National Gallery, Victoria

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Image by Martin Beek

National Gallery, Victoria

 

Founded in 1861, The National Gallery of Victoria is the largest and oldest public art gallery in Australia. Located in Melbourne, the gallery currently houses over 63,000 works of art by various local and international masters of the field. As part of the gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria Art School performs a necessary service by providing academic art training facilities for Australian residents. The gallery has permanent exhibitions, as well as seasonal and temporary displays.

 

The National Gallery of Victoria is well-known for its International Collection, holding great works by Rembrandt, Marco Palmezzano, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Peter Paul Rubens, Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto and Paolo Uccello. Aboriginal art, photography, fashion and textiles are the more modern art collections available at the National Gallery of Victoria. The overall collection’s diversity includes masterpieces from ancient Greece, Egyptian artifacts, historical European ceramics and a comprehensive range of Australian artworks over several centuries. The largest amount ever paid for an art work displayed at the gallery was for the Paris Bordone “The Rest on the Flight Into Egypt with Saint Catherine and Angels.” The purchase price for this was .8 million, partly funded by the NGV Council of Trustees.

 

The Ian Potter Center, also known as the NGV International, which is part of the National Gallery of Victoria, displays an impressive collection of over 20,000 Australian works, from both old masters and modern artists. The gallery’s building itself is a work of art, with a Leonard French ceiling consisting

one of the world’s largest suspended stained glass pieces. The Australian collection housed in the Ian Potter Center includes the Joseph Brown Collection, donated by its namesake.

 

The National Gallery of Victoria became a notorious part of Australian history when the Pablo Picasso painting “The Weeping Woman” was stolen in 1986. The painting was returned a week later, after been used as pawn in a cultural protest against ill-treating artists during the time. The gallery holds exhibitions periodically and known as Blockbusters, these exhibitions have included the Impressionists, Dutch Masters (including a Vermeer), Picasso, Caravaggio and selections from the Guggenheim Museums.

 

Besides offering a peaceful atmosphere for contemplating art and leisurely strolls, the National Gallery of Victoria also arranges lectures, workshops, tours, children’s activities, films and performances related to art work. Visitors can easily take a day or more to view the exhibits and take in the artistic splendor and if you are an art lover, you should consider staying at one of the hotels in Melbourne.TheLangham Hotel Melbourne is ideal if you want luxurious accommodations. There are plenty of hotels in Melbourne for you to choose from.

Dark Stuff

Image by Becksta1