MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA.- The Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks, has announced the gift of 153 key works from The Joseph Brown Collection to the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia’s oldest public art gallery.

Over many years, Dr Joseph Brown, a respected Melbourne art dealer, artist and collector, has acquired significant and key Australian works. His gift, including 100 significant paintings and sculptures, and 54 works on paper (watercolors, drawings and prints) represents the largest and most generous gift of Australian 19th and 20th century art works ever donated to an Australian gallery or institution.

Although such a group of works is priceless in its technical, scholarly and historical merits, independent art advisors have estimated the total value of these art works at $30 million.

At a ceremony at NGV Australia at Federation Square, the Premier thanked Dr Brown on behalf of all Victorians for this extraordinary and magnificent gift.

Mr Bracks said over many years, Dr Joseph Brown, a respected Melbourne art dealer, artist and collector now aged 86, had acquired more than 150 significant Australian works of art.

“This is a magnificent gift to the people of Victoria from Dr Brown, with an estimated present value of around $30 million,” Mr Bracks said.

“It includes around 100 significant paintings and sculpture, more than 50 works on paper (watercolours, drawings and prints) and 20 portraits of, or by, Dr Brown.

“It represents the largest and most generous gift of Australian 19th and 20th century art ever donated to an Australian gallery or institution, and we are very grateful to Dr Brown for his incredible generosity.”

Works include: John Glover’s A Mountain Torrent c. 1837; Yalla-y-Poora homestead 1864 by Eugène von Guérard; In the Artist’s Studio 1891 by Arthur Streeton; a collection of works by John Peter Russell, including Almond Tree In Blossom 1887, and Rough Sea, Belle île 1900; Tree Form 1945 by Russell Drysdale; Floating Dock and Tugboats 1956 by John Perceval; Arthur Boyd’s Bride and Groom by a Creek c.1960; Cricketer 1955 by Fred Williams; Nude With Dressing Gown 1967 by John Brack; and one of the greatest of the Heidelberg School paintings, Frederick McCubbin’s Autumn Memories 1899.

Artists represented include: John Glover, Conrad Martens, Louis Buvelot, Eugène von Guérard, Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubbin, Arthur Streeton, E. Phillips Fox, Rupert Bunny, John Peter Russell, Margaret Preston, Russell Drysdale, Danila Vassilieff, John Perceval, Albert Tucker, Sidney Noland, Arthur Boyd, Fred Williams, James Gleeson, Leonard French, John Brack, Jeffrey Smart, John Olsen, Brett Whiteley, and Peter Booth, plus a small group by Dr Brown himself, who trained as a painter, and whose work has been the subject of several exhibitions.

At the ceremony, Dr Brown highlighted the role of the NGV in the life of the community.

“I am often very surprised to meet people who have never visited the Gallery,” Dr Brown said. “I stress to them, this is their property. It’s their Gallery, they should feel it is theirs. It’s not mine, it’s not the Governor’s, it’s not (NGV President of Trustees) Steve Vizard’s or (NGV Director) Gerard Vaughan’s, it belongs to the people.

“I would like all Victorians to feel they are elite citizens who own this collection, to which I am now making my own contribution.

“Feel yourself rich for having it, and for enjoying it with your children and your grandchildren.”

Dr Brown added that collecting art had been a lifelong love, and that anyone of any age and background can become a collector.

“My first purchase was literally with my first wage. I was 16. That was the beginning of my collection. I feel very good about presenting it to the NGV, I’d like the people to enjoy it.

Director of the NGV, Dr Gerard Vaughan, paid tribute to Dr Brown, his generosity, and his community spirit. “It is the greatest gift of works of art made by one individual to an Australian public gallery, and the NGV is immensely grateful and proud.

“Just before NGV Australia first opened in 2002, I gave Dr Brown a preview of the building. I clearly remember his remark: Gerard, I needed to be reminded that this is the greatest Australian Collection that exists’. 

“Now, with these magnificent 153 works, the NGV is an even richer collection. We are all immensely grateful.”

The Joseph Brown Collection will open at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia in early September, 2004. It will have its own designated gallery spaces and is destined to be one of the NGV’s great visitor attractions.