William Morris Boustead (3 January 1912 – 15 October 1999) was an Australian Art conservator. He was conservator at the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

from 1954 until 1977.National Newsletter
AICCM December 1999

Biography

Boustead was born in

Gloucester, New South Wales Gloucester ( ), a town in dairy and beef cattle country, is located in Mid-Coast Council, within the Barrington Coast hinterland of the lower Mid North Coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is the closest town to world heritage B ...

and educated at

Fort Street High School Fort Street High School (FSHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary school, secondary day school, located in Petersh ...

. His first job after leaving school was working in a metallurgical and chemical laboratory while studying at technical college. After spending most of the 1930s in the Pacific he served with the

Royal Australian Engineers The Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) is the military engineering corps of the Australian Army (although the word corps does not appear in their name or on their badge). The RAE is ranked fourth in seniority of the corps of the Australian Army, be ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Following his discharge in 1945 Boustead began studying at the

National Art School The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts p ...

in Sydney. In 1946 he was appointed to the conservation workshop of the

then appointed as gallery conservator in 1954. Boustead's achievements during his time as conservator at the AGNSW included: * Building the first vacuum hot table in Australia * Setting up the first program in Australia to train conservators * Leading the Australian team as part of the International response to the flooding of Florence in 1966Bill Boustead
National Library, Canberra * Pioneering processes to conserve art works from tropical regions especially

Bark Painting Bark painting is an Australian Aboriginal art form, involving painting on the interior of a strip of tree bark. This is a continuing form of artistic expression in Arnhem Land (especially among the Yolngu peoples) and other regions in the Top ...

sPreserving Aboriginal Art
Taylor & Francis Online

References

External links

Biographical cuttings on William Boustead, conservator, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boustead, Bill 1912 births 1999 deaths People educated at Fort Street High School Conservator-restorers