AGNSW_AnnRep_00 full.pdf - Parliament of New South Wales ...

Felicia Kan
Reservoir 1998
type C photograph on aluminium, 120.0 x 79.5 cm
Viktoria Marinov Bequest Fund 1999
most admired ‘classic’ wares of China; an earthenware
‘hill jar’ of the Han dynasty; and a hanging scroll by Qi
Baishi. These three pieces were amongst a group of seven
presented by an anonymous donor. Other gifts to the
Chinese collection included fine imperial porcelain from
the J.H. Myrtle collection, an energetic hand handscroll
painting by Lu Yanshao, a gift of Lee Teck-Chiow, and two
early rare rank badges, gifts of Judith and Ken Rutherford.
The Ifould Family presented several traditional
Japanese ukiyo-e prints by important artists, welcome
additions to our collection of this classical genre of Japanese
art. And through the Yasuko Myer Bequest Fund, important
acquisitions of the work of 20th century ‘creative print’
artists such as Onchi Kochiro added to the growing
significance of the Art Gallery’s Japanese modern collection.
The finest and most significant acquisitions to our
South and southeast Asian collections were made through
the very generous bequest of the late Alex Biancardi, a
discerning collector. His legacy of rare bronzes, sculptures
and textiles was enhanced by the purchase of additional
pieces from his collection through the D.G. Wilson
Bequest Fund, giving depth and meaning to collections
previously notable for their paucity of good pieces.
12
Giorgio Morandi
Natura Morta 1933
etching in black and brown ink, 23.8 x 24.3 cm
Gift of Margaret Olley 1999
Western Art
An important 18th century drawing by George
Romney, A Study of Two Women, was purchased with
funds provided by the Parramore Bequest for the
collection of European art before 1900. While Romney is
generally ranked third in importance amongst British
portrait painters of the period after Reynolds and
Gainsborough, in drawing he was one of the most
vigorous and spontaneous artists of the British school.
Three gifts from Margaret Olley were important
additions to international modern and contemporary art:
Giorgio Morandi’s Natura Morta, Pierre Bonnard’s
Promenade des Nourrices and Madame Prosper-Emile
Weil a son bureau by Edouard Vuillard. Two major
purchases for the international print collection were the
lithograph La Baignoire by Pierre Bonnard, printed under
his direction by Jacques Villon, and the recently released
etching Garden in Winter by Lucian Freud.
Key acquisitions of contemporary Australian art
included a 26 panel painting, Revisionary, by Guan Wei,
supported by the Rudy Komon Memorial Fund. The
Contemporary Collection Benefactors enabled the Art
Gallery to purchase the sculpture Cash Crop by Fiona Hall,
Spanish Journal by Peter Atkins, and major works by Marion
Borgelt, Janet Burchill, Adam Cullen and Judith Wright.