Support the NGV
Supporters of Prints & Drawings
 

I am delighted that the Supporters of Prints & Drawings group is being established, and I encourage everyone with an interest in works on paper to become involved. The Department of Prints & Drawings is regarded as one of the greatest assets of the NGV, and its spectacular highlights are well known and internationally celebrated.

As a repository of scholarship and, above all, connoisseurship, the Department of Prints & Drawings has an unparalleled record, from the appointment of Dr Ursula Hoff as its Assistant Keeper of the Prints in 1943, to her successors Sonia Dean, Irena Zdanowicz and now Cathy Leahy, all of whom have brought to the role exceptional commitment, knowledge and expertise. The popular, scholarly exhibitions mounted by the department demonstrate again and again the richness and depth of the collection, and it is incumbent upon all of us to work to maintain its strengths, to fill gaps, and to allow the collection to expand into new areas, particularly in the field of contemporary practice.

The collecting of works on paper allows opportunities not necessarily available in other areas of collecting activity here at the NGV. It is perfectly possible for major groups of works, by artists of considerable interest and importance, to be acquired for relatively modest sums of money. In this respect the acquisition of prints and drawings can offer exciting opportunities to our supporters. We encourage individual friends, or groups of friends, to work with us to build up representative collections around specific themes, which our curators feel the need to be developed. There are exciting possibilities. I warmly encourage all our friends and supporters to back this initiative. Your interest and help will make a crucial difference.

Gerard Vaughan
August 2009