Artists Camp Sirius Cove
1899
original is on Canvas and is in the
National Gallery of Victoria
Felton Bequest 1943
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FELTON BEQUEST
g
On January 8 1904 Businessman Alfred
Felton died leaving a bequest of 190,000 pounds ($40 million in
today's money), with half the interest earned to be used to buy
works for the gallery. Living in a modest bedroom in St Kilda's
Esplanade Hotel his enormous bequest made the National Gallery
of Victoria one of the most richly endowed Galleries in the British
Empire. Born in England in 1831 Felton arrived in Melbourne in
1853 and accumulated his fortune as a merchant and a pharmaceutical
manufacturer. He created a bottle works which is still here today
as ACI, and also bought rural properties.
His Bequest enabled the National Gallery to build a comprehensive
collection before art prices spiraled in the late 1950's, since
his death over 15,000 works of art valued at over $1 billion have
been purchased including works by Rembrandt, Willima Blake, Tiepolo,
Monet, Cezanne, van Gogh, Turner and more.
Aquisitions include:
Pissarro:
Boulevard Montmartre 1897 in 1905
Monet: Rough weather at Etretat 1888 in 1913
Sisley: Straw Ricks 1891 in 1913
Corot: The Bent Tree c 1855-1860 in 1907
Fredric Mc CUBBIN: The Pioneer in 1906
Norman MacGeorge: Mother of Pearl in 1907
Hans HEYSEN: Sunshine and Shadow in 1908
Hans HEYSEN: A Lod of the Bush
Hans HEYSEN: Midsummer Morning
Arthur STREETON: Sydney Harbour in 1912
Blamire: Young: Winter's Grey Mantle c1912
Fredric Mc CUBBIN: Lost
Clara Southern: The old bee farm c1900
John Poynter - an Honorary Professorial
Fellow in the Australia Centre at the University of Melbourne,
has just written a book about Alfred Felton -
Mr Felton's Bequest -
published by Melbourne University Press
The Felton Bequest is the most important benefaction in Australian art history,
and this book details the life of Alfred Felton, an English merchant who lived
in Melbourne during the 19th century and was an enormously successful
businessman running the wholesale drugstore Felton, Grimwade & Co. during the
gold rush. Detailed is how his bequests committee successfully doled out the
inheritance to artistic and charitable organizations, despite the contentious
public debate over what sorts of art works should be acquired for Melbourne's
gallery. Primary sources including Felton's personal writings and the files from
the bequests committee document the drama.
'a superb book . . . what
the NGV failed to buy and the reasons for its acquisitions over
the past 99 years make gripping reading in Poynter's book.'
Herald Sun - 21/11/2003
'In the magisterial biography Mr Felton's Bequests by John
Poynter, Felton, the remarkable bachelor and visionary, is presented
in comprehensive detail. A monumental study of an eccentric, generous
and charitable man.'
Sydney Morning Herald - Favourite Reads of the Year
2003 lists, 6-7/12/2003
About the Author
John Poynter is an honorary professorial fellow in the Australian Centre
at the University of Melbourne. He is a former Ernest Scott professor of history
and a deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne. He is the author of
a biography of Russell Grimwade.
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