Geelong Art Gallery facts for kids
Geelong Gallery from Johnstone Park
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| Former name | Geelong Art Gallery |
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| Established | 1895 |
| Location | 55 Little Malop St, Geelong, Australia |
| Type | Art gallery |
The Geelong Gallery is a super cool art gallery located in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It's a big place with more than 6,000 amazing artworks!
You can find it right next to the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre, the Geelong Arts Centre, and the old Geelong Courthouse. Together, these places make up Geelong's special "Cultural Precinct."
Contents
How the Gallery Started
People in Geelong first asked for an art gallery way back in 1895. They thought it would be a great addition to the city.
In May 1900, the Geelong Art Gallery Association got permission to hang art in the Geelong City Hall. One of the first artworks they bought was A bush burial by Frederick McCubbin. It was painted in 1890 and cost about $210 USD at the time.
The gallery officially opened on May 31, 1900, at the town hall. Soon after, the gallery moved to the Free Library Building on Moorabool Street.
In 1903, the gallery received two special watercolour paintings. They showed scenes from early life in Victoria. One painting showed William Buckley, who was known as "the wild white man." The other showed the inside of Melbourne's very first newspaper office.
The Gallery Building
The building where the Geelong Gallery is today opened in 1915. It was built to remember George M. Hitchcock. You can find it on the south side of Johnstone Park. It's between the Town Hall and the spot where the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre now stands.
The first part of the building had a grand entrance facing the park. It also included the G. M. Hitchcock Gallery.
Over the years, the gallery grew bigger. In 1928, the Henry P. Douglas Gallery was added. Then, in 1937, the H.F. Richardson Gallery opened. The main entrance moved to Little Malop Street in 1938. This happened when the J.H. McPhillimy Gallery was opened by Joseph Lyons, who was the Prime Minister back then.
More parts were added in 1956 and 1971. The gallery also got modern updates in 2001 and 2017 to keep it looking great.
Future Plans
There are plans to make the gallery even bigger! This would allow them to show more of the amazing artworks they own.
What You Can See: The Art Collection
The Geelong Gallery has a huge collection of over 6,000 items. These include paintings, sculptures, and works on paper. You can see art from both Australia and other countries. You can even explore many of the artworks online on the Geelong Gallery collection website.
Here are some of the famous artworks you might find in the collection:
- Eugène von Guérard's Aborigines met on the road to the diggings (1854)
- Eugene von Guerard's View of Geelong (1856)
- Louis Buvelot's On the Woods Point Road (1872)
- Frederick McCubbin's A bush burial (1890)
- Edward Fischer's Geelong gold cup (1890)
- Stanhope Forbes' The pier head (1910), which is considered a very important British impressionist painting in Australia.
- Russell Drysdale's Hill End (1948)
- Fred Williams' Yellow landscape (1968)
- Rosalie Gascoigne's Sharpe Bros horizontal (1981)
Since 2016, the gallery has also looked after the Colin Holden Print Collection. This collection has many interesting prints for everyone to enjoy.
