Geelong Gallery

Geelong Gallery
	Geelong Gallery from Johnstone Park
Former name	Geelong Art Gallery
Established	1895
Location	55 Little Malop St, Geelong, Australia
Type	Art gallery
Director	Jason Smith
Curator	Lisa Sullivan
Website	www.geelonggallery.org.au

The Geelong Gallery, formerly known as Geelong Art Gallery, is a major regional gallery in the city of Geelong in Victoria, Australia. The gallery forms Geelong's Cultural Precinct, along with the adjacent Geelong Library and Heritage Centre (Geelong Regional Library and Geelong Heritage Centre), Geelong Arts Centre, and the Geelong Courthouse (housing Back to Back Theatre and Platform Arts).

Quick Facts Former name, Established ...

Close

History

An art gallery for Geelong was first petitioned for in 1895 by members of the Geelong Progress League. In May 1900 permission was given for the Geelong Art Gallery Association to use three walls in the Geelong City Hall to hang artwork on. Among the first acquisitions made was Frederick McCubbin's 1890 A bush burial which cost 100 guineas ($210 USD) at the time. On 31 May 1900, the formal opening of the Geelong Art Gallery took place at the town hall. Mr. S. Austin, M.L.C., presided and the mayor Alderman Carr made a speech officially declaring it open to the public.^[1]

The gallery was soon moved to the Free Library Building in Moorabool Street (between Malop and Corio Streets).^{[citation needed]}

For over 125 years Geelong Gallery has amassed a significant collection of Australian and European painting, sculpture, printmaking and decorative arts. This includes works made by renowned artists such as Eugène von Guérard, Clarice Beckett, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, and Frederick McCubbin.^[2]

In 2021, Geelong Gallery presented the first comprehensive survey of Rone’s career to date, charting the artist’s practice from early stencil works and street art, to photographs documenting major installations that have transformed abandoned spaces.^[3]

Remove ads

Building

The current Geelong Gallery was officially opened in 1915, and was erected as a memorial to the late George M. Hitchcock^{[citation needed]}.

is located on the south side of Johnstone Park, between the Town Hall and the former fire station site, now occupied by the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre. The initial building consisted of a portico and vestibule facing the park, and the G. M. Hitchcock Gallery.^{[citation needed]}

The first additions to the gallery occurred in 1928 when the Henry P. Douglas Gallery was opened, followed by the H.F. Richardson Gallery in 1937^{[citation needed]}. The main entrance to the gallery was moved to Little Malop Street with the opening of the J.H. McPhillimy Gallery by then-Prime Minister Joseph Lyons in 1938.^{[citation needed]}

Further expansion followed in 1956 and 1971, with contemporary renovations taking place in 2001 and 2017.^{[citation needed]}

Remove ads

Governance

As of 2024^[update] Jason Smith is director of the gallery. From February 2025 he takes up directorship of the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide.^[4]

Collection

The gallery has a collection of over 6,000 Australian and international items,^[when?] including works on paper, paintings, decorative arts and sculpture.^[2] Individual collection items can be viewed on the gallery collection website.^[5]

Since 2016 the Gallery has been the custodian of the Colin Holden Print Collection on behalf of the Colin Holden Charitable Trust.^{[citation needed]}

There are a number of notable artworks in the collection, including: