Art Appreciation Lecture Series 2016 Collectors & Collections: classical to contemporary

The Felton Bequest and the transformation of the of

Associate Professor Alison Inglis

8-9 June 2016

Lecture summary:

The name of has long been associated with the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) – not as connoisseur who donated his collection of art, but as a philanthropist whose bequest in 1904 presented that institution with acquisition funds that were greater (at the time) than those of London’s National Gallery and the Tate Gallery combined. This lecture examines the background of Alfred Felton himself – who was this modest bachelor businessman and why did he make this magnificent gift to the NGV? It also considers the legacy of his benefaction – what works of art were obtained under the terms of the Bequest and who made the decisions? Lastly, this account asks: to what extent did ‘the bequest of the century’ transform the NGV?

Slide list:

1. , Alfred Felton, c.1932, oil on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest 1932. 2. Joshua Reynolds, Lady Frances Finch, 1781-1782 oil on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest 1956 3. J. C. Waite, Alfred Felton, c.1905, oil on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest 1905 4. ‘Felton, Grimwade and Co.’s Store, Bond Street, 1868’, Illustrated Australian News, 29 June 1868 5. ‘The New Premises of Messrs Felton and Grimwade & Co.’, Illustrated Australian News, 13 May 1878 6. ‘Messrs Felton and Grimwade Factories 1884’, Australasian Sketcher, 12 March 1884 7. Artist unknown, Laboratory and drugs mills and Leech aquarium, c.1884, watercolour, University of Art Collection, Gift of John Poynter 8. Nicholas Caire (attrib), Interior of Alfred Felton’s rooms showing books and art collection, Photographic Album, c.1900, NGV, Purchased in honour of Alfred Felton, 2002 9. R. P. Bonington, Low Tide, Boulogne, c.1824, Oil on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest 1904 10. After Peter Paul Rubens,The Garden of Love, c.1650s oil on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest 1904 11. , Sea idyll, c.1891, oil on canvas, NGV, Gift of Alfred Felton 1892 12. Eugene von Guerard, The Weatherboard Falls,1863, oil on canvas, Geelong Art Gallery, Gift of Alfred Felton, 1900 13. Sir Hubert von Herkomer, Sir Henry Tate, 1897, oil on canvas, Tate Gallery 14. William Scott, Portrait of Thomas Holloway, 1845, oil on canvas, Royal Holloway Collection 15. Townsend Duryea, Sir Thomas Elder, c.1869, oil on albumen silver photograph, AGSA 16. H. P. GILL, Self-portrait, 1890s, oil on wood panel, Art Gallery of South , Adelaide 17. Thomas Woolner, Sir Thomas Elder, 1889, Marble, University of Adelaide 18. Clive Murray-White, Alfred Felton Centenary Sculpture, Marble, NGV, Felton Bequest 2004 19. Camille Pissarro, Boulevard Montmartre, morning, cloudy weather, 1897, oil on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest 1905 20. Aman-Jean, La Femme couche, c.1904, oil on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest 1905 21. Frederick McCubbin, The pioneer, 1904, oil on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest 1906 22. Camille Corot, The bent tree, (L'Arbre penché) c. 1855-1860, oil on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest 1907 23. Katsushika Hokusai, The great wave off Kanagawa, c.1830, colour woodblock, NGV Felton Bequest 1909 24. E. Burne-Jones, Wheel of Fortune, 1871-1885, Oil on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest 1909 25. John Constable, West End Fields, Hampstead, noon, 1822, Oil on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest 1909

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26. Edgar Degas, Foyer de la Danse, 1872, oil on canvas, Musee d’Orsay 27. , Antaeus setting down Dante and Virgil in the Last Circle of Hell and Dante at the moment of entering the fire, illustration to The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (Inferno XXXI, 112-43), 1824-1827, pen and ink and watercolour, NGV, Felton Bequest, 1920 28. , Rachel de Ruvigny, Countess of Southampton, c. 1640, oil on canvas, wood, NGV, Felton Bequest 1922 29. After van Eyck, Madonna and Child, mid to late 1400s, oil on wood panel, NGV, Felton Bequest 1923 30. Johannes Vermeer, Girl in a Red Hat and Blue Cloak, c.1665, Oil on panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington 31. Giambattista Tiepolo, The Banquet of Cleopatra, 1743-1744, oil on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest 1933 32. J. M. W. Turner, Red Rigi, 1842, watercolour, NGV, Felton Bequest 1947 33. Studio of Antonio Vivarini, The Garden of Love, 1465-70, oil, tempera on wood, NGV, Felton Bequest 1948 34. Albrecht Durer, Adam and Eve, 1504, engraving; and The Annunciation c. 1503 from The Life of the Virgin series, published 1511, Woodcut, NGV, Felton Bequest 1956 (Barlow Collection) 35. , Opening, 1961, tempera and pencil on board, NGV, Felton Bequest 1967 36. Giovanni Toscani, Adoration of the Magi, 1420-30, tempera on wood, NGV Felton Bequest 1967 37. , Portrait of Dr , 1985, oil on canvas, NGV Felton Bequest 1985 38. Rajasthani artist, Vrindavan in the springtime, c. 1710; and Maharana Ari Singh hunting buffalo, 1765, watercolour, NGV, Felton Bequest 1980 40. Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Napperby, Northern Territory, National Gallery of Victoria, 1980, acrylic on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest, 1988 41. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Bush Fire Dreaming, 1982, acrylic on canvas, AGSA, Elder Bequest Fund 1984 42. Howard Hodgkin, Night and day, 1997-1999, oil on plywood and wood, NGV, Felton Bequest 2001 43. J. A. D. Ingres, Virgin of the Adoption, 1858, oil on canvas, Felton Bequest 2005, purchased In honour of Prof Emeritus Sir , Chairman of Felton Bequests Committee 1975-2004 44. Nathaniel Dance, The Pybus Family, c.1769, oil on canvas, NGV, Felton Bequest 2003 45. Tommy Mitchell, Ngaanyatjarra, Kurlilypurru 2009, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, NGV Felton Bequest 2011 46. Jonathan Jones, Untitled (muyan), mixed media, NGV, Felton Bequest 2011 47. Vernon Ah Kee, Ideas of Barak, mixed media, NGV, Felton Bequest 2011 48. Kohei Nawa, PixCell-Red Deer, from the Beads series, 2012, Red Deer, glass, vinyl acetate, acrylic urethane, epoxy resin, NGV Felton Bequest 2013 49. Takahiro Iwasaki, Reflection model (Itsukushima), 2013, from the Reflection model series 2001–, Cyrpess, adhesive, NGV, Felton Bequest 2014 50. Mark Hilton, dontworry, 2013, cast resin, powder, NGV Felton Bequest 2014

References:

- Trustees of the Public Library, Museum and National Gallery of Victoria, Alfred Felton and his art benefactions, Melbourne, 1936 - , The Felton Bequest: an historical record 1904-1959, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1963 - Leonard Cox, The National Gallery of Victoria, 1861-1968: The Search for a Collection, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1970 - Ursula Hoff, The Felton Bequest, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1983 - and Gerard Vaughan (eds), Great philanthropists on trial: the art of the bequest, Miegunyah Press & National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2006 - John Poynter, Mr Felton's Bequests, Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 2008 - Phip Murray, The NGV Story: a celebration of 150 years, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2011