PROPOSED NATIONAL ART GALLERY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 76, 26 March 1912, Page 4

PROPOSED NATIONAL ART GALLERY.

We have received a communication from the President of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts to th.c effect that following on the Government’s decision to establish a National Art Gallery at Wellington the Conn cil of the Academy arranged with Mr John Bailiie, of the well-known Baillie Art Gallery, London, to bring here a collection of the works of tbcleading British artists. Mr Baillie, under the supervision of Mr G. Clausen, R.A., has got together what is admitted to be the finest and most representative collection of British pictures ever seen in the Australasian States, and an unique opportunity will thus he afforded of furnishing the National Gallery in a manner worthy of the capital city of the Dominion. The Council of the Academy is making a determined effort to secure the very best of this magnificent ■collection, so that Wellington may remove a reproach that has long rested on the city, and bo in possession of a gallery that will bo a never-failing source of pleasure and instruction to citizens and visitors alike. The Council feels that such a gallery will be a great pleasure to the residents of your district during their frequent visits to the city, and, in particular, a great boon to all country art stu-

dents by bringing within their reach examples of all that is best in art. It therefore asks co-operation and help in the efforts to attain this most desirable and worthy object and in furtherance of its appeal to the residents of this district for financial support. A direct appeal has been made to many of the leading residents of this district, but as it has been impossible to reach all who may be disposed to assist such, the secretary to the fund has sent us a subscription list. Any donation of £SO or over will be spent in the purchase of a picture or pictures on which will be inscribed the name of the donor. As very wide interest is being manifested in this exhibition, and, as it is known that most of the leading Australian galleries are sending representatives to Wellington to make purchases from it, the Council hopes for a prompt response to its appeal in order that it may be iu a position to secure, while still available, the pick of Mr Baillie’s art treasures for Wellington.