Bendigo Art Gallery is an Australian art gallery located in

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban populat ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. It is one of the oldest and largest regional art galleries.

History

The gallery was founded in 1887. The gallery's collection was first housed in the former Bendigo Volunteer Rifle's room, converted into an exhibition space by Bendigo architect William Charles Vahland (1828–1915) in 1890 and renamed Bolton Court. In 1897 it was extended with Drury Court, designed by local architect William Beebe. In 1962 the gallery was again extended with office space and additional exhibition spaces, as well as a new entrance. From 1998 to 2001 the gallery was refurbished and expanded with a new sculpture gallery designed by

Fender Katsalidis Architects Fender Katsalidis (FK) is an architecture firm which originated in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and now has additional studios in Sydney and Brisbane. Founded by Karl Fender and Nonda Katsalidis, the firm has been notable since the early 1990s, ...

Description

Bendigo Art Gallery is one of Australia’s oldest and largest regional art galleries.

Collection

The gallery's collection has a strong emphasis on British and European Continental 19th-century painting, with works by Ernest Waterlow and

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (14 December 1824 – 24 October 1898) was a French painter known for his mural painting, who came to be known as "the painter for France". He became the co-founder and president of the Société Nationale des Beau ...

among others. Australian work from the 19th century onwards is also well represented, including

Charles Conder Charles Edward Conder (24 October 1868 – 9 February 1909) was an English-born painter, lithographer and designer. He emigrated to Australia and was a key figure in the Heidelberg School, arguably the beginning of a distinctively Australi ...

and

Arthur Streeton Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton (8 April 1867 – 1 September 1943) was an Australian landscape painter and a leading member of the Heidelberg School, also known as Australian Impressionism. Early life Streeton was born in Mt Moriac, Victoria, so ...

Prizes

The gallery hosts Australia's richest open painting prize, the Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, worth , which was launched in 2003.Quinlan, Karen (2004). ''Bendigo Art Gallery Selected Works'', Bendigo Art Gallery. . Other prizes have included: *

Paul Guest Paul Guest (born in Chattanooga, Tennessee) is an American poet and memoirist. Biography When he was twelve, Guest broke the third and fourth vertebrae in his neck in a bicycle accident, bruising his spinal cord and paralyzing him from the neck d ...

Prize *

Robert Jacks Robert Jacks (8 March 1943, Melbourne—14 August 2014, Castlemaine) was an Australian painter, sculptor and printmaker. Born in Melbourne, Australia. He studied sculpture from 1958 to 1960 at the Prahran Technical College, Melbourne, and ...

Drawing Prize (past prize)

People

Karen Quinlan was director of Bendigo Art Gallery from around 2000 to 2018, and curator for three years before that. She was also Professor of Practice at the

La Trobe Art Institute La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria and ...

at Bendigo. She took up the post of leading the National Portrait Gallery in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

in December 2018. During her tenure at Bendigo, Quinlan worked with international institutions to bring large exhibitions to Bendigo, which boosted the regional economy and encouraged cultural tourism. She was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

in the

2019 Australia Day Honours The 2019 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2019 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove. The Aus ...

list, "for her significant service to the visual arts and to higher education".

Logo

The gallery's logo is an image of

Ettore Cadorin Ettore Cadorin (March 1, 1876June 18, 1952) was an American sculptor and teacher born in Venice. His father Vincenzo Cadorin was a woodcarver and his first teacher. He went on to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice where he studied with ...

's statue ''Venus tying her sandals'' (1913).''The Age'', 19–20 December 2003, Review, "Work of the Week", p. 7. Cadorin was an Italian-born American, but was married to an Australian contralto, Erna Mueller, who trained at the Bendigo Conservatory.NSW Art Gallery
Retrieved 21 May 2016 He sold the statue to the gallery after visiting it in 1913.

References

External links

* {{authority control Art museums and galleries in Victoria (Australia) Buildings and structures in Bendigo 1887 establishments in Australia Art museums established in 1887 Bendigo