NGV Supporters of Decorative Arts
 

The National Gallery of Victoria is delighted to be launching the Supporters of Decorative Arts, a group that will assist with the ongoing augmentation of our outstanding collections of decorative arts. In many areas – such as British 18th and 19th century porcelain, silver and glass – our holdings can be regarded as exceptional, though there are still significant groups to be filled. If one considers the early 20th century, (as the result of generous gifts and astute purchases) the NGV can rightly claim to have one of the best collections anywhere of the work of Joseph Hoffman, a central figure of the Wiener Werkestatte, but overall the 20th century decorative arts holdings of the NGV require development and investment.

In the coming years, we will initiate special projects to transform our holdings, and we would like to make one of our early projects the Berlin Bauhaus, a field in which the interests and needs of our Departments of Decorative Arts and Prints and Drawings will successfully dovetail. We will need to move quickly, as major purchasing opportunities become fewer, and prices rise.

And we must not neglect the representation of the best decorative arts of our own time, both Australian and International. It is crucially important that we acquire what we regard as the best and most challenging contemporary design and craft, and are prepared, as appropriate to take some risks. We must support and exhibit the best emerging Australian talent.

In the field of furniture, we will seek to bring into the collection masterworks by the greatest designers, of every period, and for the most part this will mean fully documented items of high quality and importance, acquired according to the same curatorial procedures and protocols applied to paintings and sculpture.

Our project for the decorative arts will extend across both the International and Australian collections, and includes a commitment to placing far more of the collection on permanent display. We are fully aware that our exceptional collection of Australian decorative arts needs more space, and that it has been presented incompletely since the opening of The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia. One reason for this was budgetary. Cuts to the building and fitout budget in the year before the opening meant that only a small number of the decorative arts display cases first envisaged could be afforded.

Despite – or, perhaps, because of - its huge success, (with over 5 million visitors since the end of 2002) combining the permanent collections with an ambitious program of temporary exhibitions, pressure on space at NGV Australia has risen. The NGV has a long-term solution, a new, linked wing which might be constructed above the railway yards to the east of our existing building in Federation Square, should the plan to cover over and develop the railway yards proceed. Decanting into it major parts of the current function of the Federation Square building would immediately offer important opportunities for a methodical permanent display of masterpieces of Australian decorative arts. In the shorter term, we will continue to provide as much additional funding as circumstances permit to acquiring more decorative arts display cases for Federation Square, so more of the Australian collection can be permanently on view.

If a new building at Federation Square were to be constructed, and if this included a wing or pavilion for our Asian collections, both historic and modern, then a further opportunity would be provided at NGV International St Kilda Rd, as the Asian collections would move to Federation Square.

The potential availability of half of one of NGV International’s three floors would be transforming for the International Decorative Arts collections, providing a huge amount of new space. Equally, we are working on plans to improve the existing displays, to make them dense and more attractive, and to place more of the collection on view.

We invite you to join us as we begin our journey to strengthen and transform the Decorative Arts collections of the NGV. Please consider becoming a member of our Supporters of Decorative Arts group, thus participating in and contributing to an important new phase in the life of the NGV.

With your support we will be able to acquire the historic and contemporary masterpieces our great collection needs, and continue to celebrate the extraordinary depth of the NGV’s collection, a crucial resource for our community’s enjoyment and education.

Gerard Vaughan
Director, NGV