1923
1923 saw many important acquisitions for Geelong Gallery’s permanent collection.
Geelong Art Gallery Association Vice President, W Max Bell, and Geelong footballer and businessman, Norman Belcher, purchased two Eugene von Guérard works for the collection: Aborigines met on the road to the diggings and View from Fritz Wilhelmberg, Herne Hill, Geelong (Mr Levien’s hut on the Barwon).
Harold Septimus Power’s work A shell-swept road was gifted by Henry Percival and Enid Mary Douglass, adding a powerful depiction of war to the collection.
Towards the end of the year, subscribers voted to purchase Anton Braith’s work Hill cattle, which had been loaned to Geelong Gallery by Wilfred Austin prior.
Braith’s work is an exquisite depiction of cattle in a peaceful country setting. In contrast, Power’s work is an emotional and piercing representation of the realities of war and conflict.