Highlights of the University of Melbourne Art Collection

Artists include: Thomas Nanjiwarra Amagula, Benjamin Armstrong, Kalanga Numarndangiya Bara, Leonard Brown, Rupert Bunny, Destiny Deacon, E Phillips Fox, B Jankowska, David Jolly, Arthur Loureiro, Minimini Numalkiyiya Mamarika, Max Meldrum, Edward Officer

Curator: Joanna Bosse

Since the University of Melbourne’s inception in 1853, thousands of rare and invaluable pieces have been acquired by the University of Melbourne. The collection has been shaped over more than 150 years by the many individuals who have donated, acquired and commissioned artworks, and the collection comprises fascinating items of diverse cultural significance.

This exhibition profiles four of the University’s key art collections than span more than a century: the Leonhard Adam Collection of International Indigenous Culture, the Ewing Collection, the Gerard Herbst Poster Collection, and the Rupert Bunny Collection. A number of recent contemporary additions to the University of Melbourne Art Collection by Australian artists Leonard Brown, Destiny Deacon, David Jolly, and Peter Tyndall, are also presented. The Leonhard Adam Collection includes a group of works by unidentified Melanesian artists from Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the Trobriand Islands.