Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki – Re-Opens
Media Release
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Monday 27 June 2011
Newly refurbished areas of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki returned to the care of its staff today, after three years with Hawkins Construction. At the handover, it was announced the Gallery – on its opening day of Saturday 3 September 2011 – will exhibit for the first time the entire Julian and Josie Robertson Promised Gift.
The historic 1887 Wellesley and Kitchener Street building and the 1916 day-lit East gallery are the first spaces returned in a phased handover. Their return marks the beginning of months of intensive work on installing artwork and ensuring the new building is operational for opening.
“This really is a major milestone in the Gallery’s development project,” Chairman of Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) Sir Don McKinnon said of the handover. “Hawkins has done a truly magnificent job in delivering this challenging and complex project. Led by the talented design team at FJMT+Archimedia, and working with a large group of technical specialists and trades people, they have created a building Aucklanders will enjoy and take pride in for generations.”
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With the opening of the Gallery, visitors will have an eight-week opportunity to see for the first time the complete Robertson gift. Announced in 2009, the gift is the largest ever made to an art gallery in Australasia. Its 15 works represent some of the major European artists of the modern era, including paintings by Matisse, Picasso and Dalí.
RFA Auckland Art Gallery Director Chris Saines said, “This will be the first and only occasion the Robertson gift will be seen in Auckland, in its entirety, until such time as the 15 works are finally settled on the Gallery under the terms of the deed of promised gift.”
Julian and Josie Robertson’s remarkable gift will be honoured in perpetuity when the level one Kitchener galleries are renamed the ‘Julian and Josie Robertson Galleries’. Saines also paid tribute to Josie Robertson who passed away in 2010.
The Robertson collection will be displayed free to the public in the new Julian and Josie Robertson Galleries from 3 September until 30 October 2011.
For more information contact:
Tae Allison
Communications Coordinator
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
[email protected]
DDI +64 9 307 7706
M
+64 27 291 9953
Visit our website: http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/about-us/gallery-development
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