Acquisition of British and Foreign Oil Paintings by the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1874 to 1935
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Policy, taste or chance? – acquisition of British and Foreign oil paintings by the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1874 to 1935 Submitted by Stewart Reed MArtAdm This thesis is submitted to the School of Art History and Art Education at the College of Fine Arts of the University of New South Wales in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art Administration (Honours). 2013 University of New South Wales New South Wales Australia ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed …………………………………………….............. Date ……………………………………………….............. Page i COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.' Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date …………………………………………….............................. Page ii AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date …………………………………….…………........................... Page iii Abstract This thesis is a critical examination of the acquisition of British and Foreign oil paintings by the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1874 to 1935. In 1874, the NSW Parliament voted £500 towards the formation of a gallery of art. The Minister asked the NSW Academy of Art for advice and, after internal discussions, the Academy advised the Minister that the funds should be spent on watercolours. The Academy believed that £500 was insufficient to purchase oils. The Minister appointed five Trustees to administer the vote. All were members of the Academy‘s Council. They quickly appointed the first London selectors. This was the beginning of what is now the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW). When Directors were appointed they were subservient to the Trustees in the selection of works for the collection and all policy decisions remained with the Trustees. The overseas selectors and the Trustees initially agreed on purchases but over the years there were a number of disputes about the works acquired for the AGNSW leading to selectors being replaced by Advisors and travel by Trustees and staff. Another influence was the Government. The major factor was the amount of money voted for purchases but a number of Members felt that they had to right to override the choices of the AGNSW Trustees. This thesis approaches the growth of this collection from a museological and historical perspective not from an art theoretical aspect although those critics and writers who influenced the AGNSW Trustees and staff are considered along with prevailing historical, financial and administrative pressures. The research question: to what extent was the AGNSW British and Foreign oil painting collection a result of a collections policy or the tastes and choices of its Trustees, staff and advisors from 1874 to 1935 is answered by this thesis. There was no formal collections policy in the period examined and while taste played a part, the main criteria for acquisitions this period was validation by the two main art organisations: the Royal Academy in London and the Salon in Paris. Page iv Contents ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ......................................................................................... i COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ........................................................................................... ii AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ................................................................................... iii Abstract ............................................................................................................................ iv Contents ............................................................................................................................ v List of figures .................................................................................................................. vii List of tables/graphs ........................................................................................................ vii Abbreviations and definitions ........................................................................................ viii Spelling, capitalisation and punctuation .......................................................................... ix Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... x Chapter 1 – Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 The need for this thesis ..................................................................................................... 3 Research methodology ...................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 1 - Notes ............................................................................................................ 15 Chapter 2 – Literature review ......................................................................................... 20 The art world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries ................................. 20 The role of museums ....................................................................................................... 28 Chapter 2 - Notes ............................................................................................................ 34 Chapter 3 - The beginnings of the Art Gallery of New South Wales ............................. 42 Sydney in the 1870s ........................................................................................................ 42 NSW Academy of Arts ................................................................................................... 45 The first vote ................................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 3 - Notes ............................................................................................................ 52 Chapter 4 - The Montefiore years: 1874 - 1894 .............................................................. 56 The Trustees .................................................................................................................... 56 London selectors ............................................................................................................. 59 Paris selectors .................................................................................................................. 62 Relationship between the Trustees and selectors ............................................................ 62 Relationship between the Minister/Government and Trustees ....................................... 63 Sources of works ............................................................................................................. 67 Acquisitions – from 1874 to 1894 ................................................................................... 68 Chapter 4 - Notes ............................................................................................................ 77 Contents Page v Chapter 5 – The Du Faur years: 1894 - 1913 .................................................................. 86 The Trustees .................................................................................................................... 87 London and Paris selectors.............................................................................................. 88 Acquisitions – 1895 to 1913 ........................................................................................... 93 Chapter 5 - Notes .......................................................................................................... 102 Chapter 6 – Moving to Modern? – 1913 - 1935 ........................................................... 109 Trustees