Salla Tykkä CAVE (Lasso, Thriller, Cave) 2000–2003 (Still image from Cave) Collection of the National Gallery of Australia Purchased 2003

Goal 2: Strengthen and refine the national collection

To enhance public understanding and enjoyment of the visual arts by building on the strengths of the national collection through acquiring important works of art and refining the existing national collection

Key strategies

• Identify works of art that build on the strengths of the national collection and acquire them
• Pursue and attain funding to facilitate the purchase of works of art
• Pursue and attain gifts of works of art
• Research and document works of art acquired
• Progressively review works of art for compliance with the collection development policy and, where appropriate, dispose of works of art

Our success will be measured by

• Works of art that strengthen the national collection acquired by purchase or gift
• Funds attracted to purchase works of art
• Works of art acquired, researched and documented
• Works of art identified for disposal (by transfer, gift, exchange or sale) in line with the Gallery’s collection development policy
• National collection refined by the disposal of works of art

Our recent achievements

We have refined the national collection and built on its strength, enhancing it with significant acquisitions across all collecting areas.

The National Gallery Act 1975 was amended to enable the Gallery to dispose, by way of gift, works of art that have a market value.

We have identified many works of art to be included in an increased outwards loan program, gifted to other institutions, or sold with the funds to be applied for future acquisitions. Duplicates of Australian and international prints and posters have been identified for sale or gift. Examples of deaccessioning include:

• an extensive collection of posters gifted to the Newcastle Region Art Gallery
• the Ruth Hollick archive, comprising 285 glass and 363 film negatives and associated studio equipment and paperwork, gifted to the State Library of Victoria
• relevant works of art transferred to the Australian War Memorial
• 20 photographs gifted to the History Trust of South Australia

Reviewing of works of art has been streamlined with the introduction of an improved collection management system. Staff have been trained to access detailed information and generate quality reports for ongoing reviews of the national collection.

Extensive collections acquired include:

• the Ken Tyler Collection of American prints, proofs, screens, illustrated books and related matrices and documentaries
• the Holmgren Spertus Collection of Southeast Asian Textiles
• the Australian Print Workshop Archive 2