Manly Art Gallery and Museum facts for kids
| Established | 1930 |
|---|---|
| Location | West Esplanade Manly, New South Wales |
The Manly Art Gallery and Museum (MAGAM) is a special place in Manly, New South Wales, Australia. It was the first big art gallery outside of the main city area in New South Wales. MAGAM has a huge collection of Australian ceramics, which are artworks made from clay. It also has many paintings by an artist named Antonio Dattilo Rubbo.
Since 1982, MAGAM has also been a museum. It shows the history of beach culture and the story of Manly and the Northern Beaches area. The museum's collection has over 6,000 items. These include paintings, drawings, ceramics, and historical objects like old documents and photographs.
The Story of MAGAM
The Manly Art Gallery and Museum is the oldest art gallery of its kind in a city area in New South Wales. It was built for this purpose and opened in 1930. The gallery is located on West Esplanade.
Before the current building, a group of people formed the first committee in 1924. This group included artists like Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo. The art collection was first kept in the Town Hall.
The building we see today was once an outdoor concert hall. It opened in 1922. It was changed to become an art gallery by closing off the stage area. The new gallery building was officially opened by Phillip Street, who was a very important judge in New South Wales.
When the building opened, it already had 200 art pieces. These included 79 paintings and 62 old photographs. In 1939, Antonio Dattilo Rubbo gave 100 of his own artworks to the gallery. This gift included paintings, drawings, and etchings. He also donated works by other famous artists. These included Grace Cossington Smith.
A special room was added in 1940 to show Rubbo's collection. It is called the Dattilo-Rubbo Room. When he passed away, he gave more paintings and money to the gallery. Later, in 1947, P S Garling donated 55 paintings. These included works by George Washington Lambert.
In 1966, the gallery was made bigger. It got an extra gallery space and better lighting. Many artworks were bought for the gallery through the Manly Art Prize. This prize ran from 1962 to 1984.
In 1968, Clarice Thomas held the first exhibition of ceramic art. A large gift from Lady Askin in 1984 helped the gallery keep showing these ceramic works.
Clarice Thomas became the full-time Director of the gallery in 1981. She had been working as an unpaid director for about 14 years. The gallery also received money to build a museum next to the art gallery. These changes added a new entrance and made the Dattilo Rubbo Room twice as big. After reopening in 1982, the name became Manly Art Gallery & Museum.
Who Leads MAGAM?
Here are the people who have been in charge of the Manly Art Gallery and Museum:
- Clarice Thomas (1981–1982) - She led the gallery part.
- Warren Wickman (1982) - He led the museum part.
- Peter Timms (1983–1986) - He was the first director for both the gallery and museum.
- Michael Pursche (1987–1998)
- Therese Kenyon (1999–2011)
- Jackie Dunn (2011–2013)
- Michael Hedger (2013-2022)
- Josephine Bennett (appointed 2022)
What's in the Collection?
The MAGAM collection has art from early Australian history and modern times. It includes over 1,000 watercolours, prints, drawings, and paintings. There are also some artworks by artists from other countries. Many artists have given their works to the gallery. These include Margaret Preston and Lloyd Rees.
In 1930, Colonel Alfred Spain gave the gallery a painting by Tom Roberts called The Flower Sellers. This painting was made in 1899.
Since 1945, MAGAM has been collecting ceramic art. They buy new pieces and also receive them as gifts. Now, they have about 350 ceramic artworks. These are shown in the Lady Askin Ceramics Room. You can see works by artists like Peter Rushforth and Janet Mansfield.
The museum also has more than 1,300 items of swimwear. This collection shows how swimwear has changed over time. It tells us about new fabric technologies, fashion trends, and how people's ideas about clothing have changed.
