Gift of Australian paintings from art-loving alumnus

Sixty-three paintings by Australian artists including notable works by Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Roy de Maistre, Ethel Carrick Fox, Emanuel Phillips Fox and Margaret Preston will go on display in the Chau Chak Wing Museum. The outstanding collection was left to the University in 2017, by former Sydney lawyer and company director Neville Grace. Grace studied Arts/Law at the University, graduating in 1951, and was a generous donor to the institution throughout his life. The decision to donate the paintings to the University was made late in Grace's life, prompted by learning the Chau Chak Wing Museum was being built. Brendan Aubusson, a legal colleague who knew Grace for more than 40 years and became a close friend, also attended auctions on his behalf. Aubusson remembers Grace as having an "eye for an investment" but his being overwhelmingly motivated to collect because of a genuine love of art. Grace's interest in post-impressionist Australian paintings started in the early-1970s.