%20Cara%20Pinchbeck,%20head%20of%20First%20Nations,%20Art%20Gallery%20of%20New%20South%20Wales-%20Michael%20Horton-%20Maud%20Page,%20deputy%20director%20and%20director%20of%20collections,%20Art%20Gallery%20of%20New%20South%20Wales,%20photo%20%C2%A9%20Art%20Gallery%20of%20New%20South%20Wales,%20Joshua%20Morris.jpg "AGNSW receives largest donation of Aboriginal art to date")
Portrait of (from left to right) CARA PINCHBECKFirst Nations Director, Art Gallery of New South Wales; MICHAEL HORTON; MAUD PAGEDeputy Director and Head of Collections, Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photo by Joshua Morris. Courtesy of Art Gallery of New South Wales.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) has received a donation of 193 Aboriginal artworks from former New Zealand media magnate Michael Horton, who assembled the collection with his late wife, philanthropist Dame Rosie Horton.
The Horton bequest added to the AGNSW’s already extensive collection of Indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, which now includes 2605 works. The gift consists of paintings, weavings and sculptures collected by the couple over a period of 23 years. This major undertaking was achieved through frequent art tours organised by the AGNSW.
The donation includes several paintings by the late Kaiadilt artist Sally Gabori, whose works were noted for their bright colours and abstract motifs that pay homage to her native island of Bentinck, as well as works by the Joshua sisters, who hail from Ngukurr in southern Arnhem Land. The AGNSW also welcomes new artists to its collection, such as Girramay artists Abe Muriata and Emily Murray, and Djinaŋ/Marung artist Jeremiah Bonson.
Since 2000, the Hortons have steadily expanded their collection with the help of galleries specialising in Indigenous art, such as the Short Street Gallery in Broome, the Alcaston Gallery in Melbourne, the Karen Brown Fine Art Gallery in Darwin and the Suzanne O’Connell Gallery on the Gold Coast. The couple eventually met prominent Sydney-based Indigenous art collectors Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, who became their mentors.
Horton said The Australian Financial Review that although he has no plans to expand his collection, he will continue to purchase an Aboriginal painting each year for the Brisbane Children’s Hospital.
Michael Horton is the former owner of New Zealand’s largest newspaper company, New Zealand Media and Entertainment. The Horton family were significant shareholders in Wilson & Horton, which owned the Herald for 120 years before selling its shares in 1996. His wife, Dame Rosie, was knighted for her services to raising funds for charities over 40 years, including for children and cancer patients.
More than 30 works from the Horton legacy are on display at the Yiribana Gallery in Naala Badu, AGNSW’s new north building dedicated to the exhibition of Indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander works.
Camilla Alvarez-Chow is an editorial assistant at ArtAsiaPacific.
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