DOI Heft:
No. 241 (April 1913)
DOI Artikel:The public art galleries of Australia
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21160#0225
The Public Art Galleries of Australia
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND ART GALLERY, MELBOURNE
>-pHE PUBLIC ART GALLERIES
OE AUSTRALIA. BY WILLIAM
1 MOORE.
Since the Government of Victoria took the first
step towards the establishment of a National
Gallery in Melbourne, about fifty years ago, the art
gallery has become a familiar institution, not only
in every capital, but in every provincial city of any
importance in the Commonwealth. It is fortunate
for Australia that all the governments of the various
States recognised the importance of fostering a
public taste for art. Considerable grants have been
made for the erection of galleries and the purchase
of works of art, the gallery in Sydney, for instance,
being built at a cost of ^107,000, and so far
about ^150,000 has been spent on the collection.
Each gallery is controlled by trustees, who are
appointed, not for their knowledge of art, but
for their eminence in politics, law or commerce.
They are guided by the advice of various experts,
but it may be asked, what discernment can one
expect from a body which, in most instances, is
entirely composed of laymen ? Many thousands
have been granted for the purchase of works of art,
but the selection of pictures has rarely been carried
out on definite lines.
The Melbourne Gallery is a gallery without a
202
policy ; its destiny has been ruled by chance. The
catalogue is strewn with the names of those who
have recommended different works to the trustees.
On looking over the catalogue one finds that
Pettie's Arrest for Witchcraft, the best historical
painting, and Autumn Showers, a fine example of
the work of Peter Graham, were recommended by
the same expert that chose Long's A Question oj
Propriety, Schenck's Anguish, Faed's Mitherless
Bairn, and other popular pictures. Several citizens
while on a visit to London have suggested
purchases, and was it just a chance that one of
them had the wisdom to choose one of our best—
Orchardson's The First Chud, the original work
shown at the Academy in 1887 ? One of our worst
paintings, The Brigands, was originally com-
missioned for the French Government, but by a
curious tram of circumstances it was eventually
bought for the gallery by the Government ot
Victoria. It was scarcely a happy chance that
^4000 was paid for Alma-Tadema's Vintage
Festival; it is classified as "a duplicate," a larger
picture with the same subject having been painted
at the same time. Sir Hubert von Herkomer's
portrait of Queen Victoria, painted, as we are told
in the official catalogue, from Gilbert's statue at
Winchester, can hardly be counted among his best
achievements. This distinguished portrait painter
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND ART GALLERY, MELBOURNE
>-pHE PUBLIC ART GALLERIES
OE AUSTRALIA. BY WILLIAM
1 MOORE.
Since the Government of Victoria took the first
step towards the establishment of a National
Gallery in Melbourne, about fifty years ago, the art
gallery has become a familiar institution, not only
in every capital, but in every provincial city of any
importance in the Commonwealth. It is fortunate
for Australia that all the governments of the various
States recognised the importance of fostering a
public taste for art. Considerable grants have been
made for the erection of galleries and the purchase
of works of art, the gallery in Sydney, for instance,
being built at a cost of ^107,000, and so far
about ^150,000 has been spent on the collection.
Each gallery is controlled by trustees, who are
appointed, not for their knowledge of art, but
for their eminence in politics, law or commerce.
They are guided by the advice of various experts,
but it may be asked, what discernment can one
expect from a body which, in most instances, is
entirely composed of laymen ? Many thousands
have been granted for the purchase of works of art,
but the selection of pictures has rarely been carried
out on definite lines.
The Melbourne Gallery is a gallery without a
202
policy ; its destiny has been ruled by chance. The
catalogue is strewn with the names of those who
have recommended different works to the trustees.
On looking over the catalogue one finds that
Pettie's Arrest for Witchcraft, the best historical
painting, and Autumn Showers, a fine example of
the work of Peter Graham, were recommended by
the same expert that chose Long's A Question oj
Propriety, Schenck's Anguish, Faed's Mitherless
Bairn, and other popular pictures. Several citizens
while on a visit to London have suggested
purchases, and was it just a chance that one of
them had the wisdom to choose one of our best—
Orchardson's The First Chud, the original work
shown at the Academy in 1887 ? One of our worst
paintings, The Brigands, was originally com-
missioned for the French Government, but by a
curious tram of circumstances it was eventually
bought for the gallery by the Government ot
Victoria. It was scarcely a happy chance that
^4000 was paid for Alma-Tadema's Vintage
Festival; it is classified as "a duplicate," a larger
picture with the same subject having been painted
at the same time. Sir Hubert von Herkomer's
portrait of Queen Victoria, painted, as we are told
in the official catalogue, from Gilbert's statue at
Winchester, can hardly be counted among his best
achievements. This distinguished portrait painter