In a new light
The Art Collection of Trinity College, The University of Melbourne
by Lara Nicholls
Foreword
Past residents of Trinity College and their visitors could be forgiven for assuming that the College's art collection was confined to the imposing portraits in the Dining Hall and the rich but restrained ornament of its beautiful Arts and Crafts Chapel. Bishop Grant makes only passing reference to the visual arts in his history of the College; it would be easy to suppose on this basis that the cultural life of Trinity centered upon its longstanding traditions of oratory, literature and music. However, owing to the meticulous research of Lara Nicholls, a past tutor and student of Trinity, an entirely new understanding of the breadth and significance of the College as a collecting institution has emerged. From the establishment of the Rusden Museum in the 1890s (whose cabinet of curiosities reflects a much earlier tradition of collecting) to the E R White Club's vigorous patronage of contemporary art in the 1990s, the College reveals an unexpectedly rich history of acquiring and encouraging the 'Fine Arts'.
This is the first volume on the Trinity College art collection to be published. Its author, Lara Nicholls, has carefully sifted much primary and seconday material to provide detailed entries on the various works, which range from paintings, sculpture and works on paper to coins, stained glass and Japanese netsuke. Her research throws new light on familiar and, in many cases, little known works of art, by investigating their exhibition history, provenance and the intentions of benefactors, whose generosity has not only created the collection, but ensured that it will continue to grow. Moreover, this scholarly work itself testifies to a tradition of art history teaching at Trinity, first established in the 1970s by the late Professor Sir Joseph Burke, and continued by subsequent Fine Arts tutors, who actively promote an interest in art within the College.
Many of us who have lived in Trinity will readily call to mind a painting, piece of furniture or architectural decoration which we immediately associate with some memory of college life. The works of art in Trinity are animated by this spirit of shared experience which is fundamental to college living, and which make the collection so much more than the sum of its parts. This publication is a fitting tribute to over one hundred and twenty-five years of art and collecting at Trinity
Alison Inglis
Department of Fine Arts
The University of Melbourne