in 1989 and he was a strong supporter of the move toward multiculturalism in his adopted country.