Art for the People: Bendigo Art Gallery 1887 - 2013

Art for the people:
Bendigo Art Gallery
1887 – 2013
Ad delectationem Populi per Artem
Pulchram; ‘for the delight of the people
through beautiful art’. 1
Originally called Sandhurst Fine
Art Gallery, Bendigo Art Gallery was
established in 1887 and since that
time it has played a pivotal role in
the Bendigo community. The desire
for a Gallery was first expressed by
the Mayor of Sandhurst, Mr Patrick
Hayes, in a letter to the city’s principal
citizens to ‘prove of great service to
the young people growing up around
us’. 2 Considered a cultivating and
educating strength of the community,
the Gallery has always endeavoured
to collect, preserve and display works
of art for the pleasure and education
of the public. 3 In more recent years
it has positioned itself as the most
profiled and significant cultural venue
in regional Australia; international
exhibitions have been the drawcard
for thousands, which has seen Bendigo
Art Gallery evolve as the forerunner of
regional galleries.
As with all long-standing
institutions, Bendigo Art Gallery’s
stories are rich in history. Since its
inception, the Gallery has evolved
from a humble single-room exhibition
space to one of Victoria’s largest
galleries. The building itself has
changed considerably since the 1880s
without losing ‘… its pretty and
unpretentious red brick façade’. 4 Its
people – both staff and volunteers
– remain dedicated to providing
exhibitions, programs and events
of international standard while still
recalling that modest yet proud motto,
‘… giving delight to the people
through the beauty of art’. 5 Without its
founders and remarkable benefactors,
Bendigo Art Gallery would not have
obtained the reputation it has today.
The Gallery continues to grow
and includes an extensive and varied
collection of painting, sculpture,
ceramics, indigenous art, decorative
arts, photography, works on paper and
new media. The collection has a strong
emphasis on 19th century European
art and Australian art from the 1800s
onwards, and over the past decade
has developed significant holdings of
contemporary Australian art. As artists
emerge and develop and trends evolve,
so too does the Gallery’s collection.
Drawing on the archives of Bendigo
Art Gallery, this exhibition offers a
glimpse into the stories and journey so
far of this much loved and respected
people’s gallery.
Sandhurst Fine Art
Public Gallery –
Gallery Committee
First minutes book
(detail)
1887–89
pen on paper
Bendigo Art Gallery
archives
THE SANDHURST FINE ART PUBLIC
GALLERY
‘Sandhurst is behind other places
in not having an Art Gallery’ 6 was
the sentiment expressed by Mr John
Wilkinson Rymer in a letter to the
Bendigo Advertiser on 5 April 1887.
Local artist William Short agreed with
Rymer and trusted that this movement
would be ‘… heartily supported by the
art loving population of Sandhurst’, 7
offering to donate a painting for the
cause. Popular opinion was such that
it was imminent that Sandhurst would
soon have ‘… an Art Gallery of which
the citizens may be proud … of great
advantage to the rising generation
in having a highly refining influence
and in developing talent … it will
encourage the growth of the arts …
and be a constant source of pleasure to
the community’. 8
In response, on 19 May 1887,
Mayor JP (Patrick) Hayes called a
public meeting which was attended
by more than 35 local representatives
including doctors, lawyers, lecturers
and businessmen. At that moment,
Sandhurst Fine Art Gallery was
born, and a provisional committee
appointed. The Gallery was underway
with only a few works donated by
Jacob Cohn and a number of pieces
lent by private citizens.
Mr Rymer continued to take a great
interest in the welfare of the Gallery
and his advice and assistance, especially
in the choice of new artworks,
was always freely given and keenly
appreciated by his colleagues on the
Committee. Mr Hayes was the first
President of Sandhurst Fine Art Gallery,
in the same year he was Mayor, using
his influence to form the art gallery. He
served as President for one year. Jacob
Cohn served as the second President
and held the position for 14 years.
A MILITARY BEGINNING
From 1887 to 1890 the Gallery
was housed in a large hall at the
Sandhurst School of Mines on Pall
Mall (now Bendigo Regional Institute
of TAFE), until building repairs and
the ‘… mild outrage caused by the
scandalous exhibition of a nude
painting, The Spanish Maiden, caused
the gallery committee to seek other
accommodation’. 9
After unsuccessfully applying for a
£2000 government grant in 1887, and
campaigning in vain to obtain the old
Post and Telegraph Office on View
Street as the new exhibition space,
the Gallery ultimately moved to its
present site – not into a purpose-built
4 5