National Gallery of Victoria

The National Gallery of Victoria (short: NGV ) is a museum and art gallery in Melbourne in Southbank. The gallery opened in 1861, is the oldest and largest public gallery in Australia.

Name

The designation as a National Gallery of Victoria is partially considered misleading because Victoria is not a sovereign nation and Australia in Canberra, the National Gallery of Australia (NGA ) maintains. The director of the NGA wanted to impose a change of name of the NGV. The name of the NGV, which was founded 40 years before the founding of the Commonwealth of Australia, recalls the time when Victoria was a separate British colony.

Collection

In the museum works from all areas of art are exhibited through to product design. A total of 65,000 plants are kept. In addition to Australian artists, the museum also contains works by Europeans Pablo Picasso, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Marco Palmezzano, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Paolo Uccello, and Paolo Veronese. The single most expensive purchase was a painting by Paris Bordone for 3.8 million AUD.

In the department of design, historical vehicles, like a Bugatti Type 57, furniture, such as the Eames Lounge Chair, or the Swan by Arne Jacobsen, and other products shown.

Picasso theft

A part of the series Image " The Weeping Woman " by Pablo Picasso was stolen on August 4, 1986. To fact, the well-known "Australian Cultural Terrorists " who wanted to protest the action against the Australian arts policy. A week later, the picture was of the Spencer Street Station found again in the locker 227, after an anonymous caller had reported the place to the newspaper The Age. The perpetrators could not be determined.

Building

The architectural firm Grounds Romberg Boyd was awarded the 1959 contract to build a new gallery and a cultural center. When Roy Grounds in 1962 separated from the company, he took the job. In December 1967, the building on St Kilda Road was opened, which was designated as an NGV International. Mario Bellini renovated the location near the Yarra River building 1999 to 2003.

The Ian Potter Centre opened in 2003, a second building on the other side of the Yarra River. The building is located at Federation Square, the art and gallery block of Melbourne. In the Ian Potter Centre, named after the late 1994 Australian businessman and philanthropist Ian Potter, the Australian art is exhibited, while international art will be shown in the main building.

Pay

The museum had 1.48 million visitors in 2008, in the free part. The paid special had 262,000 visitors.

From the Australian state the NGV in 2008 got 44.4 million Australian dollars and himself took a 28.6 million AUD. The financial statements showed a profit of 2.8 million AUD. In the same year, the Museum employed 226 people.