John Glover Mount Wellington and Hobart Town from Kangaroo Point 1831–33 1834 oil on canvas National Gallery of Australia and Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Purchased with funds from the Nerissa Johnson Bequest 2001 Click image to enlarge

Goal 1: Acquire premium works of art

To acquire works of art of outstanding aesthetic quality, thereby enhancing the reputation of the national collection and increasing public understanding and enjoyment of the visual arts

Key strategies

• Identify premium works of art and acquire them
• Pursue and attain funding to facilitate the purchase of premium works of art
• Pursue and attain gifts of premium works of art
• Research and document all premium works of art acquired

Our success will be measured by

• Premium works of art acquired by purchase or gift
• Funds attracted to purchase premium works of art
• Premium works of art acquired researched and documented

Our recent achievements

We are a young institution that, in recent years, has been particularly focussed on acquiring premium works to strengthen the national collection.

Our increased acquisition funds from government have been complemented by increased contributions from private donors, members of the Gallery Council and the National Gallery of Australia Foundation. The Gallery received a number of major bequests for the purchase of works of art, totalling over $20 million. This generosity has improved substantially the Gallery’s ability to build the national collection.

Our new acquisitions have attracted worldwide requests to borrow works of art, and have created media attention, sparking much comment and intellectual debate.

During 2001–02, the Gallery jointly purchased with the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery an historically important painting by John Glover, Mount Wellington and Hobart Town from Kangaroo Point 1831–33; the first cooperative venture of this kind between major Australian museums

We successfully negotiated with government to raise the threshold at which acquisitions require ministerial approval from $450,000 to $10,000,000 — effectively removing the acquisitions program from the political process.

Images of significant works of art acquired recently can be found throughout this Strategic Plan.