ABSTRACT
Art galleries provide important visual resources for communities to form and reflect upon their cultural identity. This study explores the collecting practices of five Australian national galleries in relation to their acquisition of artworks by UK artists in the years between 1860 and 1953. These chronological parameters start with the establishment of the first Australian national gallery in 1861 and end with the events that renegotiated UK-Australian relations, most notably the creation of the Commonwealth of Nations (28 April 1949) and the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (2 June 1953). In this book’s analysis of the collections and archives of all the Australian national galleries of the period, the varied and complex negotiations that took place within and between the premiere Australian art institutions and those of the UK are revealed.
