Celebrate the Queensland Art Gallery Collection and ‘The Founding Years 1895 – 1915: A Collection for Queensland‘ with talks from special guests during Queensland Week.

On Saturday May 30, Join David Burnett, Curator, International Art, QAGOMA, for a curatorial overview of The Founding Years. 2015 marks 120 years since the founding of the Queensland National Art Gallery, now QAGOMA. An exhibition of works acquired in the first two decades of the Gallery’s establishment offers a fascinating insight into the individuals who defined our earliest art collections, as well as a glimpse into the years preceding World War One, in which a sense of local and national identity was rapidly forming. In addition to the Curator’s Talk, QAGOMA will also be hosting a conversation with Jason Smith, Curatorial Manager, Australian Art about the importance of benefaction and philanthropy to the life of public art Collections, touching on his own involvement with the Gallery.

Tuesday June 2 will see the gallery host Dr Judith McKay, curator and historian, as she speaks about the life and work of Richard Godfrey Rivers (1858–1925) whose painting Under the jacaranda 1903 is one of Queensland Art Gallery’s best loved works at 1:00 pm. Not only an artist, Rivers was also the Gallery’s founder, pioneer curator and benefactor; as well as Brisbane’s leading art teacher and advocate of his day. Stick around for a discussion between Robert Zilli, Conservation Framer, QAGOMA and Michael Hawker, Associate Curator, Australian Art about some of the intricate frames in the exhibition and the paintings they surround at 2:30 pm.