Great Philanthropists on Trial

The Art of the Bequest

Edited by Andrew Grimwade and Gerard Vaughan

Gerard Vaughan is the director and CEO of the National Gallery of Victoria. Andrew Grimwade is Chairman of the Felton Bequest.

About this Title

In 1904, at the start of a new modern age, the businessman and philanthropist Alfred Felton established the Felton Bequest under the terms of his will. This philanthropic gesture allowed the National Gallery of Victoria to purchase pieces that might otherwise have been unobtainable. In the hundred or more years since the bequest's establishment, the gallery has collected works of incomparable value and quality, transforming the collections of the NGV in every conceivable way. This publication is a celebration, not only of the achievements of the Felton Bequest, but also of the other significant gifts and bequests which have made a major contribution to our nation's public art collections.

In celebrating philanthropy in Australia, Great Philanthropists on Trial is a rich and wide-ranging collection of essays by art historians and curators from major Australian galleries, including John Poynter, Edmund Capon and Gerard Vaughan. Each essay is illustrated with art from collections that these generous bequests have enhanced.

From ceramics to oil paintings, important works of art by Rembrandt, Picasso and Degas, among others, now join outstanding works by Australian artists in our national, state and regional galleries. Without the generosity of philanthropists such as Alfred Felton, James Fairfax, Orde Poynton and John Connell our public art collections would not be the important and inspiring collections that they are today.

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978-0-522-85263-9